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| Easter Island | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1978 | |||
| Studio | Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 36:45 | |||
| Label | Monument | |||
| Producer | David Anderle | |||
| Kris Kristofferson chronology | ||||
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Easter Island is the eighth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1978 on Monument.
Kristofferson received the Golden Globe award for Best Actor for his performance in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, making him one of Hollywood’s leading character actors. Conversely, his career as a recording artist seemed to be running out of steam as the decade wore on; he had not had a significant solo hit of his own since 1973’s "Why Me", and his most recent album, Surreal Thing, didn’t crack the Billboard 100. One significant event that did occur during this period is Kristofferson stopped drinking. In the A&E episode of Biography about his life, he admitted to being shaken after seeing himself unravel in A Star Is Born, recalling: "When I saw the screen, and saw the dead body, it struck me that that would be Rita (Coolidge, his then wife) and (daughter) Casey, and the people I love looking at what I left behind. I quit drinkin’ after that movie".
Produced by David Anderle, Easter Island featured the same coterie of session aces that played on Kristofferson’s recent solo records, providing a loose sound, and several of the songs were co-written with band members Mike Utley and Stephen Bruton. As William Ruhlmann of AllMusic asserts, the songs Kristofferson and his cohorts came up with had commercial potential: "Any one of the four conventional love songs - "How Do You Feel (About Foolin' Around)", "Forever in Your Love", "The Bigger the Fool (The Harder the Fall)", and "Lay Me Down (And Love the World Away)" - all of them co-written with Mike Utley and Stephen Bruton, sounded like it might be a country hit. Monument chose "Forever in Your Love", but it didn't catch on". With hindsight, "How Do You Feel (About Foolin’ Around)" might have been the smart choice, since it hit the country charts for Kristofferson and Willie Nelson in 1983, although the single might have been carried along more by Nelson’s phenomenal success at that time than anything else. The title track considered those mysterious stone heads on Easter Island, with Stephen Miller asserting in his 2008 memoir Kristofferson: The Wild American, “The eerie title track, inspired by the famous stone figures on Easter Island, certainly contained some powerfully evocative Kristofferson lyrics but the underlying meaning of the song was frustratingly obscure, reminiscent of "Silver (The Hunger)" from Who’s to Bless and Who’s to Blame.” [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavorable) [3] |
With the success of A Star Is Born behind him, as well as respectable sales of the greatest hits compilation Songs of Kristofferson, momentum appeared to be on Kristofferson’s side, but Easter Island was still a commercial disappointment. AllMusic called the LP "an effort that combined ponderous, highly poetic compositions with several commercial-sounding love songs…"
All tracks by Kris Kristofferson except where noted.
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [4] | 86 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [5] | 21 |
Border Lord is the third album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1972 on Monument Records.
Jesus Was a Capricorn is the fourth album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1972 on Monument Records. The album cover pictures Kristofferson and his soon-to-be wife Rita Coolidge. "Why Me" reached #1 on the Country singles charts.
A Moment of Forever is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Justice Records, an independent record label, in 1995. His first studio album of original material since the relatively unsuccessful political record Third World Warrior (1990), it features several well-known studio musicians, including Jim Keltner and Benmont Tench. The album retained the recurring theme of freedom from oppression, but to a lesser extent than his previous two politically charged records - the aforementioned Third World Warrior and Repossessed (1986). The song "Johnny Lobo" is about the Indian activist John Trudell.
Live at the Philharmonic is a live album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Monument Records in 1992. Performed at Philharmonic Hall in New York City on December 2, 1972, the concert followed the release of Kristofferson's successful Jesus Was a Capricorn. Aside from several songs from the latter, the singer performed a number of new pieces, as well as a few of his well-known hits such as "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Me and Bobby McGee". Guest artists included Willie Nelson, who was a little-known personality in country music at the time, Rita Coolidge, Kristofferson's future wife, and Larry Gatlin, whose career was in its starting phases.
Spooky Lady's Sideshow is the fifth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1974 on Monument Records. It was preceded and followed by duet albums with his wife, Rita Coolidge. It was recorded shortly after Kristofferson's appearance in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The album mostly consists of songs about decline due to alcohol and drug abuse. That theme of decline proved to be (unintentionally) prophetic as this was Kristofferson's first album that failed to see commercial success on a large scale.
Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame is the sixth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1975 on Monument Records. Its title track is quoted in the Johnny Cash song "The Man Comes Around" from the 2002 album of the same name. The song "Stranger" was covered as a duet by Johnny Duncan and Janie Fricke, and their version reached #4 on the U.S. country chart in 1976.
Surreal Thing is the seventh solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1976 on Monument Records. "Killing Time" and "The Golden Idol" are re-recordings of songs that were originally released as a single in 1967.
Repossessed is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Mercury Records in 1986. It was Kristofferson's first full-length solo album since 1981's To the Bone, although the singer did collaborate with other artists in the meantime, most notably on Highwayman with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Full Moon is a duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in September 1973 on A&M Records. It is the first of three duet albums by the couple, who married weeks before the album's release, and arguably the best. Unlike Kristofferson solo albums, it features several covers.
Breakaway is the second duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in 1974 on Monument Records. It is one of three duet albums by the couple. Unlike Kristofferson solo albums, it features several covers. "I've Got to Have You" and "I'd Rather Be Sorry" had both previously been hits for other artists; they appear here by Kristofferson for the first time.
Natural Act is the third and final duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, released in 1978 on A&M Records. The couple would divorce the following year. The album was released while Coolidge's career was at a peak; her recent albums Anytime...Anywhere and Love Me Again had seen much commercial success. Natural Act is Kristofferson's only album to chart in the United Kingdom.
Shake Hands with the Devil is the ninth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1979 on Monument Records. Several of the songs on the album were written by Kristofferson years before its release.
To the Bone is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1981, his last for Monument Records. It is his first album after his divorce from Rita Coolidge, and many of its songs deal with relationship decline. "Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore" became a minor hit.
Music from Songwriter is a soundtrack album by Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, released on Columbia Records in 1984. It is the soundtrack to Songwriter, a film starring the two performers. Two of the songs on the record are duets, five are sung by Nelson and four by Kristofferson. "How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around" was released as a single and reached the country charts, and the album itself was nominated for an Academy Award, losing to Purple Rain. The album has been released on CD on 10 January 2011 on Wounded Bird Records.
The Lady's Not For Sale is a 1972 album by Rita Coolidge, and was released on the A&M Records label, AMLH 64370. It was later reissued on the Music For Pleasure label, MFP-50500. The inner gatefold photo was shot on location by Terry Paul at Stonehenge in the English county of Wiltshire.
Anytime...Anywhere is the sixth album by Rita Coolidge released in 1977 on the A&M Records label. The album is her most successful, reaching #6 on the Billboard 200 and having been certified platinum. The album spawned three Billboard top twenty hits; a cover of Boz Scaggs' "We're All Alone" (#7), a cover of The Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do" (#20), and the album's biggest hit, "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" (#2), a remake of Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher".
Fall into Spring is a 1974 album by Rita Coolidge and was released on the A&M Records label.
It's Only Love is a 1975 album by Rita Coolidge and was released on the A&M Records label.
Love Me Again is an album by the American musician Rita Coolidge, released in 1978 through A&M Records. "You" was released as the first single. It was previously recorded by Australian recording artist Marcia Hines. Coolidge's version, in contrast to Hines', is more mellow in tone and it became a Top 40 hit in both the United States and Canada during the summer of 1978. Despite the song having previously hit in Australia, Coolidge's version did not chart there. The title track "Love Me Again" was released as a single and then covered and appeared as a single for Patti Austin in 1980.
Closer to the Bone is the twentieth studio album by Kris Kristofferson. The album was released on September 29, 2009 on the New West record label.
