Natural Act | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 1978 | |||
Recorded | Sunset Sound, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 36:41 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | David Anderle | |||
Kris Kristofferson chronology | ||||
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Rita Coolidge chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Village Voice | B [2] |
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. [3]
When the couple recorded their first duet album Full Moon in 1973, Kristofferson was the bigger recording star, having won several awards for his songwriting and scoring a massive hit with “Why Me” from his gold selling LP Jesus Was a Capricorn, while Coolidge was still developing as an artist. By 1978, however, Coolidge hit number 6 on the Billboard 100 with the platinum selling Anytime…Anywhere, an album that spawned three Top 20 hits. Although he was now an established film star, Kristofferson’s previous album, Easter Island, was a commercial disappointment. The couple’s marriage was floundering by this time - in the A&E episode of Biography about his life, Kristofferson admits to having a steamy love affair with costar Sarah Miles on the set of 1976's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea - and Natural Act would be their final studio album together.
Natural Act was recorded at Sunset Sound and was produced by David Anderle, who had produced their first duet album and several solo albums since. Musically, the album leaned more to pop than rock and featured relaxed southern boogie, nostalgic pop ballads and country-tinged numbers alongside more unusual choices such as a reworking of "I Fought the Law," a hit for The Bobby Fuller Four in 1966, which found them sounding like The Everly Brothers. [4]
With the couple's marriage disintegrating, several cuts carry a wistful poignancy, such as "Love Don’t Live Here Anymore" and the two older Kristofferson compositions, "Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends", which had been a hit for Ray Price, and the regretful "Loving You Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)", which Willie Nelson covered the following year on his Sings Kristofferson LP. The dour tone of these songs was reflected on the album cover; photographed by Annie Leibovitz, gone were the carefree unkempt lovers pictured on the first two album sleeves and in their place were two separate individuals wearing smart clothes and strained faces. [4]
Natural Act was not a commercial success, failing to crack the Billboard 100 and or the country Top 20. AllMusic: “…unlike the first two albums, Kristofferson didn't seem to be making much of an effort as a vocalist, while Coolidge just seemed listless. Natural Act sounded like a contractual obligation record from a musical act that had lost the chemistry that fueled it early on, just as the marriage apparently had.” Kristofferson biographer Stephen Miller is more positive, calling the songs “reasonably strong” and adding that the collection “could hold its own against much of the lighter pop material in the charts in the late Seventies.” [4]
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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Australian (Kent Music Report) [6] | 87 |
UK Albums (OCC) [7] | 35 |
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [8] | 24 |
US Billboard 200 [9] | 106 |
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.
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.
Easter Island is the eighth solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1978 on Monument.
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.
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 by 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.
"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and first recorded by Bobby Bare, who included it on his Where Have All the Seasons Gone album in January 1971.
A Star Is Born is the soundtrack album to the 1976 musical film of the same name, performed by its stars Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The album was very successful, holding the number-one spot on the US Billboard 200 chart for six weeks and eventually was certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA for more than four million units shipped and has sold a total of eight million copies worldwide.