Maps of Music

Easter Island (1978)

Where the lyrics of Easter Island take you, and where it was really made.

Kristofferson had just won a Golden Globe for A Star Is Born, yet Easter Island was still a commercial disappointment.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1978)

Recording site Sunset Sound — The album was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California. The pin marks the studio's coordinates, not an exact recording date or session. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Easter Island: eighth solo album by Kris Kristofferson
• Released in 1978 on Monument Records
• Produced by David Anderle
• Title track inspired by the famous stone figures on Easter Island
• Several songs co-written with band members Mike Utley and Stephen Bruton

Background

• Kristofferson won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his 1976 remake of A Star Is Born
• This made him one of Hollywood's leading character actors
• His recording career seemed to lose momentum as the decade wore on
• He had no significant solo hit since Why Me in 1973
• His previous album, Surreal Thing, did not reach the Billboard 100
• He stopped drinking during this period

Recording

• Recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California
• Recorded and mixed by Kent Nebergall, assisted by Peggy McCreary
• Mastered by Mike Reese at The Mastering Lab
• The session players from his recent solo records returned, giving the album a loose sound

Cover

• Cover design by John Berg
• Cover photo by Francesco Scavullo

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• American musician, songwriter and actor, born June 22, 1936 in Brownsville, Texas; died September 28, 2024 in Hana, Hawaii, aged 88.
• A pioneer of the 1970s outlaw country movement, moving away from the polished Nashville sound toward a rawer, introspective style.
• Signed to Monument Records in 1969 after one single for Epic Records; recorded ten albums for Monument.
• Songs such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night" became hits for other artists.
• "Why Me" and "Highwayman" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1973 and 1985.
• Member of the supergroup the Highwaymen (with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash) from 1985 to 1995.
• Acting career in films including A Star Is Born (1976, Golden Globe for Best Actor), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Heaven's Gate (1980) and the Blade trilogy.
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014; three Grammy wins from 13 nominations.
• Announced retirement from performing in January 2021; final performance at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29, 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Easter Island was still a commercial disappointment, despite the success of A Star Is Born and respectable sales of the greatest hits compilation Songs of Kristofferson
• AllMusic's William Ruhlmann said the songs had commercial potential, and any of the four conventional love songs might have been a country hit
• AllMusic described the album as an effort that combined ponderous, highly poetic compositions with several commercial-sounding love songs

Reappraisal

• In hindsight, How Do You Feel (About Foolin' Around) might have been the smarter choice for a single
• That song later hit the country charts for Kristofferson and Willie Nelson in 1983, though Nelson's success at the time probably carried it
• Stephen Miller's 2008 memoir called the meaning of the title track frustratingly obscure

Records

• Monument picked Forever in Your Love as a single, but it did not catch on
• Italian Wikipedia also lists Columbia Records as a releasing label alongside Monument
• The album was released in March 1978 according to Italian Wikipedia, with some sources giving February 1978

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was inspired by the famous stone figures on Easter Island.
• Stephen Miller's memoir compared the title track's obscure meaning to Silver (The Hunger), a song from Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame.
• The album's first track, Risky Bizness, was co-written by Stephen Bruton, Kristofferson and Michael Utley.
• The album came after the greatest hits compilation Songs of Kristofferson, which sold respectably.
• The cover photo was taken by Francesco Scavullo, while the back cover photo was taken by Luis Villota.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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