Maps of Music

Full Moon (1973)

Where the lyrics of Full Moon take you, and where it was really made.

Kristofferson says the duet idea was probably his, yet the album was built around Rita Coolidge's voice and released on her label.

Key places

Recorded at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles (1973)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Full Moon was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California. David Anderle produced the album and also handled the mixing. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Full Moon: duet album by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge
• Released September 1973 on A&M Records
• The first of three duet albums by the couple
• The couple married weeks before the album's release
• Unlike Kristofferson's solo albums, it features several covers
• Reissued only once before 2017, on CD in Japan
• Expanded edition released by Real Gone Music on June 2, 2017

Background

• Coolidge had contributed vocals to Kristofferson's previous two albums, including two duets on Jesus Was a Capricorn
• At the time Kristofferson was the bigger star, having topped the country charts with the gospel song "Why Me"
• Coolidge's previous release, 1972's The Lady's Not for Sale, reached number 43 on the U.S. pop charts
• In 2016 Kristofferson said the duet idea was probably his and that the two harmonized easily
• Since the pair were on different labels, Monument and A&M agreed to take turns releasing the album, with A&M going first

Recording

• Produced by David Anderle, Coolidge's producer
• Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California
• Recording engineer John Haeny; mixing engineer David Anderle
• Kristofferson and Coolidge co-wrote two songs
• Other songs come from outside writers, including Donnie Fritts, Tony Joe White, Larry Murray and Tom Jans

Cover

• All photos by Bob Jenkins
• Art direction by Roland Young; album design by Paula Bard

Sources: 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

• Released September 1973, weeks after the couple married
• News of the wedding and the Caribbean-flavored single "A Song I'd Like to Sing" boosted interest
• The single reached the U.S. Top 40 pop chart, as well as the country and easy listening charts
• Full Moon became a number one country album

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's William Ruhlmann: despite Kristofferson's greater celebrity, the LP was made with Coolidge's strengths in mind
• The songs were set in Coolidge's key, with Kristofferson crooning along in an unusually high register
• Tempos were mostly slow, emphasizing the dreamy quality of Coolidge's voice
• Biographer Stephen Miller: musically the album moved Kristofferson closer to pop and rock, with an easy listening feel
• Miller: lyrics were dumbed down compared with Kristofferson's solo albums, with the literary allusions and social conscience gone
• Miller called the clash between the two voices a musical mismatch of beauty and the beast

Records

• Billboard 200: number 26
• Country album chart: number 1 in 1973
• "From the Bottle to the Bottom" won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1974
• Two more duet albums followed: Breakaway (1974) and Natural Act (1978)
• Expanded edition released by Real Gone Music on June 2, 2017

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

Trivia

• Monument and A&M agreed to take turns releasing the album, with Coolidge's A&M going first with Full Moon
• Donnie Fritts, Kristofferson's keyboardist, is among the outside writers whose songs appear on the album
• Coolidge's previous album, The Lady's Not for Sale, had a title track co-written by Kristofferson
• Before the 2017 expanded edition, the album had only been reissued once, on CD in Japan
• Kristofferson's 2016 Uncut interview described the album as the result of what the two felt they wanted to do

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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