Maps of Music

Surreal Thing (1976)

Where the lyrics of Surreal Thing take you, and where it was really made.

Released in 1976, the year its singer became better known as an actor, this album's single made no impact.

Key places

Sunset Sound, Los Angeles (1976)

Recording site Sunset Sound — The CD reissue credits list Sunset Sound Recorders as the recording studio for this album. The place is given at the level of the listed studio and city. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Seventh solo album by Kris Kristofferson
• Released in 1976 on Monument Records
• "Killing Time" and "The Golden Idol" are re-recordings of songs first released as a single in 1967
• Ten tracks, all composed by Kristofferson
• Producer David Anderle, co-producer Ellen Vogt

Background

• In 1976, Wanted! The Outlaws became country music's first platinum album
• Outlaw country was reaching the mainstream that year
• Kristofferson's own record sales languished while those of friends and contemporaries rose
• He was becoming better known as an actor, playing opposite Barbra Streisand in A Star Is Born
• Some blamed his acting work for weaker songwriting; AllMusic argues that a country-style contract requiring a new album a year was a better reason

Recording

• Instrumentation stripped down to guitars, keyboards, bass and drums
• More than a dozen backing singers, including Rita Coolidge, Billy Swan and Gary Busey
• Bass by Lee Sklar, keyboards by Mike Utley
• Recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, according to the CD reissue credits
• The opener "You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine)" was more playful than the 1974 album Spooky Lady Sideshow
• The closer "If You Don't Like Hank Williams" name-checks Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Waylon Jennings, Joni Mitchell, George Jones and the Rolling Stones

Cover

• Photography by John Shannon

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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

• Made the country Top 10 but barely dented the Billboard 100
• The single "It's Never Gonna Be the Same Again" made no impact
• William Ruhlmann of AllMusic praised the single and "Bad Love Story"
• Ruhlmann argued the songwriting was spotty and that arrangements sometimes seemed like run-throughs
• Ruhlmann also found Kristofferson's rough vocals often inept
• Biographer Stephen Miller lamented the singing, writing that the vocals sounded more like a stressed foghorn than ever

Reappraisal

• AllMusic says the 1967 originals were written in a more verbose style than his later work
• "The Golden Idol" is seen as heavily influenced by Bob Dylan's mid-'60s poetic approach
• "Killing Time" is described as a put-down of unimaginative average people
• Critics accused him of spreading himself too thin, and the re-recorded tracks were cited as support for that view

Records

• Placed on the country album chart Top 10
• Barely entered the Billboard 100
• Single had no chart impact

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Hank Williams Jr. recorded a typically rowdy version of "If You Don't Like Hank Williams" for his 1980 album Habits Old and New.
• "Eddie the Eunuch" is a bitter diatribe against snide press elements the singer believed had it in for him.
• Both re-recorded songs had been released as a failed single for Epic Records in 1967.
• The 1976 Wanted! The Outlaws boom did little to lift Kristofferson's own sales, though his name stood beside Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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