''Living with the Law'' is the debut album by singer-songwriter and guitarist

Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Whitley's sound was drawn from the traditions of blues, jazz and rock and he recorded songs by artists from many g ...

, released in 1991. "Living with the Law", "Big Sky Country", and "Poison Girl" were released as singles.

Malcolm Burn Malcolm Burn (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. Emmylou Harris's '' Red Dirt Girl'', produced by Burn, won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2001 Grammys. Biography Born in Cornwall, Onta ...

produced, mixed, and played on the album. It was recorded by Burn and Mark Howard at Kingsway Studio (

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd ...

's home) in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Critical reception

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' opined that Whitley's "unusual bent-note singing and spare but deeply affecting lyrics mark him as a true discovery." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that the album "is about dust, danger, two-lane roads and barren landscapes; it's about running and feeling like an outlaw, not so much in the literal as in the emotional sense of being detached and therefore free, of being at home on the outskirts of right and wrong." ''Living with the Law'' was named ninth best album of 1991 in the

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

critics poll. It is listed in Tom Moon's 2008 book, ''

1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book written by Tom Moon, published in 2008. Synopsis It consists of a list of recordings, mostly albums (with some singles), arranged alphabetically by artist or composer. Each ...

''. Whitley himself later dismissed his first album as "too polished".

Track listing

All tracks written by Chris Whitley. # "Excerpt" – 0:17 # "

Living with the Law Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * L ...

" – 3:42 # " Big Sky Country" – 4:45 # "Kick the Stones" – 4:12 # "Make the Dirt Stick" – 3:33 # "Poison Girl" – 3:27 # "Dust Radio" – 5:08 # "Phone Call from Leavenworth" – 4:47 # "I Forget You Every Day" – 4:33 # "Long Way Around" – 4:27 # "Look What Love Has Done" – 3:23 # "Bordertown" – 4:30 # " nnamed – 0:18

Personnel

*Chris Whitley – vocals,

National guitar The National String Instrument Corporation was an American guitar company first formed to manufacture banjos and then the original resonator guitars. National also produced resonator ukuleles and resonator mandolins. The company merged with Dobr ...

, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar *Ronald Jones – drums *

Daryl Johnson Daryl E. Johnson (August 11, 1946 – November 25, 2023) was an American professional football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a m ...

– bass guitar *Bill Dillon – guitar,

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

– keyboards,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

Additional personnel *Peter Conway – harmonica (4) *Alan Gevaert – bass (5) *

– guitar (6) *

Deni Bonet Deni Bonet is a US-born singer-songwriter, electric violinist, and multi-instrumentalist. She began her professional career in the house band of National Public Radio’s ''Mountain Stage'' radio show. She left to pursue a solo career and also ...

–

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

on (6) *Dan Whitley – guitar on (10)

Charts

References

{{Authority control Chris Whitley albums 1991 debut albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Malcolm Burn