Album Review: This Old Road

Though he has long appeared ageless, the approach of his 70th Birthday plainly has Kris Kristofferson sitting back, taking stock and coming to terms with his musical legacy. Having become more of a regular presence on film set than in the recording studio in past years, Kristofferson recently returned to the road without his band for some intimate shows.

Perhaps spurred by the sense of communion achieved by performing live, This Old Road, his first studio-recorded album of new material since 1995’s A Moment Of Forever, finds Kristofferson in reflective mood; looking back but always with one eye on the future. A reunion with producer Don Was (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones) ensures the emphasis is always on Kristofferson’s fine lyrics and distinctive voice, with only subtle accompaniment added by Was (bass, piano, backing vocals), long-time sidekick Stephen Bruton (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals) and Jim Keltner (drums). This spare production ensures This Old Road is never anything less than an entirely intimate affair.

Ten of the songs are entirely new, with only the title track having been recorded before. Originally included on his critically-panned 1986 album, Repossessed, Kristofferson perhaps thought it deserved a new audience. Immediately after, Pilgrim’s Progress – a sort of sequel to his beloved classic Chapter 33 – takes the form of a progress report, with Kristofferson appraising his life so far (“I got lucky, I got everything I wanted.”). Continuing the theme, The Last Thing To Go and The Show Goes On all have Kristofferson musing on the life of a troubadour and deciding that despite all the bumps, his road has had incomparable rewards.

A writer as renowned for passionate expression as Kristofferson wouldn’t dwell too long on the past though, and he offers his observations on a myriad of modern issues. The anti-Bush In The News lambastes the war on Iraq and his defiant refrain, “Not in my name / not on my ground / I want nothing but the endin’ of the war,” sums up the feelings of liberal America better than almost any writer to date. Later, Chase The Feeling is a bold treatise on the destructive behaviour of living up to rock star stereotypes that is followed by Holy Creation, an enchanting tale of parental wonderment at his children’s birth.

On Wild American, Kristofferson reminds us of his heroes: Native American activist John Trudell, Merle Haggard and Steve Earle. It’s a theme he revisits on the album finale Final Attraction. It name checks dead heroes, like John Lennon, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin, George Harrison, Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix before the track’s closing refrain, “Pick up a guitar / go break a heart,” (a line inspired by watching Willie Nelson perform one night) sends the album to a fitting conclusion.

This Old Road is an album of rare beauty, grace and eloquence that captures Kristofferson in all his rough-edged, plain-spoken and big-hearted glory; and is easily the most intensely personal release of his career.