Living with the Law is the debut album by singer-songwriter and guitarist Chris Whitley, released in 1991. "Living with the Law", "Big Sky Country", and "Poison Girl" were released as singles. Malcolm Burn produced, mixed, and played on the album. It was recorded by Burn and Mark Howard at Kingsway Studio (Daniel Lanois's home) in New Orleans.

Critical reception

The Boston Globe opined that Whitley's "unusual bent-note singing and spare but deeply affecting lyrics mark him as a true discovery." The New York Times 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 critics poll. It is listed in Tom Moon's 2008 book, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Whitley himself later dismissed his first album as "too polished".

Track listing

All tracks written by Chris Whitley.

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts