Fort Towson

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

Living with the Law is the debut album by singer-songwriter and guitarist, Chris Whitley. It was released on July 2, 1991.

Malcolm Burn produced, mixed and played on the album. It was co-recorded by Burn and Mark Howard at Kingsway Studio (Daniel Lanois' home) in New Orleans.

Track listing

All tracks written by Chris Whitley.

1. "Excerpt" – 0:17
2. "Living with the Law" – 3:42
3. "Big Sky Country" – 4:45
4. "Kick the Stones" – 4:12
5. "Make the Dirt Stick" – 3:33
6. "Poison Girl" – 3:27
7. "Dust Radio" – 5:08
8. "Phone Call from Leavenworth" – 4:47
9. "I Forget You Every Day" – 4:33
10. "Long Way Around" – 4:27
11. "Look What Love Has Done" – 3:23
12. "Bordertown" – 4:30
13. [unnamed] – 0:18

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

Critical reception

Living with the Law was named ninth best album of 1991 in the Pazz & Jop critics poll. It is also listed in Tom Moon's 2008 book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.

Personnel

• Chris Whitley – vocals, National guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar
• Ronald Jones – drums
• Daryl Johnson – bass guitar
• Bill Dillon – guitar, pedal steel
• Malcolm Burn – keyboards, tambourine

Additional personnel

• Peter Conway – harmonica (4)
• Alan Gevaert – bass (5)
• Daniel Lanois – guitar (6)
• Deni Bonet – viola on (6)
• Dan Whitley – guitar on (10)

Charts

References