Kris Kristofferson - Reviewed on 2006-03-11
5 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.
Kris Kristofferson is a capricorn, he ate organic food. Well maybe, maybe not. He might not be as well known or revered to casual fans as Johnny Cash or the others, but oh how does he deserve to be. After having his demo tapes ignored by Johnny Cash (who he handed them to as he worked at the same label as Johnny as a janitor), he did what any normal, logical person would do and land a helicopter on Johnny's property and play his tapes for him TO MAKE SURE that Johnny heard them. The first song on the tape was Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, which Johnny covered and as they say the rest is history. Some of his songs are more well associated with other artists like the one mentioned, Janis Joplin's cover of Me & Bobby McGee and a heap of others who had hits with Kris' songs before he got his break himself. He wasn't young when his debut came out, in his 30's already, but he made up for lost time in the 70s, which takes up disc 1. The most well known songs are all here, Sunday Mornin', Bobby McGee, Help me make it through the night, etc., but the whole of disc one is just huge, with not a weak moment to be had and evidence enough that Kristofferson surely belongs among the very top songwriters whenever another list or countdown is made. To pick favourites would be like trying to pick your favourite out of your own kids, but I like the make the best of every situation attitude of the upbeat "The best of all possible worlds", the crying over a woman song "From the bottle to the bottom", the track about Johnny inspring him "To beat the devil" and finally "Please don't tell me how the story ends" whose impact is just massive. It's weighed heavily towards the older stuff, and disc 1 is a lot stronger than disc 2 but his best stuff WAS in the 70s. Even if you don't know much about Kris then this compilation will make you want to write a review as unshamedly gushing as all the ones here, this included. Definitely worth your time.