Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson tabs Kris Kristofferson discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Kris Kristofferson guitar tabs

CD reviews

Songs of Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson - Songs of Kristofferson Audio CD

A fair review of the Kris Kristofferson "Songs of Kristofferson" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Kris Kristofferson reviews here, or go back to the Kris Kristofferson tabs.

Band: Kris Kristofferson
Title: Songs of Kristofferson
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Silver Tongued Devil and I 2: Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) 3: Me and Bobby McGee 4: Help Me Make It Through the Night 5: For the Good Times 6: Sunday Morning Coming Down 7: You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine) 8: Pilgrim, Chapter 33 9: Stranger 10: I Got a Life of My Own 11: Why Me 12: Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame

The songs are great
" He has acted in some movies and toured in areas that strongly support country music. Kris Kristofferson's main success was as the composer of the song, "Me and Bobby McGee. I truly do not know the last time he has been in Minnesota. The Kristofferson concert that I had a ticket for was rescheduled, then canceled for some reason, or no reason at all, if the songs on this album are any indication of how likely old Kris is to show up and put on a show. It is still possible to buy LIVE AT THE PHILHARMONIC, an album with the out-a-line song "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" about bombing in Birmingham, a CD which is funnier than this one, with a comic version of a famous song about an Okie who ain't never heard of pigeon woo, ("cause we get drunk like God wants us to do") that is definitely not on this CD. Compared to that, this selection could have been called Serious Songs of Kristofferson.

"The Silver-Tongued Devil" is still cute, in its way, and exhibits a split personality which is close to humor. "Don't believe him, he's a devil, he's everything that I ain't" hits pretty close to home for a serious album, and that is the first selection.

"Loving Her Was Easier (than anything I'll ever do again)" is a beautiful song that gets lush treatment, with a flute, violins and a background vocals that seem to go with "the feeling of her fingers on my skin. " The song, "Help Me Make It Through the Night," is based more on a mix of guitars, but maintains a romantic feel.

"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" is the song in which the album again begins to lose its dignity, as he searches through his closet for his cleanest dirty shirt. "You Show Me Yours (and I'll show you mine)" is in a "You're feeling salty" mood. "The Pilgim: Chapter 33 (Hang In, Hopper)" makes you wonder how some of these singer-songwriter types last so long in whatever states they keep finding themselves in, "wondering if the going up was worth the coming down. " A few songs later, "Why Me" is facing Jesus with the question, "What did I ever do that was worth loving you, or the kindness you've shown?" Having sung things so low, the "Help me, Jesus, my soul's in your hand," makes sense in a way that only Kris, with a background chorus, some great guitar picking, and the sense that music implies, can.

In the final song, "all the cards are on the table" in "the only game in town. And the pain, it doesn't matter. " The advice: "keep your hands above the table, and your back against the wall" might even have some moral application. This is a spiritual album with performances from 1972, 1975, 1976, and 1977, quite a while ago, but considered worthy of a CD in 1988, when people finally wanted to put their money into music that was in a form that might last forever, however soon anyone might be departing this life individually. This was a good choice. These are the keepers.

The Rhodes Scholar Strikes Gold.
Covers songs from the monster and everlasting 'Me and Bobby McGee' to 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' to the tongue in cheek 'You Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine' to the gospelly "Why Me'. This is a very very good recording of the hits of Kris. This is a must have for Kris fans. A special treat is 'Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame'. The only selection I can't get into is 'The Pilgrim'. For a recording during this period not remastered, it's not bad quality at all.

Profound and soul-searching

His brand of songwriting goes straight to the core, so real and personal it doesn't take much to associate with his songs. Kris Kristofferson, like Bob Dylan and Paul Williams, is a living proof that it takes more than a good voice to make a good song. He peeks into our souls in a way that makes it so easy for us to say "I know what Kris Kristofferson is talking about, I've been through those kinds of situation myself. "

Who among us some time in our lives has not gone through feelings of aloneness and depression so pervasive that they completely cloud our perception of reality ("On a Sunday morning sidewalk, wishing Lord that I was stone. . . ")? Who hasn't gone through relationships turned awry but feeling no trace of regret just the sme for having loved the other person who despite it all had somehow enriched our lives ('For The Good Times' and 'Loving Her Was Easier')?

It's perplexing and infuriating to hear a man confess his readiness to "trade all his tomorrows for a single yesterday just to hold a woman in his arms" only to let go of that woman in the next breath! Yeah, it would be so easy to curse Kris Kristofferson - and kick his butt! - for letting go of a soulmate and free spirit like Bobby McGee but come to think of it, who really among us hasn't done a similar thing somewhere along the way? Who among us has not experienced letting go of a special person and rue it for the rest of our lives?

The need for companionship on lonely and dreary nights is a universal one ('Help Me Make It Through The Night'). People who went thorugh so many difficult stages before they finally found themselves abound ('Pilgrim-Chapter 33'). And after the long and tortuous journey is finally over, when the light at the end of the tunnel has been reached, it is a very common occurence to see people finally taking account of all their blessings through spiritual enlightenment and renewal ('Why Me Lord?').

Sensivitive, profound and uniquely gifted in human insights, Kris Kristofferson speaks from his soul through his songs. By doing so, he really speaks for all of us.

Start with this one...then keep going!
I suggest you buy this one first, it is the overall best of his work. It's Johnny Cash meets Bob Dylan meets Willie Nelson! If you like any of those guys you'll love Kris. But "Super Hits" and "Best Of" each have great tracks that aren't on this one. I recommend all three. . . they are inexpensive, and once you get into Kris you'll be hooked, believe me.

Outstanding songwriting
Maybe 15-20 years since I first heard them, the songs Kristofferson wrote send chills down my spine. I have worn out my vinyl copy of this recording; but thank heavens the CD is indestructible. Has ANYONE ever caught the emptiness of the down-and-out better than 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' ? Listen to him turn a phrase like "wiping out the traces of the people and the places I have been" and tell me who writes more gracefully with less effort. What song has ever captured bar-room lust better than 'you show me yours', or with more irony than 'Silver-tongued Devil' ?

Folk/country lost a real talent when KK decided to pursue an acting career and leave songwriting behind. His later efforts simply don't compare with his early works. But that work is good enough to land him in my singer/songwriters' pantheon right alongside Townes van Zandt, John Prine, and early Dylan.

This disk makes--and on some days, it would TOP-- my top ten 'desert island disks' list.

You can see a complete list of all Kris Kristofferson discography, or go back to the Kris Kristofferson tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.