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The Austin Sessions

Kris Kristofferson - The Austin Sessions Audio CD

A fair review of the Kris Kristofferson "The Austin Sessions" 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: The Austin Sessions
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-08-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Me and Bobby McGee - Jackson Browne, Kris Kristofferson 2: Sunday Morning Coming Down - Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson 3: For the Good Times - Matraca Berg, Kris Kristofferson 4: Silver Tongued Devil and I - Kris Kristofferson 5: Help Me Make It Through the Night - Vince Gill, Kris Kristofferson 6: Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) - Marc Cohn, Kris Kristofferson 7: To Beat the Devil - Kris Kristofferson 8: Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame - Kris Kristofferson 9: Why Me - Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson 10: Nobody Wins - Catie Curtis, Kris Kristofferson 11: Pilgrim, Chapter 33 - Kris Kristofferson 12: Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends - Mark Knopfler, Kris Kristofferson

Vivid, Striking, and Boldly Performed
A quarter of a century later, Kristofferson has stepped into the studio to revisit his old songs, enlisting the help of some fellow musicians to sing a little harmony (with mixed results: Jackson Browne sounds completely disengaged from and hopelessly irrelevant to "Me and Bobby McGee," Steve Earle stays pretty well in the background but sounds natural in "Sunday Morning Coming Down," Matraca Berg adds a nice touch to "For the Good Times," Vince Gill seems completely miscast singing along with Kris in "Help Me Make It Through the Night," Marc Cohn adds some harmonically helpful vocal support to "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," Vince Gill and Alison Krauss sound right at home in "Why Me?," Catie Curtis adds a nice touch to "Nobody Wins," and Mark Knopfler adds both his distinctive guitar style and his voice to the final cut, "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends. This CD is a reminder of just how many really good songs Kris Kristofferson was responsible for back in the `70s, most of them made into hits by artists other than Kristofferson himself, although he did put out several albums that achieved something of a cult status. "

The arrangements are straightforward, with a minimum of instrumentation (typically a guitar or two, bass, and drums), and the tonal balance is rich and warm--it sounds like a studio job mixed on the board rather than in the air, but it has that nice punchy sound, with no edge, the net result being a sound that will come across well on a variety of audio systems, both at home and on the road.

These songs may be familiar, but they still pack a wallop. They may be melodramatic, but they are fun to listen to, and you may well find yourself singing along. But these songs can also be disturbing. I was playing this CD in our van one evening, really enjoying it, singing along with some of the songs, when suddenly my 17-year-old daughter exclaimed from the back seat, "Dad, how can you listen to this whole CD?! Every song is about beer and fooling around and it's just so--I don't know. . . " It was clear that she really hated it, and she could not understand how I could possibly like it.

She's right, in a way. The songs really are about sin and self-pity, with a little self-abuse and self-aggrandizement thrown in for good measure. Not a very pretty picture, and not something you would like to think that your father relates to. I suppose the reason many of us like these songs is that they express things we feel hints of but are mostly lucky enough to avoid. "Sunday Morning Coming Down," for example, is a song that resonates deeply in my soul, but I have certainly never been that lonely or that wasted. Maybe hearing it and singing along with it makes me feel glad that I never have been the lonely or that wasted--or makes me feel glad to realize that I have been able to avoid making the bad choices that could easily lead to my having been so. Hearing the song makes me feel lucky--and blessed.

This is something that my daughter does not begin to see or feel, and as a father, I rejoice in her innocence and am in a way quite pleased that she finds this music so revolting. She's a great kid whose favorite group is They Might Be Giants, a group that I get a kick out of but will never like as much as she does, even though I am so glad that she really likes them. They are fun and stimulating in a positive way, worlds apart from Kris Kristofferson.

Enough dimestore literary criticism and pop psychology--the point is that these songs are vivid and striking, boldly performed and recorded. If you have ever enjoyed any of Kris Kristofferson's songs, you are going to want to pick up this CD.

Texas tea and sympathy.
Success of friends like fellow Highwayman Johnny Cash ("Sunday Morning Coming Down") singing KK's material has partially obscured KK's greatness. You don't realize what a giant of American poetry and songwriting Kris Kristofferson is until you hear a CD full of him doing his own stuff. "The Austin Sessions" will cause any scales of obscurity/ignorance to fall from the eyes.
Recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin, Texas, in 1999, Kristofferson reviews his art on the cusp of a new century in powerful and very spiritual ways. Remarks in the CD's jacket notes bring to mind the biblical prophecy of the valley of the bones (Ezekiel 37) - Kristofferson: "Time and the road have whittled the fat away `til there is nothing but bone and sinew. I am struck by how alive they are. . . I will carry these versions of these songs as my artistic ID into the hereafter. " And, at that time, Kris, I suspect you'll be dealt kindness and truth since that's the road you chose in life.
An all-star cast backs Kristofferson in "The Austin Sessions" including Jackson Browne (harmony vocal on "Me and Bobby McGee"), Marc Cohn, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights. The pace and messages are pure Kristofferson, though.
True fans will notice subtle changes. Contra Janis Joplin's rendition, Bobby McGee is a woman in KK's version. Kristofferson changes the line in "Help Me Make It Through The Night" from ". . . it's SAD to be alone. . . " to ". . . it's BAD to be alone. . . " (although the jacket lyrics lists the original "sad" line). Again, the artist is reaching for something highly spiritual/biblical - see Genesis 2:18 when G-d says it's not good ("lo tov" in Hebrew) for man to be alone.
Kristofferson also displays a Jewish sensibility in the "Silver-Tongued Devil and I" when he describes the Devil as being in all of us (known as the yetzer ha-ra, or evil inclination, in Judaism) as opposed to an identifiable personage walking around sporting horns, a red tail, and pitchfork. KK bridges it wisely here and in "To Beat The Devil" when he shows the Devil to be like a whole other personality yet as tied to us as our own shadows.
"Why Me?" is a potent Christian spiritual. Its gratitude and contrition could do more to promote true G-dly living than 100 speeches by Reverend. . . Well, let's leave off the names. Sadly, Kristofferson's music isn't played much on Christian radio and much less on corporatized, bulls**tized mainstream radio. This great song is falling between the cracks. Past time that it made its way into Protestant hymnals and the air waves.
Insightful social commentary also flows from Kristofferson's pen. Historian Tony Judt, in his fine collection of essays "Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century," wonders if Western man has accepted the ethos of globalist capitalism along the lines of how Karl Marx explained the "iron laws" of economics. KK comes at the question in a different way, showing us that economics can't be dismissed although Judt and Kristofferson would agree that economics isn't an end-all. In "To Beat The Devil," Kristofferson urges persistence against what seems like a stacked deck.
"You see the Devil haunts the hungry man
You don't want to join him
You gotta beat him
I ain't saying I beat the Devil
But I drank his beer for nothing
Then stole his song. "

Freedom isn't an end-all either. Note the crucial difference between Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" and Kristofferson's. The Full-Tilt Boogie Band Janis version reflects the spirit of the 1960s, holding out freedom as The Goal. Janis sings: "Nothin' ain't worth nothing IF it ain't free. " A mature Kristofferson is skeptical of that - "Nothin', ain't worth nothing BUT it's free. " KK seems to have found something higher than freedom. The CD cover photo of Kris prominently sporting a wedding ring may be the answer.
Looking from one end of his life to the other, our artist with the redundant name (little joke there) concludes "The Austin Sessions" with "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33" and "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends. " (Tell me if you don't recognize yourself in these lines).
Past and present:
"He's a poet (he's a picker)
He's a prophet (he's a pusher)
He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walking contradiction
Partly truth and partly fiction
Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home. "
("The Pilgrim: Chapter 33. ")

Present and future:
"Never's just the echo of forever
Lonesome as a love that might have been
Let me go on lovin' and believin' `til it's over
Please don't tell me how the story ends. "

.

RHODES SCHOLAR, U.S. ARMY VETERAN, ACTOR, SINGER-SONGWRITER. (Kris and some famous friends rework his greatest songs)
He is a Rhodes Scholar (Oxford), a standout collegiate athelete (football, rugby), a Vietnam War-era U. Kris Kristofferson has written some of country music's greatest songs; Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through The Night, For The Good Times, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Why Me Lord. S. Army veteran, a helicoptor pilot and a movie-star who's starred as a leading man in several major Hollywood productions. The guy is an American icon.

This 1999 album finds Kris in Austin, Texas (his home state) re-recording his greatest songs with backing vocals from friends like Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Mark Knopfler and Steve Earle.

The songs were recorded live in the studio with acoustic guitars, mandolins, harmonica, piano and pedal steel guitar. The album is very well produced and the crispness of the acoustic sound really stands out. The performances are inspired, energetic and focused.

Kristofferson's songs are so real, alive and human that they are almost out of fashion in this modern age of music where sometimes it seems that self-serving arrogance is the order of the day. As I listen to these songs today, I can remember when they were hits and winning awards (how can we ever forget the long-haired Kris in 1970; showing up wasted at the CMA Awards show on TV, and staggering up to the podium to accept his award for best song, Sunday Morning Coming Down). The world has changed tremendously since then, but the basic human condition that Kristofferson so penetratingly sings about in these songs is still the same. Kris can say it better than I ever could:

He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Running from his devils and reaching for the stars
And losing all he's loved along the way
But this world keeps right on turning for the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the hearse
The going up was worth the coming down
.

The Silver-Pilgrim-Bobby Mc Sunday Morning Devil
You know he's that Silver-Pilgrim-Bobby McSunday Morning-Devil! Well HELL! He's more than that. How can anyone not give Kris BIG KUDOS for revisting some of his signature songs. He's even Willie's good buddy and he's Johnny Cash's favorite songwriter. So roll on Kris I'm lovin' this great-great CD. . . And you keep on keepin' on good friend. .

A must have for Kristofferson fans!
Just about every song on this album represents an improvement over the original studio recording. I have been a Kristofferson fan for many years but was never aware of this 1999 album until just recently (which must have been the world's best kept secret if I didn't know about it). The sparse, acoustic arrangements highlight Kris' voice- it has never sounded better. The guitar, accordian, mandolin and piano playing are superb. The harmony vocals add the icing on the cake (particularly good are Jackson Browne and Vince Gill). When I hear Steve Earle, a lifelong heroin addict, sing the chorus "on the Sunday morning sidewalks, wishing Lord that I was stoned" with Kris on Sunday Morning Coming Down, it's one of the most powerful collaborations ever recorded. My only minor complaint is that the harmony vocals are mixed down way too much on most tracks (you have to really concentrate to hear who's singing). I just wish that every track had a guest harmony vocalist (The Silver Tongued Devil suffered from no harmony vocal). The bottom line is that this is a must have for any Kristofferson fan even if you own all these songs from other albums. You won't be disappointed.
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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.