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In Issue 1076, Ethan Hawke profiles Kris Kristofferson, the last outlaw poet. The singer's epic journey has taken him from Oxford to the Army Rangers to Nashville and Hollywood. Here's a guide to 20 of the best tracks he's written along the way.
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" (1970)
The greatest song about a hangover ever written. Johnny Cash's 1970
recording launched Kristofferson's career.
Listen to Johnny Cash's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Best of All Possible Worlds" (1970)
Kris' humor shines in this ode to wine and lonely girls, but it's
the jailer who tells the truth: "If booze was just a dime a bottle,
boy, you couldn't even buy the smell."
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Help Me Make It Through the Night"
(1970)
Now a country standard, this plea for lovin' was too racy for
Nashville in the Seventies. Gladys Knight best captured the song's
tenderness in her 1972 cover.
Listen to Gladys Knight's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Me and Bobby McGee" (1970)
Somehow Kris managed to unite the hippie ideals with his
shitkicking Texas spirit. Janis Joplin's version, from 1971's
Pearl, was her only Number One song.
Listen to Janis Joplin's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"For the Good Times" (1970)
A dark waltz of doomed love. "He can slay you with a simple
sentiment of longing," says Norah Jones, who covered the tune with
the Little Willies.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do
Again)" (1971)
Willie Nelson has called this his favorite Kristofferson song,
which he covered on his 1979 album Willie Nelson Sings
Kristofferson.
Listen to Willie Nelson's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"The Pilgrim – Chapter 33" (1971)
Written about Kristofferson's hard-living heroes (Cash, Dennis
Hopper, Ramblin' Jack), this song ended up as a self-portrait:
"He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction."
Brilliantly covered by Emmylou Harris on The Pilgrim: A
Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (2006).
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Silver Tongued Devil" (1971)
Written when Waylon Jennings and Kris were touring and stirring up
trouble with the ladies, but it's Waylon's son Shooter who sings it
best.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"When I Loved Her" (1971)
Kris can get away with the simple sentiment of the lyrics ("She
seemed to be so proud of me just walking holding hands, and she
didn't think that money was the measure of a man") because he
shoots straight from the gut on this cut from The Silver
Tongued Devil and I, also recorded by Ray Price.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Why Me" (1973)
Kristofferson's biggest hit as a solo recording artist, featuring
backing vocals from his future wife, Rita Coolidge, and Larry
Gatlin. It doesn't matter what Gospel Choir shakes the steeple with
Kris' song, they can never capture the pain that Kris delivers in
his hungover prayer of gratitude.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
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"Broken Freedom Song" (1974)
The raw emotion of this track, part of an album of songs written
about alcohol and drug abuse, just slays the listener.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"I've Got to Have You" (1974)
This love song was most popularly covered by Carly Simon on her
album Anticipation, but people don't talk about Sammi
Smith's cover (which peaked at Number 13 on the country charts) as
much — and the woman has soul.
Listen to Sammi Smith's
version
Listen to Carly Simon's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends"
(1979)
Ronnie Milsap scored a Number One single with this wistful plea,
but the recording straight from the horse's mouth (off his third
and final duet album with former wife Rita Coolidge) is the one to
hear.
Listen to Ronnie Milsap's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Maybe You Heard" (1981)
For anyone who has gone through a divorce, this song is not
mysterious in the slightest. Todd Snider — one of Kris'
favorites from the new generation — gave his gospel
interpretation on The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris
Kristofferson.
Listen to Todd Snider's version
"Here Comes That Rainbow Again" (1983)
Johnny Cash said this track, a retelling of a scene from The
Grapes of Wrath, "might be my favorite song by any writer."
Appears on the Highwaymen's 1995 album The Road Goes On
Forever.
Listen to the Highwaymen's
version
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"They Killed Him" (1986)
A lament for Gandhi, King and Christ, covered by Dylan on
Knocked Out Loaded. "Havin' Dylan cover one of your songs
is like being a playwright and having Shakespeare act in your
play," Kris says.
Listen to Bob Dylan's version
"Sandinista" (1990)
This song was written to declare support for Nicaraguan rebels of
the same name, and it's a great example of Kris' more political
work. Patty Griffin recorded a beautiful version for a 2006 tribute
record.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"A Moment of Forever" (1995)
One of Kris' best love songs, memorably covered by Willie Nelson.
"I started singing it to him," Kristofferson remembers, "and all of
a sudden Willie started giggling. He thought I was singing the
words about him! I was so embarrassed. Later Willie cut the damn
thing and titled his album after it."
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"The Circle" (2003)
Kris' intro to the song on Broken Freedom Song: Live from San
Francisco is equally as insightful as the song, which was
inspired by the stories of the disappeared ones (Los Olivados) in
Argentina and the death of an Iraqi artist during the Clinton
administration's bombing of Baghdad.
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
"Pilgrim's Progress" (2006)
Kris has always been political, and this cut — which has been
called a sequel to 1971's "The Pilgrim – Chapter 33" —
proves the old dog has still got it. Kris says it's a track that
"tells the truth, a progress report."
Listen to Kris Kristofferson's
version
[From Issue 1076 — April 16, 2009]
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