(2021) VA – For the Good Times: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson


Review:
…Texas-born Kris Kristofferson had been working on the edges of the music business since the late ’50s.  His first release came on the tiny Manor label in 1958; after serving five years in the U.S. military, the Rhodes scholar made his move to Nashville to pursue songwriting. He did get some covers – Dave Dudley’s “Vietnam Blues” was a chart hit in 1966 and so was Roy Drusky’s take on “Jody and the Kid” two years later – but he was still working as a custodian at Columbia’s studios. When a chance encounter with June Carter Cash resulted in a song finding its way to her husband John, Kristofferson got the break he was waiting for. He was soon turning out future standards at a remarkable clip, many of which can be heard on Ace’s 23-song collection For the Good Times: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson.  These are the compositions that bridged the gap between traditional country and the new, counterculture-friendly movement, earning Kris an “outlaw” label in the process.  This set features an A-list line-up of artists: Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, George Jones, Roy Orbison, Roger Miller, and Kris’ fellow Highwaymen Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson among them.  But Kristofferson’s songs went beyond country’s borders, attracting covers in pop, soul, and rock idioms, too.  All of those (and more) are represented on Ace’s anthology. The four songs that arguably are the songwriter’s most famous – “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” and the title track – all feature here.  “Help Me Make It Through the Night” opens the disc in Sammi Smith’s countrypolitan setting from 1970, her lone top ten U.S. Pop entry.  Smith captured the ballad’s longing and intent with her intimate yet confident vocal.  More unexpectedly, compiler Tony Rounce has chosen a fine 2006 bluegrass treatment of “Sunday Morning” from Bobby Osborne and The Rocky Top X-Press.  (Note that, even decades after it first proved controversial, Osborne altered the “wishing I was stoned” lyric.)  Roger Miller introduced “Me and Bobby McGee,” and although his 1969 recording was eclipsed by others’, including Janis Joplin’s posthumous No. 1 hit version in 1971, his jaunty original retains its abundant charm.  “For the Good Times” is presented in Isaac Hayes’ slow-burner from his Black Moses LP; it’s silk and soul all the way with female background vocalists and a lush bed of strings supporting the reassuring lead vocal. Kristofferson’s songs often spoke in an unadorned, accessible voice, finding beauty in melancholy.  George Jones’ “Why Me” epitomizes this, with The Possum tapping into a vein of raw emotion and self-regret.  Johnny Cash’s Sun Records-flavored reading of “The Junkie and the Juiceman (Minus Me)” likewise strikes an autobiographical mood, with the Man in Black finding a connection to Kris’ own story.  But the songwriter wasn’t devoid of humor, either; For the Good Times checks that box off with the novelty-esque “If You Don’t Like Hank Williams” (“…you can kiss my ass!”) as sung by the late subject’s outlaw son Hank Williams Jr. and the winking “You Show Me Yours (And I’ll Show You Mine)” from Willie Nelson and Amy Irving on the soundtrack of Honeysuckle Rose. Kris’ songs were snapped up by numerous R&B artists from the famous (Isaac Hayes) to the obscure (Sam Baker).  “Sugarman” is one of Kristofferson’s darkest songs; even “outlaw” is too gentle for this vicious murder ballad.  Baker tops the brassy cut off with a wickedly vengeful recitation.  Making its welcome debut on CD is Dianne Steinberg’s “Enough for You” from the vocalist’s 1974 all-too-unknown Atlantic LP recorded at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios with the cream of the Philly crop including “The Young Professionals” LeBaron Taylor, Tony Bell, and Phil Hurtt.  It’s a bleak, desperate, and poignant lament from an abandoned lover, sung with sensitivity by Steinberg over a plush orchestration from Philly veteran Richie Rome.  Smoky-voiced New Orleans singer Cynthia Sheeler does a southern soul take of “Nobody Wins,” covered not only by Nashville’s heaviest hitters but perhaps most famously by Frank Sinatra.  Lloyd Charmers (a.k.a. Lloyd Chalmers) delivered a reggae version of another Kristofferson standard, “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again),” proving the malleability of his well-crafted melodies. “Just the Other Side of Nowhere” inspired covers from Bobby Bare, Ray Price, Johnny Cash, and numerous others, but none so delightfully laconic as Dean Martin’s.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is “Something They Can’t Take Away,” a song Kristofferson never recorded himself and heard here in Roy Orbison’s stirring 1976 version from his long-overlooked album Regeneration.  Another somewhat unexpected name to appear here is Scott Walker.  It’s largely forgotten that the cult hero took quite a shine to mainstream country music in the 1970s, including the beautiful and subtle MOR performance of “Got to Have You” included here from The Walker Brothers’ No Regrets LP. Kris occasionally collaborated with other writers.  All three gents credited for “Rock and Roll Time” – Kristofferson, Roger McGuinn, and Bob Neuwirth – recorded solo versions of the tune.  Ex-Byrd McGuinn took the title to heart, delivering the song in an aggressive snarl over a driving accompaniment overseen by producer Mick Ronson.  There’s no trace of folk-rock in McGuinn’s proto-punk interpretation. Poet-songwriter Shel Silverstein co-wrote “The Taker,” sung by Kristofferson in his modest voice to a woozy mariachi band accompaniment. — SecondDisc





Track Listing:
01 - Sammi Smith - Help Me Make It Through The Night
02 - Sam Baker - Sugarman
03 - Dianne Steinberg - Enough For You
04 - Jerry Lee Lewis & Shelby Lynne - Here Comes That Rainbow Again
05 - Dean Martin - Just The Other Side Of Nowhere
06 - Roy Orbison - Something They Can't Take Away
07 - Billy Walker & The Tennessee Walkers - From The Bottle To The Bottom
08 - Cynthia Sheeler - Nobody Wins
09 - Roger McGuinn - Rock And Roll Time
10 - The Everly Brothers - Somebody Nobody Knows
11 - Kris Kristofferson - The Taker
12 - Donnie Fritts - Prone To Lean
13 - George Jones - Why Me, Lord
14 - Lloyd Charmers - Loving Her Was Easier
15 - Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press - Sunday Morning Coming Down
16 - Roger Miller - Me And Bobby McGee
17 - Isaac Hayes - For The Good Times
18 - Hank Williams Jr. - If You Don't Like Hank Williams
19 - Joan Osborne - Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
20 - Willie Nelson with Amy Irving - You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine)
21 - Johnny Cash - The Junkie And The Juicehead (Minus Me)
22 - The Walker Brothers - Got To Have You
23 - Waylon Jennings - To Beat The Devil


Media Report:
Genre: country, pop, soul, tribute
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits