Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
2. To Beat the Devil
3. Just the Other Side of Nowhere
4. Me and Bobby McGee
5. Best of All Possible Worlds, The
6. Casey's Last Ride
7. Help Me Make It Through the Night
8. Darby's Castle
9. Jody and the Kid
10. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
11. For the Good Times
12. Come Sundown
13. From the Bottle to the Bottom
14. Billy Dee
15. Breakdown (A Long Way From Home)
16. Silver Tongued Devil and I, The
17. Taker, The
18. Pilgrim: Chapter 33, The
DISC 2:
1. Border Lord
2. Sabre and the Rose, The
3. Broken Freedom Song
4. Jesus Was a Capricorn (Owed to John Prine)
5. Shandy (The Perfect Disguise)
6. Sugar Man
7. Last Time, The
8. Nobody Wins
9. I'd Rather Be Sorry - (with Rita Coolidge)
10. Highwayman - (with Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson/Johnny Cash)
11. Don't Cuss the Fiddle
12. Bigger the Fool, The (The Harder They Fall)
13. Stranger
14. If You Don't Like Hank Williams
15. Here Comes That Rainbow Again
16. Once More With Feeling
17. How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around - (with Willie Nelson)
18. Why Me
19. Please Don't Tell Me How This Story Ends
| Details | | Distributor: | Sony Music Distribution ( | | Recording Type: | Mixed | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel includes: Kris Kristofferson (vocals, guitar); Steve Burton, Fred Carter Jr., Johnny Christopher, James Colvard, Ray Edenton, Chris Gantry, Mac Gayden, Steve Gibson, Jerry Kennedy, Mark Knopfler, Dennis Linde, Grady Martin, Jerry McGee, Wayne Moss, Jerry Shook, Billy Swan, Fred Tackett, John "Bucky" Wilkin, Chip Youn (guitar); Peter Drake, Paul Franklin, Weldon Myrick (steel guitar); David Briggs, Glen Clark (keboards); Dennis Belfield (bass); Kenny Buttrey (drums); Bobbye Hall (percussion).
Producers includes: Fred Foster, David Anderle, Nancy Carlen, Dennis Linde, Norbert Putam.
Compilation producer: Gregg Geller.
Recorded between 1969 & 1985. Includes liner notes by Jim Bessman.
Drunkards, free spirits, wayward travelers, and lady-killers populate the songs of Kris Kristofferson, who was a wandering soul himself before becoming a professional musician. Always one to appeal to country and rock fans alike, Kristofferson is a songwriter's songwriter, as illustrated by this double-disc collection. The first disc is primarily comprised of nine tracks from his landmark 1970 debut, KRISTOFFERSON, and seven cuts from 1971's equally strong THE SILVER TONGUED DEVIL AND I. These include "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," and "For the Good Times"--all hits for other artists, though Kristofferson's weathered, raspy versions feel definitive.
Disc two culls tracks from more varied sources, though a mere five of 19 go beyond 1979. It opens with 1972?s narcotic "Border Lord," and continues through four tracks from 1972's JESUS WAS A CAPRICORN (including "I'd Rather Be Sorry," a duet with his then-wife, Rita Coolidge), "How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around" (with Willie Nelson, from the 1986 film SONGWRITER), and a 1985 cut from the country supergroup Highwaymen (with Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings). A strong collection for the true fan, or a fantastic intro for the uninitiated, ESSENTIAL is a concise overview of this groundbreaking songwriter's work.
Editorial Reviews
4 stars out of 5 - [H]e brought an outsider's perspective to Music City's staid conservatism that drew from the confessional folk of Fred Neil and the freewheelin' narrative of Dylan.
Uncut
4 stars out of 5 - [G]athering the best of his '70s solo sides and making a persuasive case for him as one of country's great storytellers.
Mojo (02/01/2004)
4 stars out of 5 - One of the most insightful country writers of the '70s...
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