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Now this is worth collecting. A stone classic with at least three or four classic Kristofferson mega hits that really went into the American Songbook if with a Country edge I grant you, but Sunday Morning, For the Good Times, Help me, Me n Bobbie I mean come on!

Kris Kristofferson was approaching his mid-thirties and had been kicking around Nashville for several years when he belatedly became an overnight success in 1969-1970. The impetus was "Me and Bobby McGee," which he co-wrote with Fred Foster, who ran Monument Records. Roger Miller cut the song, and his recording peaked in the country Top 20 in August 1969. By that time, Kristofferson had performed at the Newport Folk Festival at the behest of Johnny Cash, and Foster decided to sign him to Monument as a recording artist. Before this debut album was released in 1970, Ray Stevens had scored a pop and country chart entry with Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down."

On the evidence of his first collection of songs, Kristofferson was ahead of his country music peers in realizing that, despite Nashville's conservative political tilt, there was a natural affinity between the country archetype of a hard-drinking, romantically independent loner and the rock & roll archetype of a drug-taking, romantically free hippie. (Of course, lots of rock musicians, especially in Los Angeles, had already noticed this similarity, and formed bands like Poco and the Flying Burrito Brothers to exploit it.)

He opened the album with what sounded like an answer to the criticisms of the Rolling Stones in the wake of Altamont. "Blame It on the Stones" contrasted various conservative stereotypes, starting with "Mr. Marvin Middle Class," with the supposedly evil rock group, its chorus a parody of "Bringing in the Sheaves." Needless to say, that was not a typical way to open a country album in 1970 (or any other time), but Kristofferson quickly followed with the somewhat more reverent "To Beat the Devil," which he dedicated in a spoken introduction to Johnny Cash and June Carter, and in which he established a persona he would maintain through much of the album, the character of a poor songwriter struggling against despair.

"Me and Bobby McGee," a classic on-the-road song, was next, with Kristofferson, despite the country grammar, displaying his background as an English teacher in its chorus, "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose/Nothin' ain't worth nothin', but it's free." Then came "The Best of All Possible Worlds," which used a reference to Voltaire to reflect wryly on the viewpoint of a drunken vagrant. (You could see what attracted Roger Miller to Kristofferson in a song like this, which clearly was influenced by Miller's "King of the Road," though Kristofferson's treatment of the subject was grittier.) Of course, the ultimate example of the subject was the album-closing "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," which was basically a first-person description of a hangover. The romantic side of the hard-living drifter character was glimpsed in the album's two tenderest statements, "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "For the Good Times," both of which were pleas by the narrator to sleep with the object of his affection.

A sleeve note suggested that Kristofferson had been reluctant to record, but while he didn't have much range as a singer, he brought a conviction to his vocals and a complete understanding of the nuances of the lyrics. The songs were so personal that they seemed to demand a personal interpretation. Nashville, as it turned out, didn't have much use for countercultural songs like "Blame It on the Stones" and "The Law Is for Protection of the People" (which had some choice words for the police), but the country music community could recognize a good love song with an erotic edge that was on the cusp of the era's changing mores, and Ray Price quickly cut "For the Good Times," which topped the country charts.

Then, Johnny Cash covered "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" for a number one country hit, leading to its winning the Country Music Association's Song of the Year award for 1970, and Sammi Smith gave a twist to "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by recording it as a woman's song for yet another country number one. The finishing touch to Kristofferson's sudden renown was Janis Joplin's cover of "Me and Bobby McGee," released shortly after her death, which topped the pop charts.

When it was released in 1970, Kristofferson did not reach the charts. By the following year, however, its creator was on his way to becoming a major star, and after his second album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I, broke into the pop charts in July 1971, Monument re-titled the first album Me and Bobby McGee and reissued it. This time around, it made the pop and country charts and went gold. (On February 6, 2001, Monument/Legacy reissued Kristofferson as part of its American Milestones series. Featuring 24-bit remastering, the CD added four previously unreleased tracks from the same sessions that produced the album, among them an early version of "Come Sundown," later recorded for a Top Ten country hit by Bobby Bare and re-cut by Kristofferson himself for his Shake Hands With the Devil album in 1979.)

by William Ruhlmann

Tracks
1. Blame It On The Stones (Kris Kristofferson, John Wilkin) - 2:46
2. To Beat The Devil - 4:43
3. Me And Bobby Mcgee (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) - 4:23
4. Best Of All Possible Worlds - 3:01
5. Help Me Make It Through The Night - 2:24
6. The Law Is For Protection Of The People - 2:40
7. Casey's Last Ride - 3:37
8. Just The Other Side Of Nowhere - 3:39
9. Darby's Castle - 3:19
10.For The Good Times - 3:25
11.Duvalier's Dream - 2:58
12.Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - 4:34
13.The Junkie And The Juicehead, Minus Me - 3:24
14.Shadows Of Her Mind - 3:13
15.The Lady's Not For Sale (Kris Kristofferson, Carol Pugh) - 3:27
16.Come Sundown - 2:36
All songs by Kris Kristofferson except as noted

Musicians
*Kris Kristofferson – Guitar, Vocals
*Jerry Kennedy - Guitar

Kris Kristofferson - Me And Bobby McGee (1979)

read the notes about this one on the YouTube channel about Dorsey Burnette

Neil Young - 1997-08-10 - Saratoga, NY (SBD) | so many roads

Neil Young - 1997-08-10 - Saratoga, NY (SBD)

A SPEEDY SPECIAL

Neil Young

& Crazy Horse

1997-08-10

Horde Festival

Saratoga Performing Arts Center

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Soundboard

01. Slip Away
02. Down By The River
03. Crime In The City
04. From Hank To Hendrix
05. The Needle And The Damage Done
06. Ohio
07. Throw Your Hatred Down
08. Big Time
09. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Piece Of Crap
12. Mansion On The Hill

Speedy tells us:

"In addition to seeing Neil with CSNY in April 2000, I've seen him on 5 other occasions, 3 solo acoustic shows (1989, 1992 and 199), and 2 concerts with Crazy Horse, in Godfather of Grunge mode in 1991 and a presentation of Greendale in 2004. You never quite knew what you would get when you went to see Mr. Young.

Speaking of Crazy Horse, in 1996, Neil Young reunited with on again, off again backing band to record the album Broken Arrow. Filled with hard edged tunes featuring extended jams, Broken Arrow was another in a string of albums that featured Neil’s electric side. In fact the only album in that decade that highlighted his acoustic folk tunes was Harvest Moon in 1992.

Otherwise in the 1990’s, Neil was working with The Horse, Pearl Jam, and Sonic Youth to test just how loud he could play and how much feedback he could generate. Neil and Crazy Horse went on the road support of Broken Arrow including headlining the 1997 HORDE Tour, a fitting role for the man nicknamed the Godfather of Grunge. as noted above.