Send "Kris Kristofferson " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pastemagazine |
 Over the last four decades, Kris Kristofferson has cut hit records and starred in too many movies to count, but the Nashville maverick should be remembered first and foremost as a songwriter. This appealing set of 16 previously unreleased demos ranges from his days of ‘60s obscurity to his early-‘70s fame as one of the architects of the Outlaw movement, back when Janis Joplin’s smash take on his “Me and Bobby McGee” helped to cover the rent.Along with Kristofferson’s own hushed version of that song, highlights include the full-band recording “When I Loved Her,” which could pass for polished Top 40 pop; the folky “Duvalier’s Dream,” featuring a voice that’s sweeter than his usual growl; and the harrowing piano ballad “Epitaph (Black and Blue).” If the steady parade of soulful losers sometimes verges on predictability (and tunes like “The Lady’s Not for Sale” do rely on cringe-worthy depictions of the opposite sex), just remember—these rough sketches weren’t meant to be consumed en masse in the first place....full text |
| Bbc |
| Sitting on the porch with his wife June in the 1960s, Johnny Cash would amuse himself by hurling into the lake the unheard demo cassettes that were periodically pressed on him by the janitor at Columbia studios in Nashville. Not all Kris Kristofferson’s tapes ended up underwater, though. This reverent work of musical reclamation reveals just what it was the ex-army pilot and sometime janitor was doing before he finally got Johnny’s attention – landing a National Guard helicopter on the grass between porch and lake – and changed the course of country music. It was Kristofferson’s second shot at a music career. The son of an Air Force general, he had recorded as Kris Carson in his 20s while on a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford, and gone on to temper his literary education with some years of tough living by the time he arrived in Nashville....full text |
| Belfasttelegraph |
| From Rhodes Scholar to decorated military helicopter pilot to janitor is hardly the most promising of career trajectories. However Kris Kristofferson finessed that downward arc into something extraordinary when he made the jump from Nashville studio dogsbody to the singer-songwriter who, according to Willie Nelson, hauled country music "out of the Dark Ages" – a process depicted in downbeat but gripping manner on these hitherto unreleased demos. Included are prototype versions of several future standards with Kristofferson's weather-beaten baritone defining the notion of "old before his time". Of particular interest is the juxtaposition of "Me And Bobby McGee", first recorded by his friend Janis Joplin, and "Epitaph (Black And Blue)", written in tribute after her death....full text |
Kris Kristofferson lyrics
