Kris Kristofferson Album: “Silver Tongued Devil and I”

Ever since I was born,there has been a copy of this album around me.Kris ushered in the era of the singer songwriter and without him I wouldn't have gotten hooked on Neil Young,Bob Dylan,Warren Zevon;as well as countless country tinged rock groups.SILVER TONGUED DEVIL presents a poet wandering America,cataloguing what he finds there; the characters,love and the situations he finds himself in. With Jennings and Nelson, Kristofferson personified "outlaw country"-country with a dash of rock.This release and his self-titled LP(re-released as ME AND BOBBY McGEE) are Kristofferson's best.I strongly recommend this release to you.

SILVER TONGUE DEVIL AND I - A sly,good natured wink at the excuse,"The devil made my do it!". The snicker near the end of the song gives the whole game away.

JODY AND THE KID - A sad song about the more things change the more things stay the same. From being childhood sweethearts to having a little girl who mirrors her late mother; it's heartbreaking in it's simpleness. Latered covered by Roger Miller.

BILLY DEE - Tale of everybody's friend who slowly loses his battle with a heroin addiction.

GOOD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER - Innocent Christian boy faced with the horrors of combat in Vietnam.

BREAKDOWN (A LONG WAY FROM HOME) - Tale of a loner out on the street a long way from home,not having acheived much.

LOVING HER WAS EASIER (THAN ANYTHING I'LL EVER DO AGAIN) - Kristofferson extolling his passion for his lover(or recent ex-lover). The imagery is just magnificent: "Aching with the freedom of an eagle when she flies". Covered by Roger Miller and Waylon Jennings.

THE TAKER - Kris warning a woman that her current beau will only use her and then dump her. Great Spanish horn arrrangement. Later covered by Waylon Jennings.

WHEN I LOVED HER - The feelings that come with falling in love and breaking up,full of wonderment and confusion.

THE PILRIM, CHAPTER 33 - Song about a 'walking contradiction', a man who indulges in the vices while knowing, "The going up was worth the coming down". I love the credits list Kris rambles off at the start of this track.

EPITATH (BLACK AND BLUE) - The final,sad note on the life and death of Janis Joplin (an ex-lover of Kristofferson's). The solo electric piano gives the song a dirge-like quality.

I have been a Kristofferson fan since I heard him play in the Tally Ho Tavern behind the Mobil station on West End in Nashville. The Tally Ho has long been gone but Kris is still here and "speaking" his mind as always.

Sometimes I wonder if he is singing his conscience or just the facts of life.

The Silver-Tongued Devil is almost my biography where a certain lady from Pittsburgh is concerned. Out of Control and only half caring.

Jody and the Kid is a real love story. The deep down in-my-soul type.

We all know Billy Dee. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I am Billy.

Good Christian Soldier just makes me want to go "Whew, Ouch".

Lovin' Her is the song that will forever define this album for me.

Maybe Kris doesn't have the best voice in the world, but man can he write.

Kris is one of the best story-telling songwriters of all time and this album (CD, because it was an album at when it came out) is his definitive work. Who can quarrel with lyrics like "like all the fair maidens who laid down beside him, she knew in her heart that he'd lied." Or, my favorite KK song, which I swear he wrote about me in 1972, the Pilgrim "Once he had a future full of money love and dreams which he spent like they were going out of style. And he keeps right on a changin for the better or the worse, searching for a shrine he'll never find, never knowin if believin is a blessing or a curse, or if the going up was worth the comin down." WOW.

Many people don't realize that it was KK who "discovered" Steve Goodman and John Prine. Prine had invited him to a SG show and Kris was blown away. He called and invited his good friend and mentor Paul Anka who came over to the club after midnight and Steve played for them all night. Anka then invided Goodman and Prine to NYC to interview and play for his label.

The only singer/song-writer I've found that even comes close to the emotions that KK had is Fred Eaglesmith. Fred is from southern Ontario, Canada and is simply amazing, and, could be the modern day equivalent of KK. Check out his album "Bootleg Series" or "Ralph's Last Show".

I had this album when it first came out and wore it out. This is KK's song writing at its best. The songs hold up to the test of time and still have the same power they always did. Fine poetry.

First bought this album back in 1971 and wore it out. Lots of great songs on here, not least of which is the title track. Great tunes, lyrics, and music. His self titled first album is also terrific. Both recorded before he got caught up in the whole Rita Coolidge and then Hollywood things which I feel distracted from his talent. Was better when hungry. Last few albums as an old man have shown some revived strength in performance and writing.