Kris Kristofferson Album: “Border Lord/Jesus Was a Capricorn”

Sometimes, you just have to say," What the heck", and buy a guilty pleasure treat for yourself. That is what this CD was for me.

I had both of these ALBUMS when I was in college. The more I listened to them, the more I related to the songs.

Kris has a great way of making you FEEL his songs. I considered giving you a nutshell description of the songs but decided against it. You need to LISTEN to them and make up your own mind.

As with all of Kris's songs, there is a deep, soul-searching flavor. Sit down, relax, and enjoy.

Six months ago I received a seven figure settlement from a traffic accident. Attorneys kept telling me to take a vacation to anywhere in the world I wanted to go. When I thought about the things I could do or see again or even for the first time in life, what occurred to me was that once again I wanted to see Kris Kristofferson in concert. I will be doing just that in November in Newport News Virginia. Kris may not be the consumat singer or a terrific showman but he is THE BEST songwriter ever and. Conrthere is something in his voice that leaves me completely comfortable. Although these albums are not some of his better known ones some songs contained on them can touch your soul...listen to the songs with your heart, they are wonderful!

1972 saw the release of both Border Lord and Jesus was a Capricorn. Border Lord, Kristofferson's third album, is not as solid as his first two, but it still contains an impressive array of songs. One theme of Border Lord seems to be women with less-than-pleasant lives, from the strong opener "Josie" to "Somebody Nobody Knows" to "Little Girl Lost" with the classic line "She'll feed your hungry ego till you think you're quite a man / But, you'd better count your fingers when she turns loose of your hand." "Kiss the World Goodbye" is pure Kristofferson swagger ("I owed the devil some debts, boys / And paid 'em all up but one); Dean Martin did a hell of a fine cover of this song on his Dino album from the early Seventies. My favorite track on Border Lord is "Burden of Freedom." Really, has any other songwriter captured the exhilaration and sobering responsibility of personal freedom as Kristofferson has throughout his career? I don't think so. When he sings "Lord, help me to shoulder the burden of freedom," man, he means it, and you feel it. All in all, a fine album from Kris.

Then, there's Jesus was a Capricorn, one of Kristofferson's best selling albums, and by far my least favorite Kristofferson album. Don't get me wrong: there's some really good stuff here. The title track is one of Kristofferson's pointed and hilarious looks at the fear and hypocrisy that makes people judge those who are different. And, "Why Me" justly deserves its place as a country standard. But, I'm just not a big fan of Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge duets, and there's two of them on here. "Sugar Man," in my opinion, is the low point of Kris's songwriting. And Larry Gatlin's "Help Me" (sung here with Gatlin) was done better by Elvis Presley. I know there are many who would disagree with me, but the reason to buy this reissued two-fer is Border Lord, hands down. And, folks, Border Lord is a good album to have in your collection.

I love everything that Kris does so I gave the CD 5 stars. But, whoever cobbled the CD together neglected to put in the song titles. When I put it on my I-Pod the songs are only numbers and there is no artist listed. This will make it difficult to find once it is no longer in my "recently added" playlist.