There is an excellent booklet that comes with the digipack which reveals a number of unknown facts about the making of these songs. Most intriguing of all is the story behind the credit Fred Foster shares with Kristofferson on "Me and Bobby McGee" that highlights the warmth and honesty of the man. Basically Fred Foster telephoned Kris up and told him he should write a song with the title "Me and Bobby McKee", the hook being that the subject was a woman instead of a man (there apparently was a Bobby McKee that worked with the songwriting team of Boudeleaux and Felice Bryant). After he wrote the song Kristofferson he was told he was crazy to split the royalty on what was clearly going to be a hit song -- and this was before he had any money to speak of -- Kristofferson responded by saying "man, I wouldn'ta written it if he hadn'ta told me to!" Fortunately, as another reviewer has pointed out, Kristofferson ditched the backing vocals found on the demo included in the collection here.
Great applause goes to the ones responsible for selecting a wide range of Kristofferson's early work, with all but "The Lady's Not For Sale" making it onto a Kristofferson release ("Me and Bobby McGee", "Just the Other Side of Nowhere" and "Duvalier's Dream" from KRISTOFFERSON (1970); "When I Loved Her", "Billy Dee" and "Epitaph (Black and Blue)" from SILVER TONGUED DEVIL (1971); "Enough for You" from JESUS WAS A CAPRICORN (1972); "Border Lord", "Little Girl Lost" and "Getting By, High & Strange" from BORDER LORD (1972); "Smile at me Again" from SPOOKYLADY'S SIDESHOW (1974); "Slow Down" from BREAKAWAY (1974); "If You Don't Like Hank Williams" from SURREAL THING (1976); "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Goes" from NATURAL ACT (1978) and "Come Sundown" from SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL (1979)). There are enough greatest hits CDs for Kristofferson out there for the uninitiated; though, honestly, the raw yet artful demos produced here all come together to make a satisfying whole, particularly the lesser known cuts, and could quite easily make a nice introduction to Kristofferson all on its own.
Several of the demos have interruptions and commentary from producers and Kristofferson. There are cuss words and more than a few missteps but these are all part of the warmth and charm: listen to the backing vocalists and Kristofferson breaking up on "Getting By, High & Strange" for example. On the whole the demos are good quality, stripped down to bare essentials, but warmly and earnestly delivered in every case. Perhaps the reason for the wide range of selections collected here are to acquaint the older fan with some of the lesser known material given that all of the obscurer titles listed above have been recently reissued. Most fans know the first three releases (KRISTOFFERSON (later re-released as ME AND BOBBY MCGEE), SILVER TONGUED DEVIL and JESUS WAS A CAPRICORN) but have missed out on BORDER LORD, SPOOKYLADY'S SIDESHOW, BREAKAWAY, SURREAL THING, NATURAL ACT and SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: some of these releases serve to underscore the mistakes we make in love, and Rita Coolidge unfortunately was never good for Kristofferson artistically, but there are some fine songs that lay buried in the vault, waiting your discovery. So go on, pilgrim, explore. You won't be disappointed.
**** stars
This collection provides wonderful insight into the power of arrangements and to Kris's ongoing growth as a performer (which he hadn't set out to be). The arrangements on this demo, compared and contrasted with the actual releases of the respective songs on a variety of albums, tell wonderful stories. The rendition of "Getting By, High and Strange" is hysterical, and provides an intimate insight into the sessions.
"Light In The Attic Records" - a reissue label out of Seattle in the USA - has been building up a steady and loyal audience of music connoisseurs since 2002. Their releases cover many genres of music and often involve the reissue of ultra-rarities - obscure albums and material by artists that actually deserves reappraisal (their Karen Dalton and Lou Bond issues are good examples).
And they are clearly proud of their 50th release - why? Because the first thing you notice about the gatefold card sleeve is the bulge in the left flap - the booklet is 60-pages long - I'll repeat that - SIXTY PAGES LONG! I've seen Bear Family inners reach as much as 40 pages for a single rhythm 'n' blues CD (which is impressive), but this is something else. But to the details first...
Released May 2010 on CD (produced by Mark Long and Matt Sullivan), Light In The Attic LITA 050 has taken over 5 years to compile and breaks down as follows (51:47 minutes):
1. Me And Bobby McGee [5:12 minutes]
2. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends [3:19 minutes, with False Start]
3. Smile At Me Again [2:34 minutes] (lyrics above)
4. The Lady's Not For Sale [3:45 minutes]
5. Border Lord [3:58 minutes]
6. Just The Other Side Of Nowhere [2:40 minutes]
7. Come Sundown [3:19 minutes]
8. Slow Down [2:29 minutes]
9. If You Don't Like Hank Williams [1:50 minutes]
10. Little Girl Lost [3:23 minutes]
11. Duvalier's Dream [2:31 minutes]
12. When I Loved Her [2:47 minutes]
13. Billy Dee [2:55 minutes]
14. Epitaph (Black And Blue) [3:25 minutes]
15. Enough For You [2:40 minutes] [with studio chatter]
16. Getting By, High, And Strange [4:57 minutes] [with False Starts & Dialogues]
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15 and 16 are solo acoustic recordings
3, 5, 8 and 12 are band recordings
The sound quality is a little rough on some tracks, but most of the acoustic demos are beautifully clear and amazingly free of recording glitches. The band material is good too and the occasional studio chatter and false starts lend a lovely intimacy to it all.
The booklet opens with interviews from Dennis Hopper, Kinky Friedman and Merle Haggard - then has a huge essay on the release by label-founder Michael Simmons which is followed by Kristofferson's own dictated notes on every song (lyrics are provided, but the recording details are oddly sketchy). In-between all these words are loads of superb period photos - the young country singer with friends and like-minded musicians, hand-written lyric pages and even passport details... It's one of the best presentations I've ever seen.
Lyrically Kristofferson's as sharp as Dylan and as caustic as Cash - "...nothing looks as empty as a motel bed..." (from Smile At Me Again), "...she's got six gold records and been married seven times" (from Slow Down) and "...I like Bobby Gentry and that sexy Mama Cass, but if you don't like Hank Williams buddy, you can kiss my ass..." These are songs about whiskey-drinking loose women and needle-chasing young men who are "...driven towards the darkness by the devils in his veins..." (from Billy Dee). Great stuff...and smart too.
The stark piano playing of Donnie Fritts accompanies Kristofferson's lone guitar on "Epitaph (Black And Blue)" - it was written for Joplin after she died and obviously played with real pain and hurt. And then there's the opposite - great fun with Billy Swan on the last track about women on construction sites in New York - a tape box that was rescued from Swan's shed.
Obviously LITA are hoping that this release will warrant a reappraisal of Kristofferson as a major writing force - but I don't know if that's going to happen. Some of it is good, some a bit weak, but the better stuff is truly fantastic - it really is. And as I listen and re-listen to these songs - I'm reminded of Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" and Johnny Cash's "American Recordings" - albums I adore - and I'm sure many of their fans hold them precious too - being a true representation of their inner voices precisely because they're so raw and stripped-down.
As he finishes singing the highly emotional words to "Enough For You" - he stops and says (rather impressed with himself) - "Was that just perfect!" And at times it's hard not to agree.
A major release from a wonderful reissue label then - and an award-winning presentation. They've done the man proud.
The is intesting as it is the actual demos Kris made, and the contrast between these and the finished product on his albums is enormous.
