Kris Kristofferson – The Essential

Next to Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson is probably the most important figure in the prehistory of alt-country-or-whatever. Dylan proved that songwriting trumped vocal prowess and that you didn’t even have to make literal sense to get a feeling over. Kristofferson took those messages to Nashville and scared the bejeezus out of people when he started writing songs about the way people actually lived: using drugs, having sexawhy, on that latter score, he may have been the guy to introduce the word “body” to country music. It’s not “your arms” I’m interested in, lady; it’s what they’re stuck to!

So the first disc of this collection shows Kristofferson in triumph, the college-educated Nashville outlaw churning out gritty tales such as “From The Bottle To The Bottom” or “To Beat The Devil”, and hits (for others) such as the astonishing “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)”. A rather approximate singing voice accompanied by crackerjack sidemen, great stuff.

The second disc shows what happens when you believe your own press and your friends also become famous and (not his fault) it’s the ’70s. No fewer than two songs about songwriting (although “If You Don’t Like Hank Williams” is funny once, “Don’t Cuss The Fiddle” is embarrassing), self-conscious mythmaking, a bad Willie Nelson duetaand a couple of decent songs in “Shandy (The Perfect Disguise)” and “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends”.

Essential? The pre-celebrity stuff, for sure. And the rest, as a cautionary tale for you, young songwriter.