KRIS KRISTOFFERSON - The Silver Tongued Devil and I 1971

I had two Kristofferson albums back in the day. This one and his 1972 release 'Jesus Was a Capricorn.' I can't remember what made me buy them in the first place. It probably had something to do with the fact that he wrote 'Me and Bobby McGee'.

Janis Joplin's 1971 version is the most popular and certainly the most played. Sadly it was released posthumously so Janis never got to know just how popular it really was.

I remember it earlier than that though. In 1969 I bought the Kenny Rogers and the First Edition album 'Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town' and '..Bobby McGee' was the second song on side one - but even before that, Roger Miller had a hit with it on it's first release.

So .. that's probably why !!

There were and are far more strings to Kris' bow than that most famous of songs though. A great singer in his own right he not only wrote for other people - songs such as 'Help Me Make It Through the Night', 'For the Good Times' and many more, but also put out hit albums of his own.

Alongside that he had a very successful movie and television career starting back in 1970. Nearly 40 years after the original and just over 40 years before Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga made a third version, Kris starred in the movie 'A Star Is Born' alongside Barbra Streisand and won a Golden Globe for his performance.

This featured album, his second, has 2 of my all-time favourites. 'Jody and the Kid' is a heart-wrencher and 'The Pilgrim, Chapter 33' contains one of the best verses ..

'He's a poet, he's a picker

He's a prophet, he's a pusher

He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned

He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,

Takin' ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home.'

A couple of the backup singers on this LP were Rita Coolidge, who Kris was married to 1973-1980, and Joan Baez, who was credited as 'The Lady' on one track.

In 1985 Kris formed a country supergroup, The Highwaymen, with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. One of their most successful singles was 'Desperados Waiting For a Train.'

Amazingly Kris just turned 84 years old, but in my mind's eye I still see him as Billy the Kid alongside Bob Dylan's Alias in 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.' Let's hope it's still a while before he's 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'

(I always try to get a Dylan reference in somewhere!)

Here's Kris and the rest of the Highwaymen doing a classic