Kris Kristofferson was still at the height of his music career when he recorded this solid set from the legendary Texas Honky Tonk in 1981. He already had an impressive set of hits – many that are crammed onto this 15-song live album – dating back to 1970; and he was several years deep into his acting career, having appeared in A Star Is Born, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Pat Garrett And Billy the Kid, among others. Add to that Gilley’s, the Pasadena, Texas bar where this album was recorded, was itself a recent national celebrity thanks to the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy.
It’s seemingly odd then that it took this long for the record to finally surface. There was a significant gap between Kristofferson’s 1981 and 1986 studio albums (at least for an era when it was not uncommon for musicians to churn out a couple of albums in a year). He put out collaboration albums during the gap – 1982’s The Winning Hand with Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Brenda Lee, and 1984’s Music From Songwriter with Willie Nelson. So Live At Gilley’s, featuring a powerfully voiced Kristofferson backed by a stellar band playing all of the hits seems like a no brainier. But better late than never.
This set kicks off with “Me And Bobbie McGee,” followed by “Here Comes That Rainbow Again,” a song he hadn’t released yet at the time of this show, and “Casey’s last Ride” off of his very first album. What follows then is a fun, rambling medley of “You Show Me Yours (I’ll Show You Mine)” and “Stranger” before vacillating between new songs and some of his oldest ones. But even at 11 years into his career, he had plenty of singalong hits at this point, most of which are included here like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “The Silver Tongued Devil And I”. He ends this should-have-been-legendary set with the emotionally powerful “Why Me,” a song that handled by just about anyone else would come off as too earnest and preachy, but simply sounds sublime coming from Kristofferson.
In the linear notes to this album, the singer, songwriter and club owner Mickey Gilley writes, “We booked a lot of shows around that time, including some people I didn’t think would want to play the club. We got some acts that made me think, ‘Are you kidding me?’…Kris Kristofferson was one of those artists that I didn’t think would want to play Gilley’s, because he was such a big name and a tremendous talent.”
Live At Gilley’s does a remarkable job of capturing one of the founding fathers of the Outlaw Country music scene at one of the highest points of his career. Why this album hasn’t surfaced earlier is a mystery, but thankfully it’s finally getting out into the world.
One Response
It’s a fabulous album. Kris is a powerhouse, and the hard-driving Borderlords are with him all the way. Make no mistake. These songs have the soul of country from a guy who did it his way from the get-go, but he and the band can rock out with the best of ’em. In a way, I’m glad it took so long for this fantastic collection to surface. There’s a world of folks out there who don’t have any idea who Kristofferson is (except for vampire-killer Whistler — an appropriately iconoclastic role for this outlaw). This album shows him as THE premier singer-songwriter. Many songwriters have written some good, and even great songs, but only one has written so damned MANY great songs.. They broke the mold.