"Why Me" --> Kristofferson's Understated Influence Revealed!

[krp1997]

Please post Elvis' solo version!


As for Kristofferson, he is one hell of a performer. He is a humble man with a great respect of his audience and a pleasure to listen to. He's been touring Sweden a few times recently and always alone with just a guitar.

Honest, real and beautiful renditions of his songs. A man you should see live if you get the chance.

Right on. I met Kris once, he's a tiny guy, but as kind as any star I've ever said hello to.

As for "Why Me," Elvis went on his own with this classic, for once, on July 22, 1975, in Asheville, NC.

Anyone have a sound file?

Kris is tiny, you're right. I was shocked at how small he is. I met him outside the Ryman Auditorium last January. He was super-nice, he stood outside his bus for about an hour in the winter just wearing the shirt he had on stage signing and taking pictures with everyone. As someone whose idols are Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley(and who never got to see or meet either one of them), it was so cool to meet someone who was so clearly respected by both men.

This is a pic of my buddy with Kris (my pic with him didn't turn out so well, he turned away at the wrong moment...I'll fix that the next time I go see him)

[drjohncarpenter]

..

Almost listenable. I hope this turns up on a SB one day

Geoff, thank you for the link to Elvis' solo version. It's way better.

Right on. I met Kris once, he's a tiny guy, but as kind as any star I've ever said hello to.

Kris is tiny, you're right. I was shocked at how small he is. I met him outside the Ryman Auditorium last January. He was super-nice, he stood outside his bus for about an hour in the winter just wearing the shirt he had on stage signing and taking pictures with everyone. As someone whose idols are Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley(and who never got to see or meet either one of them), it was so cool to meet someone who was so clearly respected by both men.

This is a pic of my buddy with Kris (my pic with him didn't turn out so well, he turned away at the wrong moment...I'll fix that the next time I go see him)

Great post -- thank you for the photo.

[The fool]

As for Kristofferson, he is one hell of a performer. He is a humble man with a great respect of his audience and a pleasure to listen to. He's been touring Sweden a few times recently and always alone with just a guitar.

Honest, real and beautiful renditions of his songs. A man you should see live if you get the chance.

I saw him in August 2008 just like that, just him and his guitar. He closed his show with Why Me Lord. It was an emotional experience for me and some of my (Elvis) friends. Great show and a great performer, indeed.

[krp1997]

Kris also narrated the Elvis Return to Tupelo documentary that was produced a year or two ago.

[Rockin_John]

The solo version is waaaaaaay better!! Too bad a soundboard recording is not available....

[bajo]

The only thing I know is that I really dig KK. And hearing Elvis doing KK was something I was dreaming of back then. I think Elvis cut the KK classics in a great way! (As he did with most artists! Cut across to Early Morning Raind by Gordon Lightfoot a.o.)

[drjohncarpenter]

Right on. Thanks for the positive comments, although I don't think Elvis did a great job on any of his Kristofferson covers.

[luckyjackson1]

although I don't think Elvis did a great job on any of his Kristofferson covers

I got a friend of mine who thinks the same...

Imo Elvis could've done better, especially his treatment of "Help Me Make It Through The Night", both the studio and the live versions. Imagine Elvis would've sung it only with a simple guitar accompaniment.

I can't listen to it when he messed up the live-versions. But that's the way it is/was...

I like Elvis' version of "For The Good Times" though. Nothing very special but always a neat performance to listen to.

[stevelecher]

I agreed with the Doc about Elvis not doing well with KK songs until I remembered For The Good Times. That's a quality track. Elvis never reached or worked hard enough on HMMITTN. It's so pedestrian and he's lazy on the refrain. I don't feel the emotion from Elvis on this and that's usually what he delivered.

I really can't picture what an Elvis version of Sunday Mornin' Coming Down would sound like. Though I believe Elvis is a far better singer than Johnny Cash, I can't imagine Elvis surpassing Cash's extraordinary version.

Steve L.

[luckyjackson1]

I really can't picture what an Elvis version of Sunday Mornin' Coming Down would sound like. Though I believe Elvis is a far better singer than Johnny Cash, I can't imagine Elvis surpassing Cash's extraordinary version.

Although I like Johnny's version, imo not even one cover comes close to Kris' haunting original. Gets me every time. Not sure if Elvis would've nailed it right.

[Daryl]

Kris also appeared in Sports Illustrated "Faces In The Crowd" back in 1958.

[blue boy]

I think Elvis made his version of HMMITTT based on Gladys Knights Motown version, both are more soul than country in my opinion.
I rate Kristoffersons version the best, Jamaican singer John Holt had huge hit with a reggae version in 74 and I like his version a lot.

[luckyjackson1]

I rate Kristoffersons version the best, Jamaican singer John Holt had huge hit with a reggae version in 74 and I like his version a lot.

I don't.

I must admit, at first I wasn't too attired in Kris' original of HMMITTN but I "grew into it".

I knew Elvis' version first and thought it was nice, but when I heard Sammi Smith's hit version I immediately fell in love with it.

[Sebastian E]

I actually think that Elvis' rendition of Why Me Lord is his best Kristofferson cover. It's quite origninal to have JD sing the verse.

I also have a soft spot for the MSG version of For The Good Times. It's much better than the studio version.

Wouldn't it have been great if Elvis had recorded Sunday Morning Coming Down? Can you imagine him singing the following lines?

Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.

Amazing thought.

Hopefully someday these LV 1972 rehearsals turn up.

[luckyjackson1]

Just like I wrote before, not sure if Elvis would've nailed it right.

Elvis wasn't a beer drinker!

No, but imagine himself singing harmony vocals on the chorus... *sigh*

Hopefully someday these LV 1972 rehearsals turn up.

Oh yes, that would be nice. IF they will turn up they will hopefully be no disappointment (one-liners, fooling around etc.). Sorry, I'm just spoiled...

[drjohncarpenter]

I actually think that Elvis' rendition of Why Me Lord is his best Kristofferson cover. It's quite origninal to have JD sing the verse.

I also have a soft spot for the MSG version of For The Good Times. It's much better than the studio version.

Wouldn't it have been great if Elvis had recorded Sunday Morning Coming Down? Can you imagine him singing the following lines?

Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.

Amazing thought.

Hopefully someday these LV 1972 rehearsals turn up.

Rehearsal tapes may be the last, best area for uncovering unreleased songs.

[Sebastian E]

Yes! But who owns them, and who won't part with them? Esposito?

It's known as a fact that Elvis reherased Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down for LV Jan. 1972 ...

I'd smoked my brain the night before,
On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.
But I lit my first and watched a small kid,
Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.
Then I crossed the empty street,
And caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

[drjohncarpenter]

Yes! But who owns them, and who won't part with them? Esposito?

It's known as a fact that Elvis reherased Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down for LV Jan. 1972 ...

I'd smoked my brain the night before,
On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.
But I lit my first and watched a small kid,
Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.
Then I crossed the empty street,
And caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

Kristofferson was the hottest young writer of the early 1970s. Along with Tony Joe White, Dennis Linde, Mark James and a few others, his stuff should have been carefully chosen and recorded by Elvis in this period. It was tough and honest work, and it fit who he was at that time.

Rehearsal tapes are known to be in the possession of various associates, and the upper echelon of super-collectors who do not sell or trade.

[brian]

A Kristofferson song that Elvis could have had a country hit with was ''Shadows of her mind''.

It has similar subject matter to ''Help me make it through the night'' and ''For the good times'' but not as many people have recorded it and no one had a hit with it that i'm aware of.

Another song of Kristofferson's that Elvis could have had a country hit with was ''Loving her was easier''.
Elvis could have had a top ten country single with that song if he recorded it in 1973.

of the three Kris Kristofferson songs that Elvis did ''For the good times'' was the best in my opinion.

[luckyjackson1]

Rehearsal tapes are known to be in the possession of various associates, and the upper echelon of super-collectors who do not sell or trade.

Those selfish b******s !!!

Well, if it makes them happy - let's hope their heirs will be a bit wiser...

I'm not envious, not a TINY LITTLE BIT!!!

A Kristofferson song that Elvis could have had a country hit with was ''Shadows of her mind''.

I don't know if it would've suited Elvis or would've been a country hit for him, respectively. But I like that one!

And it would've been better than most of the mediocre sh** he recorded in 1970. Don't get me wrong, I even like "Heart Of Rome" and "This Is Our Dance" but to be realistic, it isn't more than... well, mediocre sh** - but just like Elvis said he grew up on this ("Got My Mojo Working").

Here's a transcript of the lyrics:


I met her sadly in the slowly fallin' rain
Cryin' softly in her loneliness and pain
Knowin' no one needin' someone bad as me

And she told me as I held her tremblin' hand
Walkin' slowly how she'd never known a man
Livin' lonely in her cottage by the sea

When the mornin' came her tears had changed to laughter
And before the night her heart beat close to mine
And I thought as she lay sleepin' of the secrets she was keeping
Hidden somewhere in the silence of the shadows of her mind

In the mornin' as I wakened with the dawn
Without warnin' I could feel that she was gone
Leavin' nothin' but her silence next to me

And lonely footprints that I followed in the sand
Walkin' slowly for I knew where they would end
Disappearin' in the silence of the sea

And I sometimes hear the echoes of her laughter
As I searched for what I know I'll never find
'Cause the answer I was seekin' was the secret she's still keepin'
Hidden somewhere in the silence of the shadows of her mind


Well, he probably wasn't that good lover she expected...

No, just kiddin'. Really, it's simply beautiful. Pure poetry.

Kris' version, recorded in 1969 or 1970 (don't know the exact date - Doc, can you help out with this? I can't find any information regarding the recording dates) was released for the first time in 2001 as a bonus track on Monument/Legacy label as part of the "American Milestone"-Series re-issue of his first album "Kristofferson" (aka "Me And Bobby McGee").

Another fine example is "The Lady's Not For Sale", to be located on the afore mentioned album right after "Shadows Of Her Mind".

[drjohncarpenter]

Kris' version, recorded in 1969 or 1970 (don't know the exact date - Doc, can you help out with this? I can't find any information regarding the recording dates ...

In June 1970 Monument issued Kristofferson, his debut LP. Its first single appeared two months before that. "Shadows Of Her Mind" has a 1968 copyright, but the outtake on the CD likely comes from the same 1970 sessions as the rest of the original LP.

Interestingly, "Shadows Of Her Mind" was tried by Eddy Arnold in two different 1969 sessions (at RCA Nashville in July and December), and issued in March 1970 on Love and Guitars (RCA LSP-4304).

[luckyjackson1]

In June 1970 Monument issued Kristofferson, his debut LP. Its first single appeared two months before that. "Shadows Of Her Mind" has a 1968 copyright, but the outtake on the CD likely comes from the same 1970 sessions as the rest of the original LP.

Interestingly, "Shadows Of Her Mind" was tried by Eddy Arnold in two different 1969 sessions (at RCA Nashville in July and December), and issued in March 1970 on Love and Guitars (RCA LSP-4304).

Whoa, I didn't know Eddy Arnold record that song - gotta check out if I find it somewhere...

Thank you Doc, regarding the info of Kris' recording. It's a shame there isn't a discography around, done in style of Ernst or Richard Weize. Would be a great (and long overdue) thing!

[drjohncarpenter]

Whoa, I didn't know Eddy Arnold record that song - gotta check out if I find it somewhere...

I'm unsure if 1970's Love and Guitars (RCA LSP-4304) was ever issued on CD. It's a neat album, with pre-Elvis versions of "I Just Can't Help Believin" and "Mary In The Morning."

Thank you Doc, regarding the info of Kris' recording. It's a shame there isn't a discography around, done in style of Ernst or Richard Weize. Would be a great (and long overdue) thing!

I agree.

[luckyjackson1]

Ugh, Doc, your avatar scared the sh** out of me!!!

At first sight it looked like a Hermaphrodite (Intersexual) to me...

Then I thought it's a paiting of a friend of mine who looks similar...

No, really, no offense. Could you tell me a little bit about that painting? Somehow it's kinda fascinating...

[drjohncarpenter]

Ugh, Doc, your avatar scared the sh** out of me!!!

At first sight it looked like a Hermaphrodite (Intersexual) to me...

Then I thought it's a paiting of a friend of mine who looks similar...

No, really, no offense. Could you tell me a little bit about that painting? Somehow it's kinda fascinating...

It's a gift from VEGAS74.
See: http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55811