An Evening With Kris Kristofferson The Pilgrim Ch 77 (Virgin)

An Evening With Kris Kristofferson The PilgrimWhat it says on the box, this is a double CD live recording of the singer-songwriter legend’s sold-out show at London’s Union Chapel on September 26, 2013. Although slightly gummy at times, his croaky, sandpapery voice has worn better than many of his generation of singers and, presented here with just acoustic guitar accompaniment, it has the comfortable feel of a well-worn pair of shoes. It’s fair to say that Kristofferson’s best known, most successful songs are those from his early years, so it’s little surprise to find the set here leans heavily on the first two albums, Kristofferson (all bar two) and The Silver-Tongued Devil And I, with such classics as ‘Me & Bobby McGee’, ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, ‘Jody & The Kid’, ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’, ‘For The Good Times’, ‘Why Me’ and ‘Silver-Tongued Devil’. There’s even the inclusion of ‘Sabre And The Rose’, a number from 1978’s Easter Island, that’s rarely been featured in his live shows.

Later work gets a sprinkling of representation with the likes of set opener ‘Shipwrecked In The 80s’, ‘They Killed Him’, ‘Closer To The Bone’ and the title track from his, then, latest release, Feeling Mortal. With little chat between numbers and a brief thank you at the end of them, it’s a no-frills set that captures the experience down to playing the wrong harmonica and mid-song cough, but, delivered with honesty and grace, the rapturous applause is amply deserved.

Mike Davies

Artist’s website: www.kriskristofferson.com

An old song but a recent live performance in Nashville.