June 22: Happy Birthday Kris Kristofferson (born 1936 – age 83) – His 10 best songs
One of my fav artists, and he’s written many great songs.
This is a list (+ videos), not a bio… so here goes:
(preferred album version included)
Sunday Morning Coming Down – The Austin Sessions (1999)
Me and Bobby McGee – Kristofferson (1970)
Why Me – The The Austin Sessions (1999)
Help Me Make It Through the Night – Kristofferson (1970)
For the Good Times – The The Austin Sessions (1999)
Here Comes That Rainbow Again – The Essential Kris Kristofferson (2004)
The Silver Tongued Devil and I – The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971)
To Beat the Devil – The Austin Sessions (1999)
Nobody Wins – The Austin Sessions (1999)
The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 – The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971)
Yes! I LOVE “The Austin Sessions” album…
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There are many great video clips on youtube, and I’ve tried to compile the best versions (live versions are as always preferred):
Sunday Morning Coming Down
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.
Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
An’ I shaved my face and combed my hair,
An’ stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.
Listening to music for me is like homework. Music will give me enjoyment, but as soon as it’s giving me that enjoyment, I want to analyse it, and then it becomes work. Why does it sound like that? How?… then I dissect it.
~Steve Winwood
To make a living from doing something I love is fantastic. As long as people want to listen to me, I’ll keep doing it. In fact, to tell you the truth, even if no one did want to listen to me, I’d still be doing it!
~Steve Winwood
Networking is rubbish; have friends instead.
~Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood exploded onto the London music scene as a teenager with his powerful, soulful tenor — notably on “Gimme Some Lovin'” and “I’m a Man” with the Spencer Davis Group. “I thought he had the greatest voice,” said Billy Joel, “this skinny little English kid singing like Ray Charles.” The frontman for the jazz-infused pop of Traffic and then the jam rock of Blind Faith (with Eric Clapton), Winwood re-emerged in the mid-Eighties with the hits “Back in the High Life Again” and “Higher Love” — highly polished soul pop that made him a star all over again. “He was able to copy Jimmy Reed, and I thought, ‘Where the hell is this voice coming from?’ ” said Spencer Davis. “From a diminutive guy, at that age, how can he do it? But he did it.”
~rollingstone.com
When I’m on stage, I’m trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Just like church does. People don’t go to church to find trouble, they go there to lose it.
~James Brown
The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.
~James Brown
“Soul Brother Number One,” “the Godfather of Soul,” “the Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” “Mr. Dynamite” — those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other African-American musicians were so influential over the course of popular music. And no other musician, pop or otherwise, put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show: Brown’s performances were marvels of athletic stamina and split-second timing.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – from TV program Shindig:
..Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him – the greatest of the greats then and now. I first met him in ‘62 or ‘63 and saw him a lot in those years. Not so much recently, but in some kind of way he was with me more than people I see every day.
~Bob Dylan (Statement on Johnny Cash – Sept 2003)
I love to go to the studio and stay there 10 or 12 hours a day. I love it. What is it? I don’t know. It’s life.
~Johnny Cash
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
~Johnny Cash
Lyle Lovett Inducts Johnny Cash into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
“A jumbo jet taking off from LAX is like 30 smokers smoking 200 cigarettes a day for 30 fuckin’ years. And they want me to stop smoking THIS?! fuck off”
~Lemmy
We recorded his track in Los Angeles in maybe two takes about a year and a half ago. Until then I’d never met what I’d call a real rock ‘n’ roll hero before. Fuck Elvis and Keith Richards, Lemmy’s the king of rock ‘n’ roll – he told me he never considered Motörhead a metal band, he was quite adamant. Lemmy’s a living, breathing, drinking and snorting fucking legend. No one else comes close.
~Dave Grohl
