The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson

1	The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 / Jon Randall 3:51
2	Maybe You Heard / Todd Snider 3:30
3	The Circle / Todd Gómez 4:22
4	Lovin' Him Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) / Rosanne Cash 3:39
5	Come Sundown / Rodney Crowell 3:17
6	For the Good Times / Jill Sobule 3:27
7	Jesus Was a Capricorn / Marshall Chapman 3:53
8	The Silver Tongued Devil & I / Shooter Jennings 5:10
9	Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down / Gretchen Wilson 6:01
10	Sandinista / Patty Griffin 4:15
11	Darby's Castle / Crowe, Russell & The Ordinary Fear Of God 3:59
12	Me and Bobby McGee / Brian McKnight 5:01
13	Smile at Me Again / Randy Scruggs Instrumental 2:45
14	The Captive / Jessi Colter 3:55
15	Help Me Make It Through the Night / Bruce Robison 3:05
16	Why Me / Shawn Camp 3:36
17	The Legend / Willie Nelson 6:32
18	Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends Demo Circa 1970 3:15

Barnes & Noble

Released to mark the 70th birthday of legendary songwriter Kris Kristofferson, The Pilgrim brings together artists from various disciplines to reprise some classics as well as lesser-known songs. Marta Gomez gives "The Circle" an evocative Spanish tinge; Brian McKnight renders "Me and Bobby McGee" as a sultry hip-hop come-on; Marshall Chapman gives "Jesus Was a Capricorn" a grinding, down-home southern soul twist; Russell Crowe (yes, that Russell Crowe) & the Ordinary Fear of God give the tragic story-song "Darby's Castle" a muted, Irish-inflected grandeur. But it's the artists with personal connections to Kristofferson who steal the show. On "The Silver Tongued Devil & I," Shooter Jennings offers a bluesy, boozy honky-tonk lament before busting into an attitudinal, sputtering strut; Rosanne Cash is both ethereal and sensuous in a shimmering rendition of "Lovin' Him Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)"; Rodney Crowell takes "Come Sundown" straight to the honky-tonk dance floor, where a steel guitar, tinkling piano, and twangy lead guitar set the pace; and Willie Nelson gives "The Legend" ("Were we better men / than we'd ever been") a stately south-of-the border flavor to a tale of a legendary outsider who gets away with it all. Emmylou Harris, Jessi Colter, and Gretchen Wilson all acquit themselves admirably as well, and Kris himself shows up in a spoken intro preceding Harris's dramatic "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33" and tenderly works his way through a stark 1970 demo of "Please Don't Tell Me how the Story Ends." Surely, that's yet a long ways away. David McGee

All Music Guide

The success of a tribute album is fully dependent on the contributors' ability to put their egos aside and kneel at the altar of the artist being feted. The crew honoring Kris Kristofferson here had no trouble doing that. Though some of the featured artists -- particularly Rosanne Cash, Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter, and, of course, Willie Nelson -- were family and friends while others were admirers from afar, there's a palpable sense of love and respect permeating this cozy and homey 70th birthday party. Kristofferson, already in his thirties when Nashville took notice of him in the late '60s and early '70s, was a prime mover among the "outlaw" songwriters and singers who turned the country music business on its ear, bringing to it a rock & roll attitude marked by a stark new realism. His songs have been covered by many over the years, and the most successful interpretations have been those that drilled to the core and found the honesty and originality the writer gave them without slavishly aping the original. Only a few of the performers on this American Roots label collection, the follow-up to a similar set spotlighting Stephen Foster, stray far from Kristofferson's blueprints, but all understand who they're dealing with and what he's about. Those tracks that take the most liberty -- Patty Griffin and Charanga Cakewalk's sprinkling of Latin and electronica touches on "Sandinista"; Brian McKnight's spare, soulful "Me and Bobby McGee"; Rodney Crowell's honky tonkin' "Come Sundown" -- are among the most satisfying. Marshall Chapman's bluesy, boozy take on "Jesus Was a Capricorn" imbues one of Kristofferson's cornerstone compositions with the proper balance of humor and profundity, and the pairing of Lloyd Cole and Jill Sobule on "For the Good Times," with its soft harmonies and longing tenderness, is inspired. Gretchen Wilson doesn't make "Sunday Morning Coming Down" her own by any means, but she conveys the song's vulnerability. Lastly, Kristofferson himself tosses in a circa-1970 demo recording of "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" -- a nice touch, but somewhat superfluous. The album's major clunker? Not too surprisingly it's Russell Crowe -- yes, that Russell Crowe -- crooning his way through "Darby's Castle" competently if overdramatically. But even if the irascible actor is far from the best singer on the album, he too lets it be known that he's in awe of its subject. Jeff Tamarkin