Kris Kristofferson – Live at Gilley’s • Pasadena, TX — September 15, 1981 (LP Black Vinyl)

It's the next-best thing to a time machine for music lovers. It is Kris Kristofferson's Live at Gilley's – Pasadena, TX: September 15, 1981, a new LP capturing the one-time Highwayman with a full band behind him and an exuberant audience in front of him, wrapping his 1981 tour at the famed Texas venue. Fans who weren't there in 1981 will feel like they are in 2022 as the partial-show release has just enough crowd noise to capture the excitement of the evening and the music proves Kristofferson was one of the rare artists not to fall victim to 1980s production and arrangement values. Kristofferson and band – acoustic and electric guitars, keys, rhythm section and occasional mandolin – stand at the crossroads of country, rock and folk music while playing stone classics such as "Me and Bobby McGee," "The Pilgrim," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and 12 others. Though he could never really sing 'em, Kristofferson sure could write 'em – "You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine)," "For the Good Times" and "Why Me" are among the other tracks – and his '81 band sure could play 'em.

— Kristopher Weiss, jambands.com

Pressed on limited edition color vinyl, Live at Gilley's captures Kris Kristofferson's 1981 performance at the world's largest honky tonk—the Pasadena, Texas roadhouse that inspired Urban Cowboy and defined mechanical bull culture before becoming a shrine to outlaw country. This New West Records release preserves Kristofferson delivering "Me and Bobby McGee," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and the literary songwriting that influenced everyone from Willie Nelson to Shooter Jennings.

Gilley's was more than a bar—at 40,000 capacity, it was a phenomenon that captured America's briefly renewed appetite for honky-tonk culture after John Travolta rode a bull there in 1980. Kristofferson's 1981 appearance brought Rhodes Scholar poetry to the sawdust floor, proving that outlaw country could be both cerebral and rowdy. The audience that packed Gilley's came to dance; they stayed to listen to the man who'd revolutionized Nashville songwriting with his literary ambition and working-class perspective.

Limited color vinyl LP. Recorded September 15, 1981 at Gilley's, Pasadena TX. New West Records. Historic honky tonk performance from outlaw country legend.