The Silver Tongued Devil and I

In sound, and attitude, The Silver Tongued Devil and I is the sequel to Kris Kristofferson’s eponymous debut. Both albums pursue a kind of classic folk music, colored in shades of country and Southern R&B. But where Kristofferson had introduced the singer as a grizzled and literate Nashville poet, The Silver Tongued Devil and I finds its author growing into his counterculture persona. The cover photo says it all — in his jeans and jacket and grown-out hair, Kristofferson is one with the title character of “The Pilgrim, Chapter 33,” which is dedicated to the author’s personal icons of cool: Chris Gantry, Dennis Hopper, and Johnny Cash, Donnie Fritts, Billy Swann, Bobby Neuwirth and Jerry Jeff Walker. The rest of the album follows Kristofferson’s rakish loners through romantic misadventures. The title track and “The Taker” pay tribute to hopeless playboys, but with “Loving Her Was Easier” and “When I Loved Her” Kristofferson shows his familiarity with the heart’s purest intentions. The album ends with a tribute to Janis Joplin; “Epitaph (Black and Blue)” is arguably the Woodstock’s generation’s truest and most bittersweet eulogy.