Kris Kristofferson to Release ‘Live at Gilley’s Album Including 15 Previously Unreleased Recordings

Kris Kristofferson is giving fans a chance to relive some of the best days in country music history. This fall, listeners can hear 15 previously unreleased tracks from one special night down in Texas.

Live at Gilley’s – Pasadena, TX: September 15th 1981 arrives on September 2. “Gilley’s” was the bar owned by the late Mickey Gilley. You may remember it from the film Urban Cowboy. Gilley wrote liner notes for the release just before his passing. The package will also include additional notes from songwriter Billy Swan and the legendary George Strait.

Among the notes left by Gilley, “Gilley’s could hold several thousand people, but the club was very intimate. You were right there on the stage with people all around you. You could bend down and shake hands with people.”

“Right next to the club was the recording studio,” Gilley continued in the notes. “And we recorded everything that was done onstage. We could record onto the 24-reack machine that we had in the studio, then we would do the mixing…We booked a lot of shows around that time, including some people I didn’t think would want to play the club. We got some acts that made me think, ‘Are you kidding me?’ …Kris Kristofferson was one of those artists that I didn’t think would want to play Gilley’s, because he was such a big name and a tremendous talent.”

George Strait goes on to note on the live record that he played the venue in his home state a few times himself. He says that the crowd on the recording takes him right back to that spot.

Tracks from the Kris Kristofferson Release

The tracks, one of which you can hear at The Boot, include:

1. Me and Bobby McGee
2. Here Comes That Rainbow Again
3. Casey’s Last Ride
4. You Show Me Yours (And I’ll Show You Mine)/Stranger
5. Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore
6. Darby’s Castle
7. If It’s All the Same to You
8. The Pilgrim
9. For the Good Times
10. Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down
11. The Silver Tongued Devil and I
12. Smile at Me Again
13. Same Old Song
14. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again
15. Why Me

“You can tell the crowd is loving him and he’s loving them right back,” Strait says in the liner notes. “That’s what it’s all about. It was an exciting time to say the least. So close your eyes and listen to this record. Imagine you’re right there standing in front of the stage with the man himself looking at you. I think you’ll get a really good idea of what Gilley’s was like back then when Kris played there. What a treat that must’ve been.”

If it’s King endorsed, it has to be good.