For The Good Times - Perry Como

Phil Writes:  This is a Kris Kristofferson song.  Normally, I think he performs his own songs best.  But I really like this version.  Perry Como had a very relaxed voice and though he may be out of fashion now he had a weekly TV show that, at a time when we only had a couple of TV channels (if we were lucky), showcased a lot of great songs and singers we might otherwise never have heard:

Kris Kristofferson - To Beat the Devil

Joe writes: Brilliant song from the Kristeofferson album that Kris wrote in the hope of saving Johnny Cash's life, as he explains at the start.

Inspired by Steinbeck

Phil writes: I guess that there are plenty of other songs inspired by books, but it is surely unusual for two songs as good as these to have been inspired by the same book, 'The Grapes of Wrath' (a 'must read' BTW):

Two great tracks with a similar theme

Phil writes: I was introduced to both by my son, some years ago now. Both made an immediate impact and are amongst my all-time favourites. 'The Dance' has featured on the blog before but you there will be people out there who will be hearing it for the first time:



It seems strangely unavailable on Amazon or iTunes.

This is not the best version of 'Moment of Forever' and Kris's voice, never his greatest asset, is not in great shape these days but it's still wonderful:



Here's the studio version:



buy the mp3 from iTunes

songs about getting old

Joe writes: A Moment Of Forever was written by Kris Kristofferson and Danny Timms. It was the title track of Kris's 1995 album which is where I heard it first. Now it's the title track of Willie Nelson's new album. You can hear Willie's version on YouTube. And you can hear a version by Danny on his own website. But for me the best version is Kris's. It's a good one to put on a CD for your partner at Valentine's Day if you are planning to spend the rest of your lives together and have a high tolerance for sappiness.



A Moment Of Forever reminds me a little of Back When We Were Beautiful by Matraca Berg, a lovely song about growing old.



I spent far too long reading an Eva Cassidy website this week and was moved almost to tears once again. Partly because of the story (what a story), but more because of the music - Eva was one of the all-time great singers. Fields Of Gold is a really good song about love changing as couples age. I won't post that because everyone should own the Songbird compilation on which it appears. Instead, I've posted Anniversary Song, the best of the lesser known songs that Eva recorded (it was written by Steve Digman).


Finally, Much More Than This, by Chris de Burgh, an artist who is much under-appreciated in the UK. I have mixed feelings about the sentiment expressed in the lyric (definitely don't put this on a CD for your partner), but nonetheless I think it's one of his best songs, right up there with the likes of Borderline and Lady In Red.