| The Essential Kris Kristofferson | 
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| Released | March 2, 2004 | 
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| Recorded | 1969โ1983 | 
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| Genre |  | 
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| Length | 2:07:58 | 
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 Professional ratings| Review scores | 
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| Source | Rating | 
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| AllMusic |      [1] | 
 The Essential Kris Kristofferson is a 37-track, 2-CD compilation and career retrospective for Kris Kristofferson. 
The compilation was released in 2004 and covers the period 1969โ1999, although it focuses heavily on the years 1969โ1971. Disc 1 covers only this period, spotlighting tracks from his first two albums, while Disc 2 mostly covers the rest of the 1970s, with only four songs from the 1980s (including one by The Highwaymen) and one from the 1990s. 
  Track listing
 Disc 1
    |  | Title | Performer | Writers | Original release | 
  | 1. | "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" | Kris Kristofferson | Kris Kristofferson | From the album Kristofferson (Monument, 1970) | 
  | 2. | "To Beat the Devil" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 3. | "Just the Other Side of Nowhere" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 4. | "Me and Bobby McGee" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson, Fred Foster | Kristofferson | 
  | 5. | "The Best of All Possible Worlds" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 6. | "Casey's Last Ride" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 7. | "Help Me Make It Through the Night" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 8. | "Darby's Castle" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 9. | "Jody and the Kid" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Monument, 1971) | 
  | 10. | "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | The Silver Tongued Devil and I | 
  | 11. | "For the Good Times" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Kristofferson | 
  | 12. | "Come Sundown" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the reissue of Kristofferson (Monument/Legacy, 2001; recorded 1969) | 
  | 13. | "From the Bottle to the Bottom" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Singer/Songwriter (Sony, 1991; recorded 1971) | 
  | 14. | "Billy Dee" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | The Silver Tongued Devil and I | 
  | 15. | "Breakdown (A Long Way from Home)" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | The Silver Tongued Devil and I | 
  | 16. | "The Silver Tongued Devil and I" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | The Silver Tongued Devil and I | 
  | 17. | "The Taker" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein | The Silver Tongued Devil and I | 
  | 18. | "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33" (live) | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the live festival album Big Sur Festival/One Hand Clapping (Various artists, Columbia, 1972) | 
 Disc 2
    |  | Title | Performer | Writers | Original release | 
  | 1. | "Border Lord" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson, Stephen Bruton, Donnie Fritts, Terry Paul | From the album Border Lord (Monument, 1972) | 
  | 2. | "The Sabre and the Rose" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Easter Island (Monument, 1978) | 
  | 3. | "Broken Freedom Song" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Spooky Lady's Sideshow (Monument, 1974) | 
  | 4. | "Jesus Was a Capricorn (Owed to John Prine)" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Jesus Was a Capricorn (Monument, 1972) | 
  | 5. | "Shandy (The Perfect Disguise)" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Spooky Lady's Sideshow | 
  | 6. | "Sugar Man" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Jesus Was a Capricorn | 
  | 7. | "The Last Time" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album To the Bone  (Monument, 1981) | 
  | 8. | "Nobody Wins" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Jesus Was a Capricorn | 
  | 9. | "I'd Rather Be Sorry" | Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge | Kristofferson | From the album Breakaway (Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, Monument, 1974) | 
  | 10. | "Highwayman" | The Highwaymen (Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Johnny Cash) | Jimmy Webb | From the album Highwayman (The Highwaymen, Columbia, 1985) | 
  | 11. | "Don't Cuss the Fiddle" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame (Monument, 1975) | 
  | 12. | "The Bigger the Fool, the Harder the Fall" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson, Bruton, Michael Utley | Easter Island | 
  | 13. | "Stranger" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame | 
  | 14. | "If You Don't Like Hank Williams" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album Surreal Thing (Monument, 1976) | 
  | 15. | "Here Comes that Rainbow Again" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album The Winning Hand (Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton & Brenda Lee, Monument, 1982) | 
  | 16. | "Once More with Feeling" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson, Silverstein | From the album Shake Hands with the Devil (Monument, 1979) | 
  | 17. | "How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around" | Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson | Kristofferson, Bruton, Utley | From the soundtrack album Music from Songwriter (Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson, Columbia, 1984) | 
  | 18. | "Why Me" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | Jesus Was a Capricorn | 
  | 19. | "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" | Kris Kristofferson | Kristofferson | From the album The Austin Sessions (Atlantic, 1999) | 
 References
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| With Rita Coolidge |  | 
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| Live |  | 
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