By the time of Shake Hands With the Devil, the ninth album of Kris Kristofferson's ten-album contract with Monument Records, he must have considered his recording career an afterthought to his more prominent career in the movies. That's what's suggested by this album, to which he's given little thought. It consists mainly of old material: The title song is a previously unheard 1970 copyright; "Come Sundown" and "Once More With Feeling" are also 1970 songs, both of them country hits, one for Bobby Bare, the other for Jerry Lee Lewis; Atwood Allen and Kim Fowley's "Michoacan" was featured in Kristofferson's 1971 film Cisco Pike; Tom Ghent's "Whiskey, Whiskey," a 1970 country hit for Nat Stuckey, was in Kristofferson's concerts as far back as 1972; "Killer Barracuda" is a 1975 copyright; and Kristofferson wrote "Seadream" for his 1976 film The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea. Of the remaining three songs, "Lucky in Love" and "Fallen Angel" are co-compositions with Mike Utley and Stephen Bruton ("Fallen Angel" is also co-credited to Kristofferson's soon-to-be-ex-wife Rita Coolidge). So, the only new composition solely by Kristofferson is the regretful ballad "Prove It to You One More Time Again." The result is a patchy collection with no really unified feeling. "Prove It to You One More Time" and "Lucky in Love" both have a slight Caribbean feel, while "Michoacan" is in Tex-Mex style, and "Once More With Feeling" employs a horn section for a Dixieland effect. Kristofferson sounds unusually relaxed, though his wheezy vocals, augmented by Utley, Bruton, Coolidge, and Billy Swan, are no better than usual. Shake Hands With the Devil became Kristofferson's first album not to reach the charts at all, though surprisingly "Prove It to You One More Time Again" got into the lower reaches of the country singles charts.
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL
Monument JZ-36135July/1979
Produced by David Anderle
Stephen Bruton, Fred Tackett - guitarMike Utley, Donnie Fritts - keyboards/synthesizer
Tommy McClure - bass
Sammy Creason - drums
Darrell Leonard, E. Lon Price, Dwight Smith - horns
Vocals:
Rita Coolidge, Billy Swan, Stephen Bruton, Mike Utley
1.
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '79 Careers Music, BMI »I know some people say that I'm the devil in disguise
I won't try to tell ya that I ain't
I don't like believin' that I'm evil in your eyes
But I ain't make believin' I'm a saint
Cause I'll do anything I can to win you from the world
It's something that my senses can't control
And if that's sin then shake hands with the devil little girl
I want your body and your soul
Shake hands with the devil don't be frightened I won't hurt you
I don't want your silver or your gold
I'm not after anything that you don't want to give me
I just want your body and your soul
[ guitar ] Other men can offer something peaceful and secure I can offer anything but me
But I can take you higher than you ever been before
And show you things you'll never dare to see
And hand in hand together we can laugh the world away
I'll keep you from the hunger and the cold
So let your love come easy you don't need to be afraid
I just want your body and your soul
Shake hands with the devil...
Shake hands with the devil...
**********
2.
PROVE IT TO YOU ONE MORE TIME AGAIN
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '79 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Nobody blamin' you don't get me wrong I know so many things you done for me
But you got your life that you gotta live and I'll get along
I just wonder who you wanted me to be
And I can't believe that you still don't believe in me or hold a clue to who I am
I just hope to God that I still got the heart to take it
And prove it to you one more time again
So many lies were told so many times maybe it's too late to make it love again
If we got a choice then we got a chance then we gotta try
And do the story true right to the end
And I don't believe you don't believe in me and you still don't understand
I just hope to God I still got the heart to take it
Prove it to you one more time again
**********
3.
WHISKEY WHISKEY
(Tom Ghent) « © '70 Combine Music, BMI »She's a little bit of the sunshine just before it rains
A little like this quiet night before the cold winds came
She's a little bit like the weather I never know when she's gonna change
She's a part of my heart and a whole lot of my pain
So whiskey whiskey my old friend I've come to talk with you again
Milk of mercy plase be kind drive this feeling from my mind
Don't you know somehow her smile can make the day begin
She'd take away this mask of grey and let the sun shine in
Now I find that I've been blinded by the cold and winter wind
She disguised behind her eyes oh what a fool I've been
So whiskey whiskey...
Whiskey whiskey...
**********
4.
LUCKY IN LOVE
(Kris Kristofferson - Stephen Bruton - Mike Utley) « © '79 Resaca Music, BMI / Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »You look so good to me you never change Lord has it really been so long
Somehow old mystery don't matter now or who was right and who was wrong
We can't make a new memory of you and me
Cause I'm losin' the ones I been usin' too long on my own
We can make it like it ought to be so easily
When you luck into lucky lovin' you leave it alone
Feel this heart of mine Lord can't you see how bad that we been missin' you
These days it's hard to find or make believe any dreams worth comin' true
We can take it to eternity you and me
Cause we're better together than we'll ever be on our own
We can make it like it ought to be so easily
When you luck into lucky lovin' you leave it alone
We can't make a new memory...
**********
5.
SEADREAM
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '79 Resaca Music, BMI »Pretty lady look at me I'm a sailor from the sea
I can take you anywhere you can join me do you dare
Like a dagger made of diamonds in a scabbard soft as gold
I can show you pretty secrets human lips have never told
She said sailor come with me is it lonesome on the sea
Is there shelter for your head like the comfort of my bed
Love is harder than a diamond and as soft and pure as gold
And it's sweet as any secret any sailor ever told
Pretty lady look at me I'm a sailor from the sea
I can take you anywhere you can join me do you dare
**********
6.
KILLER BARRACUDA
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '79 Careers Music, BMI »Look into water see the barracuda patient as the devil hanging still
Like a shadow in the water pretty barracuda dagger of the devil waitin' to kill
Little girl beware of the killer barracuda he rules these waters like a king
He'll cut your heart out slicker than a dagger not cause he's hungry cause he's mean
You can see the shark now glidin' through the water ugly as death eats anything
But the pretty barracuda don't touch no leavings
Takin' what he wants to cause he's king
You can't scare him or entice him he wouldn't move for the devil till his own time
Then quicker than a heartbeat he'll turn you away girl
Just to see you fall and leave you dyin'
Little girl beware...
**********
7.
COME SUNDOWN
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '70 Combine Music, BMI »I heard the front door closin' softly as I weaken from my sleep
With the last touch of her lips Lord like a whisper on my cheek
And I cursed the sun for rising for the worst Lord was yet to come
Cause this morning she's just leavin' me but come sundown she'll be gone
[ guitar ] See the lipstick on the pillow that I placed beneath her head
And the soft sheets still feel warm Lord where she lay upon my bed
And it hurts to know it's over cause the hurt Lord has just begun
Cause this morning she's just leavin' me but come sundown she'll be gone
**********
8.
MICHOACAN
(Atweed Allen - Kim Fowley) « © '79 Screen Gems Music, BMI »Woke up this morning the border was burning my mind
Things that I seen that I couldn't be leaving behind me
Down in this hole in the ground there ain't nothing to see
But down in Michoacan paradise waits for me
North of the border the bodies are bought and they're sold boy
Me and a brother was caught turning green into gold
I'm gonna pay for my crime till the day that I'm free
But down in Michoacan paradise waits for me
A rusty car rode across the border I was inside
I had two dogs my red guitar and my teenage bride
We took a look at a shot in the dark and we found a home
Where the flowers bloom in Michoacan
[ horns ] A rusty car rode across the border I was inside
I had two dogs my red guitar and my teenage bride
I'm gonna clean up my act and go back to where I belong
Where the flowers bloom in Michoacan
**********
9.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
(Kris Kristofferson - Shel Silverstein) « © '70 Combine Music, BMI »We're just goin' through the motions of the parts we've learned to play
Never quite together like before
But somehow darling something good got lost along the way
And our song ain't nothing special anymore
Let's try it one more time with feeling darling take it from the top
Let me feel those tears a falling girl I don't want to miss a single drop
Darling make up believe you're making me believe each word you say
Try it once more with feeling and we'll call it a day
Well you're reachin' out to touch me darlin' just the way you used to do
And you're lookin' everywhere but in my eyes
Well that's an oldy but it's a good babe but them words ain't ringing true
And you don't seem very sure of your life
So try it one more time...
Let's try it one more time with feeling and we'll call it a day
**********
10.
FALLEN ANGEL
(Kris Kristofferson - Stephen Bruton - Mike Utley - Rita Coolidge)) « © '79 Resaca Music, BMI / Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »[ with Rita Coolidge ]
It's sad to see we may never be the way we were before
We don't believe in the magic of the music anymore
And everything's older now and colder and grey
Oh darling I believe there's got to be a better way
It seems to me we've forgotten how to let our feelings show
We seem to be so much farther from the dreams we used to know
And too many more my friends are dying today
Oh darling I believe there's got to be a better way
Listen to the fallen angels learning how to spread their wings
Now will they make it all alone
Look into the children's laughter tell me what tomorrw brings
For those so far away from home
I can say I'm not sorry for the things we tried to be
But I'm afraid what we're headin' toward is up to you and me
(Cause we got a choice) the future is ours to see
(We got a chance) to change today
Oh darling don't you believe there's got to be a better way
Cause we got a choice (the future is ours to see)
We got a chance to change today
Oh I believe together there can be a better way
Oh if we believe together there can be a better way
**********
