For the Good Times

FOR THE GOOD TIMES
 
 
“For the Good Times”  is a song penned by Kris Kristofferson that appeared on his debut album Kristofferson.  He wrote the first verse and chorus in 1968 while driving from Nashville to the Gulf of Mexico; an early recording of the song was by Bill Nash on Smash Records.  In 1970 Ray Price recorded a version of the song which topped the US country music chart and was awarded “Song of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music.  “For the Good Times” was Price’s fifth #1 single and spent 19 weeks on the chart.  “For the Good Times” crossed over onto the pop chart peaking at number eleven, becoming Ray Price’s only release to hit the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Kris Kristofferson is probably better known as a songwriter – such as Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit song, “Me and Bobby McGee”, plus “For the Good Times” (a hit by Ray Price, among others), “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” (recorded by Johnny Cash) and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (Sammi Smith’s version being the most successful), which were all #1 hits on one Billboard or Canadian chart or other – or as an actor in dozens of films, such as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, A Star Is Born, the Blade films, and The Motel Life.  He has a rough-and-tumble reputation as a hard-liver, and in part, that fuels his interest in spiritual matters.  Jesus has clearly been on his mind over the years; his album names include Jesus Was a Capricorn (simply an observation that Christmas Day falls within that astrological sign). 

 

(July 2014)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021