B-side "The Minority" Recorded 1969 Length 4:25 | Released 1969 Genre Pop, country Label Monument | |
"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson that was popularized in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a number one hit for Johnny Cash.
History
Stevens' version of the song reached number 55 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and number 81 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1969. It also appeared on the author's own album Kristofferson .
The biggest success for the song came from the Johnny Cash performance, which had been taped live at the Ryman Auditorium during a taping of The Johnny Cash Show. It would appear on the soundtrack LP The Johnny Cash Show the following year, as well as being issues as a single (Columbia Records 4-45211). Cash's version won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year in 1970 and hit number one on the country chart. It was included on Lynn Anderson's album Rose Garden that same year.
Frankie Laine recorded a version for his 1977 British album Life is Beautiful. Shawn Mullins included a version on his 1998 album Soul's Core. In 2006 the band Me First And The Gimme Gimmes included a version on their album Love Their Country. Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a version for his 2010 album Mean Old Man. More recently it appeared on Willie Nelson's 2011 album Remember Me, Vol. 1.
According to Kristofferson, Cash was told to change the line "I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned" when he performed it on his TV show, but he refused to comply. In a 2013 interview, Kristofferson said the song "opened up a whole lot of doors for me. So many people that I admired, admired it. Actually, it was the song that allowed me to quit working for a living."