Ray Stevens (Ragsdale) was first to record "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969. This Monument single hit with small impact on both the country and pop charts. In chatting with Monument label owner Fred Foster, Fred was upset that Ray recorded this before Kris Kristofferson and thought Kris let Ray do it because the composer was somewhat naive about the music business at the time. This is my favourite version of the song.

The 1970 Monument album "Kristofferson", his debut, featured gifted composer Kris Kristofferson with his original take on what has recently been called "the greatest country song ever".

Johnny Cash had the most popular version peaking at the top of the country chart, crossing over into the top fifty of the pop chart and winning the CMA song of the year award in 1970. This track features updated production values and is from the live album "The Johnny Cash Show".