Last weekend, one of the greatest talents in the country music industry, if not in the whole entertainment industry, passed away. Kris Kristofferson left this world September 28 at the age of 88. He was a singer, songwriter, musician, actor, writer and poet. He was known in the music community as part of the country music Outlaw movement. The one word that I would describe him: Badass!
He was born in Brownsville, Texas with a father that was a US Air Force officer. The family moved around frequently, and he graduated from high school in California. His college interests were in writing, where he had a number of essays printed in the Atlantic Monthly. He worked as a dredging contractor on Wake Island, as well as appearing in Sports Illustrated for his achievements in football, rugby, and track & field. He graduated summa cum laude from Pomona College, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England, where he excelled not only in literature, but also in boxing.
After Oxford, under pressure from his parents, he joined the US Army, where he attained the rank of captain and became a helicopter pilot. While stationed in Germany, he re-launched his fledgling music career by forming a band. He then was assigned to teach literature at West Point, but resigned to pursue songwriting.
In Nashville, he struggled for a few years, taking on a janitorial job at Columbia Recording Studios. It was there that he met June Carter, who gave one of his demos to Johnny Cash. He also took a job as a helicopter pilot for a petroleum company in Louisiana, which is when he wrote some of his most iconic songs. During this time is when he performed his most famous stunt of flying and landing a helicopter in Cash’s front yard to pitch a song. Cash would eventually record Kristofferson’s song “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” That song would win Song of the Year at the 1970 Country Music Association Awards.
He briefly dated Janis Joplin, who would later have a posthumous hit with his song “Me and Bobby McGee.” Other songwriting hits included Ray Price’s “For the Good Times,” O.C. Smith’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” and Roger Miller’s “Darby’s Castle.” By the mid-1970s, he was starting an acting career, which included films throughout the next four decades to include Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Convoy, Semi-Tough, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a remake of A Star is Born (for which he received a Golden Globe Award), and most famously as Abraham Whistler in the Blade trilogy.
He was married three times, with the second marriage being to singer Rita Coolidge. The two of them made a number of recordings together, and even appeared as a couple on The Muppet Show. He was a political activist, especially with anti-war sentiments. He would often perform at rallies, and even performed in Havana, Cuba in 1979.
In the 1980s, he was best known for being part of the country music supergroup The Highwaymen, along with Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. The quartet put out three critically acclaimed albums, as well as starred in a remake of the movie Stagecoach, and provided voices for audio readings of Louis L’Amour stories. In the later part of his career, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He has received numerous Grammy Awards, along with recognition from BMI, the Americana Music Association, and CMT. He announced his retirement in January 2021, while his last performance was in February 2020.
My view of him as a “badass” comes from the fact that he was multi-talented, supported so many causes, and had that stare from his eyes that he looked like he could kick your ass in if you crossed him (and he probably could). I was fortunate enough to meet him once a few years back at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. I was working for Jim Lauderdale, who was MC-ing the event, and Kristofferson was one of the headliners. He came in for his soundcheck early. It was cold and flu season, and I had a decent cold going on. I sneezed real hard once, and he turned to me and said that he knew how I was feeling, as he had a cold going on as well. It thanked him for all of his work, not only as a songwriter but for his military service, and he was extremely cordial and friendly to me. We talked about a few things, then he went off to do his soundcheck. All of his time there backstage, he was friendly and kind to everyone that he met. Later that evening, despite his cold, he gave an amazing hour-long solo acoustic performance that had the laid-back crowd go wild.
I have a Kris Kristofferson songbook that I occasionally pick up and look at. Not so much to perform one of his songs, but to look to his lyrics for inspiration. It is truly a gospel reading for songwriters everywhere, no matter what genre.
He was an amazing talent, and I know that his songs will continue to be covered for many years. And I can guarantee you, somewhere in this world right now, at a coffeehouse, there’s a singer/guitarist performing a Kris Kristofferson tune.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 