Kris Kristofferson

Singer, songwriter, guitarist

Kris Kristofferson's successful movie career has tended to obscure his considerable accomplishments as a singer and songwriter. In fact, the lanky Texas native established his career by writing and singing country music; his mournful lyrics and deceptively simple melodies helped to define the "progressive" Nashville sound in the late 1960s. Esquire contributor Tom Burke noted that Kristofferson is "one of the most respected, and his work among the most often performed, of contemporary songwriters. He is highly paid not only for the writing of songs but for the singing of them." In Best of the Music Makers, George T. Simon called Kristofferson "a balladeer of the dispossessed, the troubadour of losing and losers," who has brought "a gentle intensity to his portraits of frustration, defeat, and lost romance."

Kristofferson emerged in Nashville at the time when performers such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson were beginning to challenge the clean-cut, all-American image expected of country performers. It is no surprise that the scruffy, hard-living Kristofferson forged close friendships with these stars and has performed with them on stage and on television. Kristofferson's songs—many of them celebrations of drifting in the wrong direction—have established him as one of country music's "outlaws." TV Guide correspondent Neil Hickey found the artist a leading member of "a new breed of Nashville songwriters who [are] more literary, more poetic, less insular in their approaches."

A Rhodes Scholar

Kristofferson's "outlaw" image is a product of his adult years. As a young man he was every American family's model son: a Golden Gloves boxer who earned Phi Beta Kappa grades in college, winner of a prestigious Atlantic Monthly collegiate short-story contest, and a recipient of the coveted Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. The son of a career major general in the U.S. Air Force, Kristofferson seemed to be destined for the same sort of conservative success. The golden youth had one Achilles heel, however. He was passionately fond of country music, especially Hank Williams, and he liked to sing folk songs and accompany himself on guitar. While studying literature at Oxford he managed to sing and tour as Kris Carson, even appearing on British television.

Never particularly fond of academic life, Kristofferson eventually became disillusioned with Oxford. In 1960 he returned to the United States and joined the army. For a time it appeared that he might follow in his father's footsteps, as he moved through ranger school, parachute jump school, and pilot training, eventually becoming an able helicopter pilot. When his first tour of duty ended he reenlisted for another three years and was sent to Germany. There a friend persuaded him to send a few songs to a Nashville agent. In 1965 Kristofferson was on the verge of accepting a teaching position at West Point when he decided to move to Nashville instead. Against the wishes of his parents and his wife, he embarked for the South with little to sustain him but a handful of songs he had written.

A Major Nashville Songwriter

The following four years became "a struggle just to stay alive and write," according to Paul Hemphill in a New York Times Magazine feature. Kristofferson's struggle was the classic sort—he tended bar and even worked as the night janitor at a Columbia Records studio in order to make ends meet while he peddled his songs to the reigning country stars. Eventually two performers, Johnny Cash and Roger Miller, responded to Kristofferson's talent and persistence. Miller was the first to record a Kristofferson song, the winsome "Me and Bobby McGee." The minor country hit opened the doors, and other artists began recording his songs, including Jerry Lee Lewis, who scored a number two country hit with Kristofferson's collaboration with Shel Silverstein, "Once More with Feeling." For his part, Cash accepted Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and turned it into a number one hit. No one was more surprised than Kristofferson when the Country Music Association named "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" the 1970 song of the year. In a vision of country music's future, the long-haired Kristofferson ambled to the stage and shyly accepted his prize.

By that time Cash and Kristofferson had become fast friends. Cash persuaded Kristofferson to perform his own music, and the artist signed with Monument Records. From the outset, Kristofferson's music had its roots squarely in folk and country, but he found fans in the pop-rock arena as well. Even though every live concert became a battle with stage fright, Kristofferson achieved great popularity. He earned two gold singles on his own for "Silver Tongued Devil and I" and "Why Me, Lord?," and watched with satisfaction as Janis Joplin made "Me and Bobby McGee" into a major rock classic. Equally rewarding was Jerry Lee Lewis's version, which returned the piano pumping legend to the pop Top 40 for the first time in over a decade.

For the Record …

Born Kristoffer Kristofferson on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, TX; son of U.S. Air Force major general; married Fran Beir, 1960 (divorced); married Rita Coolidge (a singer), 1973 (divorced, 1979); married Lisa Meyers (an attorney), February 18, 1983; children: (first marriage) Tracy, Kris; (second marriage) Casey; (third marriage) five. Education: Pomona College, B.A., 1958; attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, 1959

Helicopter pilot for U.S. Army, 1960–65; signed with Monument Records, 1969; author of numerous hit songs, including "Me and Bobby McGee," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "For the Good Times," and "Why Me, Lord?"; worked as duet performer with former wife, Rita Coolidge, and as part of ensemble with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson; actor in feature films, including Cisco Pike, 1971, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, 1975, A Star Is Born, 1976, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, 1976, Semi-Tough, 1977, Heaven's Gate, 1980, Trouble in Mind, 1986, Amerika, 1987, Blade: Trinity, 2004, and The Jacket, 2005; recorded for Mercury, Buddha, Atlantic, Oh Boy, and New West Records, 1986–2006.

Awards: Country Music Association, Song of the Year citation for "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," 1970; Grammy award for Best Country Song for "Help Me Make it Through the Night," 1971; Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance by a Duo (with Rita Coolidge) for "From the Bottle to the Bottom," 1973; Grammy Awards for songwriting for "From the Bottle to the Bottom," 1973, and "Lover Please," 1975; Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical or Comedy, for A Star is Born, 1977; inducted into Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1977; Western Heritage Awards, Bronze Wrangler, for appearance in TV film Two for Texas, 1998; Golden Boot Award, 2003; inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame, 2004.

Addresses: Record company—New West Records, 9215 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212, website: http://www.newwestrecords.com. Website—Kris Kristofferson Official Website: http://www.kriskristofferson.com.

Juggled Music and Acting

Hollywood discovered Kristofferson in the early 1970s, and he added film appearances to his already busy schedule of touring and recording. In 1973 he married singer Rita Coolidge, and they performed as a countrypop duo, earning a number of Grammy nominations and awards together. Nevertheless, as Cheryl McCall noted in a People magazine article, Kristofferson's "peculiar insecurity led to near panic in the face of adulation and stardom." Between 1973 and 1977 Kristofferson took roles in more than a half-dozen feature films, some of which—particularly A Star Is Born—became embarrassments for him, although he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in the film. Plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, he divorced Coolidge and tried to set his life straight. The process took almost five years.

In Roger Ebert's book A Kiss Is Still a Kiss, Kristofferson told Ebert: "Getting high was supposed to be a method of opening the doors of perception for me, and what it was doing was shutting them…. It took me thirty years to admit I had a problem." With his newfound sobriety, Kristofferson remarried and gravitated back to country music, where he found his friends Cash, Nelson, and Jennings undergoing similar dryouts. In 1987 Kristofferson released a new album, Repossessed, that earned widespread praise. Once again he found himself in demand for live performances, and he also made several well-received films, including Amerika and Trouble In Mind. Hickey described the resurgent Kristofferson as "a middle-aged gent who's dead serious about his fathering, husbanding, songwriting, acting, record-making, and concert-giving."

In 1990 Kristofferson teamed with Cash, Nelson, and Jennings for a tour to promote the Highwayman II album. Kristofferson was in his element as a member of that foursome of road-weary troubadours, and his songs sensitively addressed the familiar themes of country music, those of lost love, loneliness, aimless wandering, and maverick lawlessness. Like his fellow "outlaws," Kristofferson gained a measure of respect from his well-publicized struggle for sobriety, as well as for his artistic integrity. He told Hickey that he now looks at life "like an old alcoholic" who "is trying to take it one day at a time."

Made Comeback During the 2000s

Kristofferson joined his fellow Highwaymen for a final album on Liberty in 1995. A confused, overproduced effort, The Road Goes on Forever contained none of the panache of the earlier efforts, and with Cash's health steadily declining, the supergroup quietly disbanded. Meanwhile, Kristofferson's albums for Mercury, Buddha, Atlantic and John Prine's Oh Boy labels garnered little notice and fewer sales. As age overtook his rugged good looks, his acting career dried up once again.

After elective bypass surgery in 1999, Kristofferson gave his career another push. Roles in such films as Payback and the Blade trilogy re-established him as a commanding screen presence. Moreover, supporting roles in the acclaimed 2005 independent film The Jacket and the Dreamworks family feature Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, established him as an important character actor. Musically, a contract with the independent New West label allowed him to make commercial yet relevant music on his own terms again. Even with a reinvigorated acting career, Kristofferson has stated that he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without his songwriting gifts. "I'll be doing that until they throw dirt on top of me," he told Holly Gleason of Country Standard Time. "To be honest, I wouldn't be doing any of it if it weren't for writing. I never would have gotten to make records if I didn't write. I wouldn't have gotten to tour without it. And I never would've been asked to act in a movie if I hadn't been known as a writer."

Selected discography

Singles

"Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," Monument, 1971.
"Why Me, Lord?," Monument, 1973.
(With Rita Coolidge) "From the Bottle to the Bottom," Monument, 1973.
(With Coolidge) "Lover Please," Monument, 1975.

Albums

Kristofferson, Monument, 1970; reissued as Me and Bobby McGee, 1988.
The Silver Tongued Devil and I, Monument, 1971; reissued, 1988.
Border Lord, Monument, 1974.
Jesus Was a Capricorn, Monument, 1974.
Spooky Lady's Sideshow, Monument, 1974.
(With Coolidge) Breakaway, Monument, 1974; reissued, 1991.
(With Coolidge) Full Moon, &AM, 1975.
(With Barbra Streisand) A Star Is Born, Columbia, 1977.
Surreal Thing, Monument, 1978.
Big Sur Festival, Monument, 1978.
Songs of Kristofferson, Monument, 1978; reissued, 1988.
Easter Island, Monument, 1978.
Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame, Monument, 1978.
Shake Hands with the Devil, Monument, 1979.
To The Bone, Monument, 1981.
(With Willie Nelson) Music from Songwriter, Monument, 1984.
(With Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson) Highwayman, Columbia, 1985.
My Songs, Monument, 1986.
Repossessed, Mercury, 1987.
(With Jennings, Cash, and Nelson) Highwayman II, Columbia, 1990.
Third World Warrior, Mercury, 1990.
Live at the Philharmonic, Monument, 1992.
A Moment of Forever, Buddha, 1995.
(With Jennings, Cash, and Nelson) The Road Goes On Forever, Liberty, 1995.
The Austin Session, Atlantic, 1999.
The Essential Kris Kristofferson, Monument/Legacy, 2004.

Broken Freedom Song: Live from San Francisco, Oh Boy!, 2004.
This Old Road, New West, 2006.
Live from Austin, Texas, New West, 2006.

Sources

Books

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 5, Gale, 1989.

Ebert, Roger, A Kiss Is Still a Kiss, Andrews & McMeel, 1984.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, Harmony, 1977.

McCloud, Bruce, Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music and Its Performers, Perigree, 1995.

Shestack, Melvin, The Country Music Encyclopedia, Crowell, 1974.

Simon, George T., Best of the Music Makers, Doubleday, 1979.

Stambler, Irwin, and Grelun Landon, Country Music: The Encyclopedia, St. Martin's Griffin, 2000.

Periodicals

Esquire, December 1976; November 1981.

Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada), January 31, 1972.

Newsday, September 11, 1971.

New York Times, July 26, 1970; June 3, 1973.

New York Times Magazine, December 6, 1970.

Saturday Review, February 3, 1973.

TV Guide, October 12, 1985.

Online

"Kris Kristofferson," Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com (June 23, 2006).

"Kris Kristofferson," Country Standard Time, http://www.countrystandardtime.com (June 25, 2006).