hypersongs

Kris Kristofferson

A Texas-born Rhodes Scholar and Army pilot who became a Nashville songwriter and wrote "Me and Bobby McGee", "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", then acted in films and joined the Highwaymen.

From Oxford to Nashville

Kristoffer Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas on June 22, 1936, the son of an Army Air Corps officer who became a major general in the Air Force. He grew up in San Mateo, California, took an English literature degree at Pomona College in 1958, played football and boxed in the Golden Gloves, and went to Merton College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a B.Phil. in 1960, hoping to write the great American novel. He joined the US Army in 1961, trained as a Ranger and helicopter pilot, served in West Germany, and in 1965 was offered a post teaching English literature at West Point. Instead he left the Army for Nashville songwriting.

In Nashville he took odd jobs, including as a janitor at Columbia Records, and later flew helicopters for Petroleum Helicopters in Louisiana while writing. His debut single appeared on Epic in 1967. In 1969 he signed to Monument as an artist and to Combine Music as a songwriter. Johnny Cash's version of "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" reached number one on the country chart in October 1970; Ray Price's For the Good Times album, with the title song by Kristofferson, reached number one on the country albums chart in November 1970; Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night" went to number one in February 1971 and won a Grammy; and Janis Joplin's posthumous "Me and Bobby McGee" reached number one on the Hot 100 in March 1971.

Records, films and the Highwaymen

His own records on Monument include Kristofferson (1970), The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971), Border Lord and Jesus Was a Capricorn (1972), Full Moon with Rita Coolidge (1973) and Spooky Lady's Sideshow (1974); "Why Me" reached number one on the country singles chart in 1973. Later albums include Repossessed (1985), The Austin Sessions (1999), This Old Road (2006), Closer to the Bone (2009), Feeling Mortal (2013) and The Cedar Creek Sessions (2016). He acted in Cisco Pike (1972), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973, directed by Sam Peckinpah), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), A Star Is Born (1976, a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), Songwriter (1984) and the Blade films from 1998 to 2004.

In 1985 he formed the Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Their albums are Highwayman (May 6, 1985, produced by Chips Moman, with the Jimmy Webb title song at number one), Highwayman 2 (February 9, 1990) and The Road Goes On Forever (April 4, 1995). He entered the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 and the CMA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He announced his retirement in January 2021, gave a final performance at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29, 2023, Willie Nelson's 90th birthday, and died at home in Hana, Maui on September 28, 2024, aged 88. Steve Earle said he raised the bar single-handedly in country music lyrically, and Rodney Crowell called "Help Me Make It Through the Night" earthshaking and a paradigm shift.

Albums

  • Kristofferson 1970 · Monument

    His debut: twelve songs including "Me and Bobby McGee", "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down".

Songs

  • Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down Kristofferson · 1970

    Written in 1969 while Kristofferson was a janitor at Columbia Records, and a number one country hit for Johnny Cash in 1970.

Sources

  1. Kris Kristofferson, Wikipedia
  2. Kris Kristofferson: musical rebel and movie star dies at age 88, NPR (2024-09-30)
  3. Kris Kristofferson history, kriskristofferson.com
  4. The Highwaymen (country supergroup), Wikipedia