Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Birth name	Kristoffer Kristofferson
Born	June 22, 1936 (1936-06-22) (age 71) Brownsville, Texas, USA
Other name(s)	Kris Kristofferson
Occupation	Country music songwriter, singer and actor
Years active	1971 â€" Present
Spouse(s)	Fran Beir (1960-1969) Rita Coolidge (1973-1980) Lisa Meyer (1983-)
Official site	www.kriskristofferson.com
Awards Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy 1977 A Star Is Born

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an influential American country music songwriter, singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Kristofferson is the sole writer of most of his songs, but he has collaborated with various other figures of the Nashville scene such as Shel Silverstein and Fred Foster.

Early life

Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas. Like most military brats he moved around much as a youth; he finally settled down in San Mateo, California, where he graduated from San Mateo High School. Kristofferson's father was an Air Force general who pushed his son toward a military career. Kristofferson got his first dose of fame when he appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In The Crowd" for his achievements in rugby, football, and track and field. An aspiring writer, Kristofferson earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University (Merton College, Oxford) after previously attending Pomona College. While in England, Kristofferson began writing songs and working with his manager Larry Parnes; he recorded for Top Rank Records under the name Kris Carson, but was unsuccessful.

As an undergraduate, Kristofferson was a member of the Kappa Delta Fraternity.

In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a master's degree in English literature and married an old girlfriend, Fran Beer. His studies of literature are reflected in his song, "The Best of All Possible Worlds"; the French writer Voltaire satirized similar ideas of philosophical optimism in his short novel Candide.

Kristofferson ultimately joined the U.S. Army and achieved the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker in southeastern Alabama. Later, during the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany and returned to music and formed a band. In 1965, he resigned his commission to pursue songwriting. He had just been assigned to become an English Literature professor at West Point. Kristofferson sent some of his compositions to a friend's relative, Marijohn Wilkin, a successful Nashville, Tennessee, songwriter.

His daughter briefly attended Hyndland Secondary School in Glasgow, UK.

Music career

Kristofferson moved to Nashville after resigning his commission in 1965, intent on becoming a professional songwriter. He worked a variety of odd jobs while struggling to make it in the music business, burdened with expensive medical bills as a result of his son's defective esophagus. He and his wife soon divorced.

He got a job sweeping floors at Columbia Studios in Nashville. There he met Johnny Cash, who initially took some of his songs but ignored them. During Kristofferson's time working as a janitor for Columbia, Bob Dylan was recording his landmark 1966 album Blonde on Blonde at the studio. Though Kristofferson was able to watch some of the sessions, he never got to meet Dylan because he was afraid that he would be fired for approaching him.

He was also working as a commercial helicopter pilot at the time for a south Louisiana firm called Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Kristofferson recalled of his days as a pilot, "That was about the last three years before I started performing, before people started cutting my songs... I would work a week down here [in south Louisiana] for PHI, sitting on an oil platform and flying helicopters. Then I'd go back to Nashville at the end of the week and spend a week up there trying to pitch the songs, then come back down and write songs for another week... I can remember 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' I wrote sitting on top of an oil platform. I wrote 'Bobby Mcgee' down here, and a lot of them [in south Louisiana]."[1]

In 1966, Dave Dudley released a successful Kristofferson single, "Viet Nam Blues". The following year, Kristofferson signed to Epic Records and released a single, "Golden Idol"/"Killing Time", but the song was not successful. Within the next few years, more Kristofferson originals hit the charts, performed by Roy Drusky ("Jody and the Kid"), Billy Walker & the Tennessee Walkers ("From the Bottle to the Bottom"), Ray Stevens ("Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Once More with Feeling") Faron Young ("Your Time's Comin'") and Roger Miller ("Me and Bobby McGee", "Best of all Possible Worlds", "Darby's Castle"). He also gained some success as a performer himself, due to Johnny Cash's introduction of Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival. He got Cash's attention when he landed his helicopter in Cash's yard and gave him some tapes.

Kristofferson signed to Monument Records as a recording artist. The label was run by Fred Foster, also manager of Combine Music, Kristofferson's songwriting label. His debut album for Monument in 1970 was Kristofferson, which included a few new songs as well as many of his previous hits. Sales were poor, although this debut album would become a success the following year when it was re-released under the title Me & Bobby McGee. Kristofferson's compositions were still in high demand. Ray Price ("For the Good Times"), Waylon Jennings ("The Taker"), Bobby Bare ("Come Sundown"), Johnny Cash ("Sunday Morning Coming Down") and Sammi Smith ("Help Me Make It Through the Night") all recorded successful versions of his songs in the early 1970s. "For the Good Times" (Ray Price) won 'Song of the Year" in 1970 from the Academy of Country Music, while "Sunday Morning Coming Down" (Johnny Cash) won the same award from the Academy's rival, the Country Music Association in the same year. This is the only time an individual has won the same award from these two organizations in the same year for different songs.

In 1971, Janis Joplin, who dated Kris until her death, had a #1 hit with "Me and Bobby McGee" from her posthumous Pearl. She performed the definitive version of the song as it ranked high on Rolling Stones 500 greatest songs list and stayed on the number one spot on the charts for weeks. More hits followed from others: Ray Price ("I Won't Mention It Again", "I'd Rather Be Sorry"), Joe Simon ("Help Me Make It Through the Night"), Bobby Bare ("Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends"), O.C. Smith ("Help Me Make It Through the Night") Jerry Lee Lewis ("Me and Bobby McGee"), Patti Page ("I'd Rather Be Sorry") and Peggy Little ("I've Got to Have You"). Kristofferson released his second album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I in 1971; the album was a success and established Kristofferson's career as a recording artist in his own right. Not long after, Kristofferson made his acting debut in The Last Movie (directed by Dennis Hopper) and appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival. In 1972, he acted in Cisco Pike and released his third album, Border Lord; the album was all-new material and sales were sluggish. He also swept the Grammies that year with numerous songs nominated and several winning song of the year. Kristofferson's 1972 fourth album, Jesus Was a Capricorn initially had slow sales, but the third single, "Why Me", was a success and significantly increased album sales.

Film career

For the next few years, Kristofferson focused on acting. He appeared in Blume in Love (directed by Paul Mazursky) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (directed by Sam Peckinpah) and also married Rita Coolidge in 1973. With his new wife, Kristofferson released an album called Full Moon, another success buoyed by numerous hit singles and Grammy nominations. However, his fifth album, Spooky Lady's Sideshow was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the rest of his career. Artists like Ronnie Milsap and Johnny Duncan continued to record Kristofferson's material with much success, but his amazing yet none-the-less rough voice and anti-pop sound kept his own audience to a minimum. He continued acting, in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Convoy, (another Sam Peckinpah film which was released in 1978), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Vigilante Force, a film based on the Yukio Mishima novel The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, and A Star Is Born (with Barbra Streisand). In spite of his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's career was heading downward with the non-charting ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil. His next film, Freedom Road, did not earn a theatrical release in the U.S. He and Rita Coolidge then divorced in 1980. Meanwhile, more artists were taking his songs to the top of the charts, including Willie Nelson, whose Willie Nelson Sings Kris Kristofferson LP was a smash success. Kristofferson's next film was Heaven's Gate, a phenomenal industry changing failure in which he turned in a nuanced performance.

Later career

In 1982, Kristofferson participated (with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Brenda Lee) on The Winning Hand, a country success that failed to break into mainstream audiences. He then married again, to Lisa Meyers, and concentrated on films for a time, appearing in The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, Flashpoint and Songwriter. The latter also starred Willie Nelson. Kristofferson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Music from Songwriter (an album of duets between Nelson and Kristofferson) was a massive country success.

Nelson and Kristofferson continued their partnership, and added Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash to form the supergroup The Highwaymen. Their first album, Highwayman was a huge success, and the supergroup continued working together for a time. In 1985, Kristofferson starred in Trouble in Mind and released Repossessed, a politically aware album that was a country success, particularly "They Killed Him" (also performed by Bob Dylan), a tribute to his heroes, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus, and Mohandas Gandhi. Kristofferson also appeared in Amerika at about the same time; the mini-series was controversial, hypothesizing life under Communist domination.

In spite of the success of Highwayman 2 in 1990, Kristofferson's solo recording career slipped significantly in the early 1990s, though he continued to record successfully with the Highwaymen. Lone Star (1996 film) reinvigorated Kristofferson's acting career, and he soon appeared in Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, Fire Down Below, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, "Chelsea Walls" Payback, The Jacket and Fast Food Nation.

Kristofferson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977. 1999 saw the release of The Austin Sessions. An album on which Kristofferson reworked some of his favorite songs with the help of befriended artists such as Mark Knopfler, Steve Earle and Jackson Browne. In 2003 Broken Freedom Song was released, a live album recorded in San Francisco.

In 2004 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2006, he received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and released his first album full of new material in 11 years; This Old Road. On April 21 2007, Kristofferson won CMT's Johnny Cash Visionary Award. Rosanne Cash, Cash's daughter, presented the honor during the April 16 awards show in Nashville. Previous recipients include Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire and the Dixie Chicks. "John was my hero before he was my friend, and anything with his name on it is really an honor in my eyes," Kristofferson said during a phone interview. "I was thinking back to when I first met him, and if I ever thought that I'd be getting an award with his name on it, it would have carried me through a lot of hard times."

In July 2007, Kristofferson was featured on CMT's "Studio 330 Sessions" where he played many of his hits.

Albums

With The Highwaymen

Albums with The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash)

Filmography

• The Last Movie (1971)
• Cisco Pike (1972)
• Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus (1973)
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
• Blume in Love (1973)
• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
• Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
• The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976)
• Vigilante Force (1976)
• A Star Is Born (1976)
• Semi-Tough (1977)
• Convoy (1978)
• Heaven's Gate (1980)
• Rollover (1981)
• Songwriter (1984)
• Flashpoint (1984)
• Trouble in Mind (1985)
• The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986)
• Blood & Orchids (1986) (TV)
• Amerika (1987) (TV 7 night mini-series)
• Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
• The Tracker (1988) (TV)
• Millennium (1989)
• Welcome Home (1989)
• Sandino (1990)
• Night of the Cyclone (1990)
• Original Intent (1992)
• Paper Hearts (1993)
• No Place to Hide (1993)
• Knights (1993)
• Pharaoh's Army (1995)
• Lone Star (1996)
• Blue Rodeo (1996) (TV)
• Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival (1997) (documentary)
• Fire Down Below (1997)
• Girls' Night (1998)
• Blade (1998)
• Dance with Me (1998)
• A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998)
• The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998) (voice)
• Payback (1999)
• Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
• Limbo (1999)
• The Joyriders (1999)
• Comanche (2000)
• The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack (2000) (documentary)
• Immaculate Funk (2000) (documentary)
• Planet of the Apes (2001)
• Chelsea Walls (2001)
• Wooly Boys (2001)
• John Ford Goes to War (2002) (documentary) (narrator)
• D-Tox (aka Eye See You) (2002)
• Blade II (2002)
• Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003) (documentary)
• Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
• Silver City (2004)
• Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of 'Heaven's Gate' (2004) (documentary)
• Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2004) (documentary)
• Blade: Trinity (2004)
• Trudell (2005) (documentary)
• The Jacket (2005)
• The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico (2005)
• The Wendell Baker Story (2005)
• Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah (2005) (documentary)
• Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005)
• GUN (2005) (video game) Voice of Ned
• Disappearances (2006)
• Fast Food Nation (2006)

Activism

A member of Veterans for Peace, Kristofferson took several trips to Nicaragua with peace activist S. Brian Willson during the 1980s. He also opposes the war in Iraq and has been calling for an end to it as demonstrated in his song "In The News".[2]

Footnotes

Reference

• Bernhardt, Jack. (1998). "Kris Kristofferson." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 286-7.

External links

• Official Website
• 1959 profile in Time
• at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Record Label
• Chapter 33
• Luma Electronic discography
• Kris Kristofferson at the Internet Movie Database