| Kris Kristofferson |
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Kris Kristofferson, known for his prolific career as a songwriter
and actor, was born in Brownsville, Texas in 1936. He grew up
with horses, Mexican and country music, and western movies.
His father was a pilot for the military and the airlines so the
family moved around a lot, finally settling down in California
when Kris was 11. After Kris graduated from San Mateo High
School, his Air Force general father encouraged him to pursue a
military career. He attended Pomona College and eventually
earned a Rhodes scholarship to attend the prestigious Oxford
College in England, where he recorded songs under the
pseudonym Kris Carson – an endeavor that was not particularly
successful.
After attending Oxford Kristofferson got married, became a
father, and served 4 ½ years in the army, completing jump
school, ranger school, and flight school before serving a 3-year
tour of duty as a helicopter pilot in Germany. In June of 1965 he
returned to the U.S. as an Infantry captain, en route to the career
school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was subsequently
assigned to serve as a Professor of English Literature at the U.
S. Military Academy at West Point when he made a fateful
decision that would change the course of his life and confound
his family and friends.
Kristofferson left the army and went to Nashville, Tennessee, to
be a songwriter, supporting his family by flying helicopters,
bartending and working as a janitor at a recording studio. It was
while sweeping floors at Columbia Studios that Kristofferson
met some of the biggest names in music. He gave a few songs
to Johnny Cash, who ignored them. He also watched Bob
Dylan record Blonde on Blonde but was too afraid to approach
Dylan for fear of being fired. His big break finally came when
Dave Dudley released the Kristofferson-penned Viet Nam
Blues.
Over the next few years Kristofferson wrote a number of songs
that would be recorded by a “who’s who” list of singers,
including Billy Walker and the Tennessee Walkers (From the
Bottle to the Bottom), Ray Stevens (Sunday Mornin’ Comin’
Down), Jerry Lee Lewis (Once More with Feeling) and Janis
Joplin (Me and Bobby McGee).
While success at songwriting came easily, it wasn’t until Johnny
Cash introduced Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival that
he gained a following as a performer. (Kristofferson had finally
gotten Cash’s attention when he landed on his lawn and gave
him some tapes.) He signed to Monument Records and
released the album Kristofferson which included both old and
new songs. Sales were poor, but the following year the album
was re-released as Me and Bobby McGee and was a success.
His compositions were still in high demand and he continued to
write for acts such as Johnny Cash, Sammi Smith, Ray Price
and others. In 1970, he won song of the year from both the
Academy of Country Music (For the Good Times recorded by
Ray Price) and the Country Music Association (Sunday Morning
Comin’ Down recorded by Johnny Cash) – the only time in
country music history when one person won both awards.
In 1972, Kristofferson made his acting debut in The Last Movie,
directed by Dennis Hopper. He focused primarily on acting for
the next several years, appearing in Blume in Love, Pat Garrett
and Billy the Kid and Convoy. Since his foray into the movies,
Kristofferson has continued to write, record and act. He has
also been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the
Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, won three Grammys, won a
Best Actor Golden Globe (A Star is Born), and received several
awards with the Highwaymen (a group he formed with Cash,
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings). He has released 18 solo
albums, 3 albums with Rita Coolidge and 3 albums with the
Highwaymen. As an actor, Kristofferson has appeared in over
50 films including Heaven’s Gate, A Star is Born and Lone Star.
Kristofferson’s most recent album, This Old Road, was released
in March 2006. It was his first studio album in 11 years and
features songs that are described as “poetic, reflective,
outspoken and tender.” The songs are also about freedom. “If
you took freedom out of the songs, you’d have very few
Kristofferson songs,” he says.
The album is full of intensely personal, honest songs. “It’s all
pretty close to the bone, about my own personal journey,”
Kristofferson says. It’s about what sense I’ve made of my life up
to now.”
and actor, was born in Brownsville, Texas in 1936. He grew up
with horses, Mexican and country music, and western movies.
His father was a pilot for the military and the airlines so the
family moved around a lot, finally settling down in California
when Kris was 11. After Kris graduated from San Mateo High
School, his Air Force general father encouraged him to pursue a
military career. He attended Pomona College and eventually
earned a Rhodes scholarship to attend the prestigious Oxford
College in England, where he recorded songs under the
pseudonym Kris Carson – an endeavor that was not particularly
successful.
After attending Oxford Kristofferson got married, became a
father, and served 4 ½ years in the army, completing jump
school, ranger school, and flight school before serving a 3-year
tour of duty as a helicopter pilot in Germany. In June of 1965 he
returned to the U.S. as an Infantry captain, en route to the career
school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was subsequently
assigned to serve as a Professor of English Literature at the U.
S. Military Academy at West Point when he made a fateful
decision that would change the course of his life and confound
his family and friends.
Kristofferson left the army and went to Nashville, Tennessee, to
be a songwriter, supporting his family by flying helicopters,
bartending and working as a janitor at a recording studio. It was
while sweeping floors at Columbia Studios that Kristofferson
met some of the biggest names in music. He gave a few songs
to Johnny Cash, who ignored them. He also watched Bob
Dylan record Blonde on Blonde but was too afraid to approach
Dylan for fear of being fired. His big break finally came when
Dave Dudley released the Kristofferson-penned Viet Nam
Blues.
Over the next few years Kristofferson wrote a number of songs
that would be recorded by a “who’s who” list of singers,
including Billy Walker and the Tennessee Walkers (From the
Bottle to the Bottom), Ray Stevens (Sunday Mornin’ Comin’
Down), Jerry Lee Lewis (Once More with Feeling) and Janis
Joplin (Me and Bobby McGee).
While success at songwriting came easily, it wasn’t until Johnny
Cash introduced Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival that
he gained a following as a performer. (Kristofferson had finally
gotten Cash’s attention when he landed on his lawn and gave
him some tapes.) He signed to Monument Records and
released the album Kristofferson which included both old and
new songs. Sales were poor, but the following year the album
was re-released as Me and Bobby McGee and was a success.
His compositions were still in high demand and he continued to
write for acts such as Johnny Cash, Sammi Smith, Ray Price
and others. In 1970, he won song of the year from both the
Academy of Country Music (For the Good Times recorded by
Ray Price) and the Country Music Association (Sunday Morning
Comin’ Down recorded by Johnny Cash) – the only time in
country music history when one person won both awards.
In 1972, Kristofferson made his acting debut in The Last Movie,
directed by Dennis Hopper. He focused primarily on acting for
the next several years, appearing in Blume in Love, Pat Garrett
and Billy the Kid and Convoy. Since his foray into the movies,
Kristofferson has continued to write, record and act. He has
also been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the
Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, won three Grammys, won a
Best Actor Golden Globe (A Star is Born), and received several
awards with the Highwaymen (a group he formed with Cash,
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings). He has released 18 solo
albums, 3 albums with Rita Coolidge and 3 albums with the
Highwaymen. As an actor, Kristofferson has appeared in over
50 films including Heaven’s Gate, A Star is Born and Lone Star.
Kristofferson’s most recent album, This Old Road, was released
in March 2006. It was his first studio album in 11 years and
features songs that are described as “poetic, reflective,
outspoken and tender.” The songs are also about freedom. “If
you took freedom out of the songs, you’d have very few
Kristofferson songs,” he says.
The album is full of intensely personal, honest songs. “It’s all
pretty close to the bone, about my own personal journey,”
Kristofferson says. It’s about what sense I’ve made of my life up
to now.”
Photos of Kris Kristofferson
By Patricia Lieb
By Patricia Lieb
Some Kris Kristofferson Songs:
A Moment Of Forever
A Song I'd Like To Sing
Aguila Del Norte
Anthem 84
Ask Any Working Girl
Bad Love Story
Bandits Of Baverly Hills
Best Of All Possible Worlds
Between Heaven And Here
Bigger The Fool (the Harder The Fall)
Billy Dee
Blame It On The Stones
Blessing In Disguise
Blue As I Do
Border Lord
Born To Love Me
Breakdown (a Long Way From Home)
Bring On The Sunshine
Broken Freedom Song
Burden Of Freedom
Casey's Last Ride
Come Sundown
Crippled Crow
Crossing The Border
Daddy's Song
Dakota (the Dancing Bear)
Darby's Castle
Devallier
Devil To Pay
Don't Cuss The Fiddle
Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down
Dont Cuss the Fiddle
Down To Her Socks
Duvalier's Dream
Eagle And The Bear
Easter Island
Easy Come On
Eddie The Eunuch
El Coyote
El Gavilan L
El Gavilan The Hawk
Enough For You
Epitaph
Epitaph Black And Blue
Fallen Angel
For The Good Times
Forever In Your Love
From The Bottle To The Bottom
Give It Time To Be Tender
Golden Idol
Good Christian Soldier
Good Love
Good Love Shouldn't Feel So Bad
Happy Happy Birthday Baby
He's A Pilgrim
Heart
Help Me Make It Through The Night
Here Comes That Rainbow Again
Hero
How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around
How To Beat The Devil
I Fought The Law
I Got A Life Of My Own
I May Smoke Too Much
I Never Cared For You
I'd Rather Be Sorry
I'll Take Any Chance I Can With You
I'm Down But I Keep Falling
I've Got A Life Of My Own
I've Got To Have You
If It's All The Same To You
If You Don't Like Hank Williams
Ill Take Any Chance I Can With You
IIm Down, but I Keep Falling
It Sure Was
It Sure Was Love
It's All Over All Over Again
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Younger
Jesus Was A Capricorn
Jody And The Kid
Johnny Lobo
Josie
Just The Other Side Of Nowhere
Killer Barracuda
Killing Time
King Of A Lonely Castle
Kiss The World Goodbye
Late Again
Late Again Gettin' Over You
Law Is For Protection Of The People
Lay Me Down And Love The World Away
Lights Of Magdala
Little Girl Lost
Little Things
Living Legend
Long Way From Home
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
Love Is The Way
Love Of Money
Lover Please
Loving You Was Easier
Lucky In Love
Magdalene
Mal Sacate
Maybe You Heard L
Me And Bobby Mcgee
Mean Old Man
Michoacan
Moment Of Forever
New Game Now
New Mister Me
Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore
Nobody Wins
Not Everyone Knows
Number One
Once More With Feeling
One For The Money
Out Of Mind Out Of Sight
Pilgrim Chapter 33
Ping Pong
Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
Prisoner
Prove It To You One More Time Again
Put It Off Until Tomorrow
Rainbow Road
Rescue Mission
Risky Bizness
Road Warrior's Ament
Rock And Roll Time
Rocket To Stardom
Sam's Song Ask Any Working Girl
Same Old Song
Sandinista
Seadream
Shake Hands With The Devil
Shandy The Perfect Disguise
Shipwrecked In The Eighties
Shouldnt Feel So Bad
Silver Mantis
Silver The Hunger
Silver Tongued Devil And I
Slouching Toward The Millenium
Slow Down
Smile At Me Again
Smokey Put The Sweat On Me
Snakebit
Somebody Nobody Knows L
Someone Loves You Honey
Spooky Lady's Revenge
Stagger Mountain Tragedy
Stairway To The Bottom
Stallion
Star Crossed
Star Spangled Bummer (whores Die Hard)
Star-Crossed
Stranger
Stranger I Love
Sugar Man
Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down Lyrics
Sweet Susannah
Taker
The Bandits Of Beverly Hills
The Best Of All Possible Worlds
The Bigger the Fool
The Bigger The Fool The Harder The Fall
The Devil To Pay
The Eagle And The Bear
The Eagle The Bear
The Eye Of The Storm
The Fighter
The Final Attraction
The Golden Idol
The Heart
The Hero
The Last Time
The Law Is For Protection Of The People
The Pilgrim
The Prisoner
The Promise
The Sabre And The Rose
The Silvertongued Devil And I
The Stallion
The Stranger I Love
The Taker
The Year 2000 Minus 25
They Killed Him
Things I Might Have Been L
Third World War
Third World Warrior
This Old Road
To Beat The Devil
Under The Gun
Watch Closely Now
We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds
What About Me
Whatcha Gonna Do Lyrics
When Are You Ever Gonna Learn
When I Loved Her
When She's Wrong
Whiskey Whiskey
Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame
Why Me Lord
Worth Fighting For
You Left Me A Long Long Time Ago
You Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine Lyrics
A Moment Of Forever
A Song I'd Like To Sing
Aguila Del Norte
Anthem 84
Ask Any Working Girl
Bad Love Story
Bandits Of Baverly Hills
Best Of All Possible Worlds
Between Heaven And Here
Bigger The Fool (the Harder The Fall)
Billy Dee
Blame It On The Stones
Blessing In Disguise
Blue As I Do
Border Lord
Born To Love Me
Breakdown (a Long Way From Home)
Bring On The Sunshine
Broken Freedom Song
Burden Of Freedom
Casey's Last Ride
Come Sundown
Crippled Crow
Crossing The Border
Daddy's Song
Dakota (the Dancing Bear)
Darby's Castle
Devallier
Devil To Pay
Don't Cuss The Fiddle
Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down
Dont Cuss the Fiddle
Down To Her Socks
Duvalier's Dream
Eagle And The Bear
Easter Island
Easy Come On
Eddie The Eunuch
El Coyote
El Gavilan L
El Gavilan The Hawk
Enough For You
Epitaph
Epitaph Black And Blue
Fallen Angel
For The Good Times
Forever In Your Love
From The Bottle To The Bottom
Give It Time To Be Tender
Golden Idol
Good Christian Soldier
Good Love
Good Love Shouldn't Feel So Bad
Happy Happy Birthday Baby
He's A Pilgrim
Heart
Help Me Make It Through The Night
Here Comes That Rainbow Again
Hero
How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around
How To Beat The Devil
I Fought The Law
I Got A Life Of My Own
I May Smoke Too Much
I Never Cared For You
I'd Rather Be Sorry
I'll Take Any Chance I Can With You
I'm Down But I Keep Falling
I've Got A Life Of My Own
I've Got To Have You
If It's All The Same To You
If You Don't Like Hank Williams
Ill Take Any Chance I Can With You
IIm Down, but I Keep Falling
It Sure Was
It Sure Was Love
It's All Over All Over Again
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Younger
Jesus Was A Capricorn
Jody And The Kid
Johnny Lobo
Josie
Just The Other Side Of Nowhere
Killer Barracuda
Killing Time
King Of A Lonely Castle
Kiss The World Goodbye
Late Again
Late Again Gettin' Over You
Law Is For Protection Of The People
Lay Me Down And Love The World Away
Lights Of Magdala
Little Girl Lost
Little Things
Living Legend
Long Way From Home
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
Love Is The Way
Love Of Money
Lover Please
Loving You Was Easier
Lucky In Love
Magdalene
Mal Sacate
Maybe You Heard L
Me And Bobby Mcgee
Mean Old Man
Michoacan
Moment Of Forever
New Game Now
New Mister Me
Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore
Nobody Wins
Not Everyone Knows
Number One
Once More With Feeling
One For The Money
Out Of Mind Out Of Sight
Pilgrim Chapter 33
Ping Pong
Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
Prisoner
Prove It To You One More Time Again
Put It Off Until Tomorrow
Rainbow Road
Rescue Mission
Risky Bizness
Road Warrior's Ament
Rock And Roll Time
Rocket To Stardom
Sam's Song Ask Any Working Girl
Same Old Song
Sandinista
Seadream
Shake Hands With The Devil
Shandy The Perfect Disguise
Shipwrecked In The Eighties
Shouldnt Feel So Bad
Silver Mantis
Silver The Hunger
Silver Tongued Devil And I
Slouching Toward The Millenium
Slow Down
Smile At Me Again
Smokey Put The Sweat On Me
Snakebit
Somebody Nobody Knows L
Someone Loves You Honey
Spooky Lady's Revenge
Stagger Mountain Tragedy
Stairway To The Bottom
Stallion
Star Crossed
Star Spangled Bummer (whores Die Hard)
Star-Crossed
Stranger
Stranger I Love
Sugar Man
Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down Lyrics
Sweet Susannah
Taker
The Bandits Of Beverly Hills
The Best Of All Possible Worlds
The Bigger the Fool
The Bigger The Fool The Harder The Fall
The Devil To Pay
The Eagle And The Bear
The Eagle The Bear
The Eye Of The Storm
The Fighter
The Final Attraction
The Golden Idol
The Heart
The Hero
The Last Time
The Law Is For Protection Of The People
The Pilgrim
The Prisoner
The Promise
The Sabre And The Rose
The Silvertongued Devil And I
The Stallion
The Stranger I Love
The Taker
The Year 2000 Minus 25
They Killed Him
Things I Might Have Been L
Third World War
Third World Warrior
This Old Road
To Beat The Devil
Under The Gun
Watch Closely Now
We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds
What About Me
Whatcha Gonna Do Lyrics
When Are You Ever Gonna Learn
When I Loved Her
When She's Wrong
Whiskey Whiskey
Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame
Why Me Lord
Worth Fighting For
You Left Me A Long Long Time Ago
You Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine Lyrics
May 13, 2007