When you think of Kris Kristofferson, many things come to mind: rebel, songwriter, actor, activist, outlaw. As all these titles do apply, Kris himself will be the first to tell you that the line between man and myth can become very blurred. Yet, there is still more solid truth behind the man, a truth that comes through in the songs he writes and sometimes sings. His life is a fascinating one, filled with willingly taken wrong directions. Although, if he hadn’t taken these paths, we wouldn’t have his music to listen to or a chance to hear from some of the people he has inspired on this well done tribute album.
Kristofferson was born into a well-to-do military family, complete with a Major General for a father. Kris himself would eventually sign up for military service, but not until after receiving the Rhodes scholarship and his Master’s degree from Oxford University. While attending college, he was always writing, working on a novel or songs for his recording session as “Kris Carson”. As a helicopter pilot in the military, he would make up songs to entertain his fellow soldiers, but his love and study of literary writers made him want more from his songs. Kris was turned down for voluntary duty in Vietnam because he was to be assigned to teach literature at West Point academy.
After ditching his military assignment, he headed to Nashville where he scored a job as janitor for the Columbia studios where he met many artists who would record his songs in the near future. He made a slight impression on Johnny Cash, but Cash still would not record any of his material. It wasn’t until Kris landed a helicopter in John’s backyard that he took any real notice. After that, others started to take notice as well and the rest is history, which includes becoming a terrific actor in major motion pictures and being an activist on the world scene. You can get a more detailed run down on Kris’ life in the liner notes to this CD where you’ll read about his time as a fireman in Alaska, a railroad man, a construction worker, and eventually a Nashville beer hall regular. The thick booklet is very informative in its telling of the story of how and why Kris came to be an outlaw of country music. This CD is a good example of how he changed the way a country song could be written.
Article comments
1 - Janice
Great article!