Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson
(born June 22, 1936) is an American writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician. 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 Rumfelt.
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KRIS KRISTOFFERSON TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Kristofferson was born in
Brownsville, Texas, to parents Mary Ann (
née Ashbrook) and Lars Henry Kristofferson, a
U.S. Air Force major general.
[1] As is common with many military families, military service was a multi-generational tradition: Kristofferson's paternal grandfather was also an officer (in the
Swedish Army). When Kris was a child, his father pushed his son toward a military career .
[2] Like most "
military brats" (children of career military families), Kristopherson moved around frequently as a youth, finally settling down in
[3] San Mateo, California, where he graduated from
San Mateo High School. An aspiring
writer, Kristofferson enrolled in
Pomona College in 1954. He experienced his first dose of fame when he appeared in
Sports Illustrated
s "Faces In The Crowd" for his achievements in collegiate
rugby union,
football, and
track and field. He and fellow classmates revived the
Claremont Colleges Rugby Club in 1958, which has remained a Southern California rugby dynasty. Kristofferson became a member of
Phi Beta Kappa at Pomona College, graduating in 1958 with a BA,
summa cum laude in Literature.
Kristofferson earned a
Rhodes Scholarship to
Oxford University, where his college was
Merton. While at Oxford he was awarded his
blue for
boxing and began
writing songs. With the help of his
manager,
Larry Parnes, he recorded for
Top Rank Records under the name
Kris Carson
. This early phase of his music career was unsuccessful.
[4]
In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a
BPhil in
English literature and married an old girlfriend,
Fran Beer. 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,
Alabama. He also completed
Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was deployed to
West Germany as a member of the
8th Infantry Division.
[5] It was during this time that he resumed his music career and formed a
band. In 1965, when his
tour of duty ended, Kristofferson was offered a position as a
professor of English Literature at
West Point. Instead, he decided to leave the Army and pursue songwriting professionally. Kristofferson sent some of his compositions to a friend's relative,
Marijohn Wilkin, a successful
Nashville, Tennessee songwriter.
Music career
After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1965, Kristofferson moved to
Nashville. He worked at a variety of odd jobs while struggling for success in music, burdened with medical expenses resulting from 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 accepted some of Kristofferson's songs but chose not to use them. During Kristofferson's janitorial stint for Columbia,
Bob Dylan recorded his landmark 1966 album
Blonde on Blonde
at the studio. Though he had the opportunity to watch some of Dylan's recording sessions, Kristofferson never met Dylan out of fear that he would be fired for approaching him.
He also worked as a commercial
helicopter pilot at that 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]."
[6]
In 1966,
Dave Dudley released a successful Kristofferson single, "Viet Nam Blues". In 1967, 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"). Further, he achieved some success as a performer himself, resulting from
Johnny Cash's introduction of Kristofferson at the
Newport Folk Festival.
In a distinctly notable fashion, Kristofferson grabbed Cash's attention when he unexpectedly landed his helicopter in Cash's yard and gave him some tapes including "Sunday Morning Coming Down".
[7]
Kristofferson signed to
Monument Records as a
recording artist. In addition to running that label,
Fred Foster also served as 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 received the same award from these two organizations in the same year for different songs.
In 1971,
Janis Joplin, who dated Kristofferson until her death, had a number 1
hit with "Me and Bobby McGee" from her posthumous
Pearl
. When released, it 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. Soon 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, winning country song of the year for "Help Me Make It Through the Night." 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). He continued acting, in Sam Peckinpah's
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), for which he received a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. In spite of his success with Streisand, Kristofferson's solo musical career headed downward with his non-charting ninth album,
Shake Hands with the Devil
. His next film,
Freedom Road
, did not earn a theatrical release in the U.S. Kristofferson's next film was
Heaven's Gate
, a phenomenal industry-changing failure—in which, nonetheless, he turned in a nuanced performance. In 1986 he starred in
The Last days of Frank and Jesse James
with Johnny Cash.
Mid-career
Also during this time, Kristofferson met singer
Rita Coolidge. They married in 1973 and released an album titled
Full Moon
, another success buoyed by numerous hit singles and Grammy nominations. However, his fifth album,
Spooky Lady's Sideshow
, released in 1974, was a commercial failure, setting the trend for most of the rest of his career. Artists such as
Ronnie Milsap and
Johnny Duncan continued to record Kristofferson's material with much success, but his amazing yet rough voice and anti-pop sound kept his own audience to a minimum. Meanwhile, more artists took his songs to the top of the charts, including
Willie Nelson, whose 1979 LP release of
Willie Nelson Sings Kris Kristofferson
proved to be a smash success. Kristofferson and Coolidge divorced in 1980.
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 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 by
John Sayles) 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
.
The
Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Kristofferson in 1985, as did 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.
On June 13, 2008 Kristofferson performed an acoustic in the round set with
Patty Griffin and
Randy Owen (Alabama) for a special taping of a
PBS songwriters series to be aired in December. Each performer played 5 songs. Kristofferson's included "The Best of All Possible World's," "Darby's Castle," "Casey's Last Ride," "Me and Bobby McGee," and "Here Comes that Rainbow Again." Taping was done in Nashville.
Kristofferson will release a new album of original songs entitled
Closer to the Bone
on September 29, 2009. It is produced by
Don Was on the
New West label. Previous to the release, Kristofferson remarked: "I like the intimacy of the new album. It has a general mood of reflecting on where we all are at this time of life."
[8]
Personal life
Kristofferson has been married three times and has eight children. In 1960, Kristofferson married his high school sweetheart Frances (Fran) Beer. They had two children, a daughter Tracy Kristofferson and a son Kris Kristofferson before divorcing in 1969. After Kristofferson dated
Janis Joplin until her death and then dated
Barbra Streisand. In 1973, he married singer
Rita Coolidge and together they had one child, Casey Kristofferson. They divorced in 1980. In 1983 he married Lisa Meyers and together they have five children -son Jesse Turner (born October 7, 1983), son Jody Ray (born May 21, 1985), Johnny Cash Kristofferson, daughter Kelly Marie (born November 1, 1990) and son Blake Cameron (born July 27, 1994).
He has said that he would like the first three lines of
Leonard Cohen's "
Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:
''Like a bird on the wire
''Like a drunk in a midnight choir
''I have tried in my way to be free.
On
February 29,
2008 Kristofferson officially endorsed
Barack Obama for President.
[9] 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
Iraq War and has been calling for an end to it as demonstrated in his song "
In The News
".
[10] In 2009, he described his political views on
The Colbert Report
as "left of
liberal".
Discography
Filmography
- The Last Movie
(1971)
- Cisco Pike
(1972)
- Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus
(1973)
- Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
(1973) - (Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer)
- 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) - (Won - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy)
- Semi-Tough
(1977)
- Convoy
(1978)
- Heaven's Gate
(1980)
- Rollover
(1981)
- Songwriter
(1984) - (Nominated - Academy Award for Original Music Score)
- 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)
- What I've Learned About US Foreign Policy: The war against the Third World. Secrets of the C.I.A., Documentary
(1987)
- Big Top Pee-wee
(1988)
- The Tracker
(1988) (TV)
- Millennium
(1989)
- Welcome Home
(1989)
- Sandino
(1990)
- Night of the Cyclone
(1990)
- Another Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind
(1991)
- Original Intent
(1992)
- Miracle in the Wilderness
(1992) (TV)
- Paper Hearts
(1993)
- No Place to Hide
(1993)
- Knights
(1993)
- ''Sodbusters (1994)
- 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)
- Dead Man's Gun
(narrator) (41 episodes, 1997-1999)
- Girls' Night
(1998)
- Blade
(1998)
- Dance with Me
(1998)
- ''Two for Texas (TV) (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)
- Outlaw Justice
(aka The Long Kill
) (1999)
- Perfect Murder, Perfect Town
(2000)
- 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)
- Lives of the Saints
(2004) (TV)
- 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)
- I'm Not There
(2007) (narrator)
- The Best of The Johnny Cash Show
(2007)
- Snow Buddies
(2008) (voice)
- Lords of the Street
(2008)
- Powder Blue
(2009)
- He's Just Not That into You
(2009)
- For Sale by Owner
(2009)
- The Last Rites of Ransom Pride
(2009)
- Yohan: The Child Wanderer
(2009)
- Provinces of Night (film)
(2010)