https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/obituaries/kris-kristofferson-dead.html Kris Kristofferson, Country Singer, Songwriter and Actor, Dies at 88 He wrote songs for hundreds of other artists, including “Me and Bobby McGee” for Janis Joplin and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” for Johnny Cash, before a second act in film. Kris Kristofferson, the singer and songwriter whose literary yet plain-spoken compositions infused country music with rarely heard candor and depth, and who later had a successful second career in movies, died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday. He was 88. His death was announced by Ebie McFarland, a spokeswoman, who did not give a cause. Hundreds of artists have recorded Mr. Kristofferson’s songs — among them, Al Green and the Grateful Dead to Michael Bublé and Gladys Knight and the Pips. Mr. Kristofferson’s breakthrough as a songwriter came with “For the Good Times,” a bittersweet ballad that topped the country chart and reached the pop Top 40 for Ray Price in 1970. His “Sunday Morning Coming Down” became a No. 1 country hit for his friend and mentor Johnny Cash later that year. Mr. Cash memorably intoned the song’s indelible opening couplet: Well, I woke up Sunday morning With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad So I had one more for dessert. Expressing more than just the malaise of someone suffering from a hangover, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” gives voice to feelings of spiritual abandonment that border on the absolute. “Nothing short of dying” is the way the song’s chorus describes the desolation its protagonist is experiencing. Steeped in a neo-romantic sensibility that owed as much to John Keats as to the Beat Generation and Bob Dylan, Mr. Kristofferson’s work explored themes of freedom and commitment, alienation and desire, darkness and light. “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose/Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free,” he wrote in “Me and Bobby McGee.” Janis Joplin, with whom Mr. Kristofferson was briefly involved romantically, had a posthumous No. 1 single with her plaintive recording of the song in 1971. Later that year “Help Me Make It Through the Night” became a No. 1 country and Top 10 pop hit in a heart-stopping performance by Sammi Smith. The composition won Mr. Kristofferson a Grammy Award for Country Song of the Year in 1972. More at link
RIP I didn't know that, before his song-writing/singing career, he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford and a Captain in the Army
Breaker, 1-9, this is a final send-off for our brother Rubber Duck who’s outrun the Sheriff and joined the big convoy in the sky. You’ve got the hammer down and no Smokey in sight, cruising those wide-open roads where the law can’t reach. No more chicken coops, just a long line of rigs rolling with you up ahead. We’ll keep the Convoy tight down here, but it won’t be the same without your rig in the line. Rest easy, Ducky—you're in the clear now. Over and out.
my 8 year old cried when I told him Willie is the last one standing. I just finished putting him to bed, after we listened to the Highwayman 3 times.
Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, rugby star and football player in college; received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England; and flew helicopters as a captain in the U.S. Army Fun Facts About Kris Kristofferson Captain Kris Kristofferson could have become a teacher at West Point if it weren’t for Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson landed a helicopter in Johnny Cash’s front yard. Kris Kristofferson wrote many of his early hits on an oil rig in southern Louisiana. An estimated 450 artists (and counting) have recorded Kristofferson’s compositions.
Other brilliant songs by Kris: Loving her was easier than anything I'll ever do again Why me? Jesus was a Capricorn How do you feel about fooling around? They killed him Song I'd like to sing Loving arms
Brilliant. Totally brilliant. That song makes me tear up...Willie's Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain is the other one that gets to me
His dad was a general or something so when he dropped out of the military to try to be a musician his parents disowned him. He was mopping floors and doing gopher work at a recording studio when they sent him the letter telling him he was no longer their son. Johnny cash came in to the studio after the letter had gone around the studio and told Kris “it’s always nice to get a letter from home isn’t it”. I saw a highwaymen live performance on PBS a year or so ago and even though he was the least famous of the four, it seemed like he was the quiet leader onstage.
i used to be in a country band that covered a few of his songs and this was always my favorite one of his to do.
