“Top” Ten Music Losses of 2024: Kris Kristofferson (#2)

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When in Florida we play the counting game: how many Chuy’s, versus how many Sonny’s, versus how many state parks. This morning the count is Chuy’s 2, Sonny’s and state parks 1 each. Stand by, that’s probably going to change today. Let’s move on to music, and here’s one that I don’t think escaped anyone. A genuine legend. #2: Kris Kristofferson How great is Kris Kristofferson? He wasn’t even the movie Taxi Driver, and yet one of his lines is one of the most memorable things in the movie (for me…I really didn’t like that movie). Cybill Shepherd’s character, Betsy, quotes “The Pilgrim, Chapter 33” (“he’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction”). Of course, Kristofferson did act, co-starring with Barbra Streisand in the remake of A Star Is Born, and playing in things ranging from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid to the based-on-the-song throwaway Convoy. But who remembers that when you think of the songs he wrote? There are people who would be legends if they only wrote one song, and for Kristofferson that was “Me and Bobbie McGee.” A few quick facts: Janis Joplin’s version was the tenth rendition recorded. Kristofferson said he didn’t know until it was a posthumous hit for her that she had even recorded it. At the time, he said his favorite version of the song, despite the big hit status by Roger Miller (yes, that was the first hit version of the song), was by Bill Haley. (Yes, that Bill Haley, “Rock Around the Clock” and stuff.) Kristofferson really did it all: a Rhodes scholar, an Army pilot, a janitor at Columbia Studios in Nashville (a job he took to hopefully push his songs to artists doing sessions), and, of course, a songwriter. One fateful day he combined all of that: unable to pitch his music at work, he got a helicopter and flew it out to Johnny Cash’s house, where he presented “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down” to the Man in Black. After that, Kristofferson didn’t have to worry about being a janitor. Nor about pushing his songs to people. Kris Kristofferson Born Kristoffer Kristofferson, June 22, 1936, Brownsville, Texas Died September 28, 2024, Hana, Hawaii (natural causes) (age 88) HALLS OF FAME: Country Music, Songwriters, Nashville Songwriters, Texas Country Music Here’s the song “The Pilgrim, Chapter 33”: