Kris Kristofferson was one of my fav song-writers. For the longest time, I thought _Me and Bobby McGee_ was Janis Joplin's original song, until I learnt it was Kris' writing. He actually wrote it for a woman named Bobby... the rest is history. [1]
A Golden Globe-winning actor, Golden Gloves boxer, Rhodes scholar, author, U.S. Army veteran, pilot, and onetime record-label janitor. A full fledged Renaissance man. They sure don't make 'em like that anymore.
Whattay guy! RIP Kris. Thanks for all the enduring songs!!
I once heard or read an interview with him on NPR, saying that he wrote the song at a time when he was working flying helicopters to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. This had the odd effect of reminding me of the distance between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and calling into question size of the truck driver's repertory of songs.
> He actually wrote it for a woman named Bobby...
Bobby being short for... Roberta? But then again, after I recently saw female pop singer Taylor Swift watching male tennis player Taylor Fritz at the US Open, I realized that some American first names are just... flexible.
It's pretty common in the US for a name that is traditionally associated with boys become unisex (Taylor) or even prominently female (Lauren). Typically it is an uncommon male name (so not, e.g. John or Brian) that sees a sudden increase in popularity and becomes unisex. Some other examples include Leslie, Casey, Jordan, Morgan, Addison, and Riley. I can't think of any examples of the reverse off the top of my head.
A chart of this phenomenon for Taylor:
https://engaging-data.com/baby-name-visualizer/?n=taylor&sex...
"Jordan" goes some ways back--there is a woman named Jordan in The Great Gatsby.
And it isn't entirely an American phenomenon: the critic Clive James was named Vivian James at birth, but the actress Vivian Leigh more or less claimed the name for the female sex when Gone With the Wind came out. James or his family fell back on his middle name to spare him teasing.
There's many English names that aren't gendered ex. Morgan, Casey, Charlie, Jayme (plus Taylor and Bobby as mentioned previously)
Even the ones that aren't are flexible.
Kristofferson standing up for Sinead O'Connor shortly after her SNL appearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKeJifOXAnA
He later wrote a song for/about her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HwWDOQoCBM
The guy was a mensch.
For those like me that didn’t know:
>Mensch: Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor.
Or just the German word for human being
Literally a real human bean
Of the uber variety.
Don't care that it was a bomb at the box office, I really enjoyed Heaven's Gate.
I also loved Convoy. My kids and I still troll my wife by including the theme song on almost every playlist we create.
- Don't care that it was a bomb at the box office, I really enjoyed Heaven's Gate.
Ok, with English as a second language and not familiar with Kris body of works I read this as a quote from a song. Took me way too long to realize the intended meaning. As a line of song lyrics it rocks hard but doesn't really roll off the tongue.
edit: of > off
"You ever seen a duck that couldn't swim? Quack, quack!"
It's still one of my favorite "I can't sleep" movies.
Kristofferson 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
His pedigree as a Rhodes scholar always fascinated me. Not many of those land a helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn.
It's true, but there are more well educated alternative country musicians than one might guess.
Willie Nelson went to Baylor (but didn't finish) and Lyle Lovett has a degree in German literature from Texas A&M. Robert Earl Keen also graduated from A&M. Lucinda Williams's dad is a poet and literature professor. Emmylou Harris went to UNC and Boston University. Hell, even George Straight and Garth Brooks have degrees. That's not quite Rhodes Scholar, but perhaps not entirely expected?
He did a sketch on SNL back in the day making fun of his scholarly background, suggesting that he originally was going to title his famous song "Bobby McGee and I" before taking a course in "how to speak country".
Leonard Cohen was of course a highly educated writer and poet. Brian May is famously a doctor of astrophysics and still has an interest in research. I guess most musicians get laser focussed on it at a young age and don't have the need to study anything else.
His version of A Star is Born, with Strisand, is a masterpiece that will be sadly overshadowed by the inferior Gaga/Cooper attempt, the 1976 version reaches perfect notes in the height of rock hedonism and it's comedown. Kristifferson nailed it.
That dude didn't leave much on the table, in terms of life experiences. RIP.
Convoy was the first film I've watched on VHS, which was magic, around ~1984.
"I am the law" quote is burnt into my brain thanks in part to the fanmade music video for Orange Goblin - Rage of Angels:
What a wonderfully insane movie.
Liked him in Blade!
RIP Kris Kristofferson, thanks for another song
Convoy changed my life
> Quack, quack! ... You ever see a duck couldn't swim? —MP