Kris Kristofferson has left the building. The revered songwriter, singer, and actor has passed away at the age of 88. Tributes have been pouring in from musicians famous and not about the impact his life and music had on them. He’s probably best known for penning “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” made famous by Johnny Cash, and “Me and Bobby McGee,” Janis Joplin singing the definitive version.
As an actor, he made his mark opposite Barbara Streisand in the 4th of 5 (official), and far superior to the 2018 Lady GaGa/Bradley Cooper version of A Star is Born. It was his role playing Martin Penwald - aka the “Rubber Duck” - in the 1978 Sam Peckinpah film Convoy that introduced 9-year old me to Kristofferson, enamored by a line of dozens of 18-wheelers (and 11 long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus) and a general disdain for the law. And Ok, a confident, sexy, and sassy performance by Ali MacGraw didn’t hurt either. The film was more than an anti-establishment precursor to The Dukes of Hazzard and box-office grab after Smokey and The Bandit, though on the surface, it may come across that way. It was life changing for me, forging a dream-career path and attraction to the open road that I continue to toy with to this day.
The other Kristofferson event that had a big impact on me was at Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden, when a recently ostracized Sinéad O’Connor was booed to silence for recently ripping up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. Kristofferson walked out and consoled her, saying “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” It wasn’t an easy or popular thing to do, but it was the right thing to do, and in the end, most thought Sinéad’s anti-abuse message was important and even prophetic. Kristofferson would later pen “Sister Sinéad” about the woman and that event.
In the end, it was his songs that left the biggest mark, and what he’ll be mostly remembered for. Bob Dylan saw it, his band mates in The Highwaymen Waylon Jennings, Willie nelson, and Johnny Cash saw it (Kristofferson lived in a tent on Johnny’s Tennessee property for a while), and music fans everywhere saw it.
RIP, Silver Tongued Devil.
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
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