Kris Kristofferson, who has died aged 88, was among the most prolific artists of his generation. In a career spanning six decades, he released 18 studio albums, along with compilation records, live albums and collaborative works.
A renowned country singer, he was admired for the daring and vulnerability of his songwriting, perhaps most prominently in his dreary, tiresome 1972 song “Why Me,” which topped the US charts.
In addition to a successful music career, Kristofferson won critical acclaim and several awards for his work as an actor. He received a Golden Globe for Best Actor when he starred in the 1976 film A star is born, opposite Barbra Streisand, two years after working with Martin Scorsese on the rom-com Alice no longer lives here.
But Kristofferson always saw himself first and foremost as a songwriter, he said The Guardian in a 2008 interview: “Everything else would never have happened if it wasn’t for the songwriting.
“I have come to appreciate how special a song is compared to other art forms, because you can carry it in your head and your heart and it remains a part of you.”
He added: “It’s as natural to me as a bird, always has been. It is the way singer-songwriters give meaning to our lives.”
Here are five songs you might not have known were written by Kristofferson.
One More Time with Feeling (1969)
Written by Kristofferson with writer and musician Shel Silverstein, this song was originally recorded by rock ‘n’ roll star Jerry Lee Lewis and featured on his 13th album, She even woke me up to say goodbye.
Released as a single, it topped the Cash Box Country Singles chart in 1970 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard country chart. Nearly ten years later, Kristofferson recorded it himself for his ninth album, 1979 Shake hands with the devil.
The lyrics read: ‘We’re just going through the motions/ Of the parts we learned to play/ Never quite together like before/ But somehow, baby, something good/ We got lost along the way/ And our song is not that. nothing/special anymore.”
Sunday Morning Comin’ Down (1970)
Legend has it that Kristofferson was so desperate to get the attention of his hero, Johnny Cash, that he landed a helicopter on his lawn, beer in hand, to give him the demo tape.
The singer-songwriter would later tell reporters that although he had indeed landed a helicopter at the Man in Black’s house, he was not home at the time, that the demo tape was actually a song that no one ultimately cut, and that he certainly wouldn’t have been able to fly a helicopter while holding a beer.
Regardless, Cash went on to record “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” which topped the country charts and won a CMA award for Song of the Year.
“I’m just really grateful for that song because it opened a lot of doors for me,” Kristofferson told NPR in a 2013 interview. “So many people I admired admired it. Actually, it was the song that allowed me to stop working for a living.”
For the Good Times (1970)
The song that made Kristofferson one of the most in-demand songwriters of his generation, “For the Good Times,” has been the subject of countless interpretations by Bill Nash, Perry Como, Al Green, Dolly Parton and, perhaps most famously, Ray. Price – who turned the love song into a No. 1 hit in 1970.
Kristofferson’s lyrics were particularly poignant: “Don’t look so sad/ I know it’s over/ But life goes on/ And this old world will keep turning/ Let’s just be happy/ We had some time to spend together/ There is no need to look at the bridges that were on fire.”
Help Me Get Through the Night (1970)
One of Kristofferson’s most covered songs, “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” took off when Sammi Smith’s version hit No. 1 in 1970. Smith won a Grammy for Best Female Performance the following year (Kristofferson took home the award for Best Country Song). ) and inspired a host of other greats to release their own interpretations, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Gladys Knight, Tammy Wynette and Joan Baez.
When he came up with the idea for the song, Kristofferson was working as a helicopter pilot (which meant he could cut in and hand-deliver songs to Johnny Cash). He was reportedly inspired by a 1963 interview with Frank Sinatra Playboy, in which the crooner said, “I’m up for anything that gets you through the night, whether it’s prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.”
Me and Bobby McGee (1970)
Kristofferson typically wrote when the mood struck, but eventually responded to a call from Monument Records founder Fred Foster, who suggested a song title named after a secretary he knew. “I avoided him for three or four months because all the thoughts were going through my head,” Kristofferson said in 1973. “I was driving back to New Orleans one night, the windshield wipers came on and it started to fall apart.”
His lyrics were influenced by the Fellini film La Strada (The Road) and followed two lovers who went on a journey together, but drifted apart. It was originally recorded by honky tonk singer Roger Miller in 1968, before Janis Joplin, whom Kristofferson briefly dated, recorded perhaps the definitive version for what would become her posthumous second album, 1971’s. Pearl.
Kristofferson had no idea Joplin had recorded it until its release: “Afterwards I was walking all over L.A. just in tears,” he recalled to Performing Songwriter years later. “I couldn’t listen to the song without actually breaking down.” The song became Joplin’s biggest hit and was later covered by stars such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Olivia Newton-John.