Kris Kristofferson Q&A

Q: Releasing this particular record on Oh Boy is coming full circle with your John Prine and Steve Goodman connection isn’t it?
A: It sure is. When I was first getting hot and out on the road, I did a gig with Steve Goodman in Chicago at the Quiet Knight. We were really blown away by Steve. But, I was really exhausted at that time. I hadn’t had a day off in eighteen months. We had stepped on the roller coaster, the band, and me and we were burning the candle at all ends. Steve so impressed the guys in my band that they told me I should watch him. He knocked me out. I particularly liked a song he was singing by John Prine, “Sam Stone.” Steve said, “Well, you gotta meet the guy that wrote it.” I thought, Oh God. I mean, the first couple of years I was on the road all I did was listen to people’s songs. Every place I went, after every show, the local guy wanted to show me his songs. It really got into my own creativity for a while. I had to stop listening or I’d never write my own stuff. So, I hedged about getting together with this other songwriter. But on the last night we were working there, Paul Anka came by. He was singing a song of mine; I think it was “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” Anyhow, he came to my last show and Steve knocked him out as well. Steve said again, “Well, if you like what I’m doing, you’ve got to see John Prine.” So we went with him over to the Earl of Old Town club. It was closed, but Steve got permission to use it and John was going to sing some songs for us. Samantha Eggar was there, Paul Anka, another guy who was a filmmaker—kind of a scary crowd for a songwriter I would think. Poor John was asleep in one of the booths with his wife. They woke him up and put him behind the microphone and said, “Sing for these guys.” We had a table right in front of him. (Laughs) It must have been kind of daunting to him. Immediately he launched into “Donald and Lydia ” and then one song after another. It was incredible. When Prine finished, I went up to him and said, ‘Start right over and sing every one you sang and any one you want to sing for us.’ He sang the whole set again and some other songs. After that, we went over to Paul Anka’s hotel penthouse and we were drinking and eating up there. Paul said to Steve and John “If I buy you a plane ticket to New York will you come up there and talk about publishing and recording with me?” That’s when Steve said, “Would you like to see a short, fat Jewish kid dive into a bowl of chicken?” (Laughs) It turned out I was working at the Bitter End in New York at the same time, so we coordinated it so John and Steve could come out and do some songs. I called them up during the show. Jerry Wexler was there and sent his wife back home in the limo and stayed for the second show. He signed John on Atlantic immediately. Paul Anka signed Steve on Buddah and asked me to produce it. Norman Putnam really produced it, but they put my name on it.

Q: So, you really discovered John Prine and Steve Goodman?
A: They were so good. It was just like finding Bob Dylan. It happened at a time when you could make things happen like that. I remember Steve just charmed Nashville pickers. Old Grady Martin was a lead guitarist and ran all the sessions over at Columbia when I was the janitor over there. He used to sit in the chair just like a big gruff-looking Buddha who didn’t get up for anybody and called all the shots. The first time I ever saw him standing up was with Steve over in a corner. They were playing guitar back and forth. He ended up giving Steve his favorite guitar. Nashville people can be different with people from out of town but he was taken with Steve. But, he was sorry he gave up his guitar. Grady wrote to Steve a month later and said he missed the guitar so much he had to have it back. Steve flew the guitar; he bought a seat for the guitar on the plane, and flew it back to Grady.  (Laughs) I started at the beginning with Steve and John. And Al Bunetta started at the beginning, too. He quit his job at the agency and made Steve and John his mission in life. Pretty good mission, I think.

Q. As a songwriter, do you have an ideal situation for sitting down to write, or do you write when inspiration strikes?
A. I’ve never been able to sit down and crank things out, it’s always been from inspiration. There were times when I thought that was a lazy way to write but it’s the only way that works for me, and it has worked for me. That’s why I started writing songs—to write stuff that I felt and believed. That’s why I wanted to be a country songwriter. I felt there was room to express myself that way.

Q: Your show at the Gershwin was recorded so Alan Abrahams could get a cut for the Bread & Roses project. After Alan listened to the show, he sent you the CD just for your personal library. What made you decide to make an album from it?
A: I’m glad Alan sent it to me. Usually when I’m on the road we tape the show if the facility doesn’t. This time, I wanted Alan to tape it so he could take something for the Bread & Roses album. We planned to use ‘Here Come That Rainbow’ but ‘Moment of Forever’ works for that album too. After we heard Alan’s recording, my wife thought it would be a good idea to do an album. I could see what worked about it. Since it was stripped down to just a guitarist and a bass and me, the focus was on the songs. I think it’s the right direction at this time in my life.

  Q: Do you think it was important to capture that moment? You hadn’t performed in several years and the recording is raw and organic and capturing a moment in history.
A: It’s not so much a historical moment for me as it was desperately trying to get it together for a show and concerned about whether I could do it or not because I hadn’t been out in so long. (Laughs) For almost 30 years the road was life and I just lived for it and loved it. It was a wonderful ride, but lately, life events, age and everything has made me want to stay close to family. Of course I have a big good-lookin’ family and it’s hard to leave when I have five kids in school here and a place I don’t want to leave.

Q: Life on the road is hard, too.
A: It was hard but I used to think of it as heaven. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do with those I wanted to do it with—the band that had grown with me from the beginning. And, I was singing songs I thought mattered. It did kind of beat me down after awhile. The first part of it, when I was working with Monument Records, we got pretty good support from the record company. When they got bought by Columbia , we got even more exposure. When I started making movies that got even more attention than my music work did. Actually, the music part kind of suffered from it. Yet, we were out on the road any time I wasn’t making movies for about 25 years.”

Q: Is music your first love or do you enjoy making movies just as much?
A: To be honest with you, I love the music more than anything. It’s the closest thing to me. I enjoy making films and they pay more money than the music. (Laughs) I enjoy acting. It’s a performing art that I’ve come to appreciate.

Q: When you started doing big movies like, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “A Star Is Born,” how did that change your music career? Were you more in demand on the road?
A: After “A Star Is Born” we were filling stadiums. It was a pretty big leap.

Q: Great movie. It’s a classic. The chemistry between you and Streisand on the screen was amazing. Did you get along as well off screen?
A: It really worked. I think we have great respect for each other. We’re very different and work in different areas but we were working toward the same goal in that film, which was to make a believable picture of an artist in those circumstances. That was my first experience with finding unified critical opinion against me. The critics hated that film. (Laughs)

Q: It’s a classic now. You can’t mention Kris Kristofferson without someone bringing up “A Star Is Born.” In what other ways did it change your life?
A: It really changed the music and my life. I hooked up with Rita Coolidge by then and we were filling up halls and the fan attention was causing a bit of tension between us. I remember one show when people would push right past her to get to me. Naturally, it pissed her off. After that, Monument went under and took the last album I was making with them, I found myself in the position where no one ever knew where to put me in the record stores.

Q: I think when an artist does as much as you were doing, and having such success in many different realms, it confuses the poor bastards when they don’t know how to label you.
A: At Monument, they appreciated for me for my songs. Hell, I don’t think they ever played me on country radio stations; I played more for Bob Dylan’s audience. We played in the big cities more. I didn’t play the country clubs until years and years later. I wasn’t that kind of a singer. I didn’t have a voice like the good country singers like George Jones, Johnny Cash or Ray Charles. I ended up being able to make it with my songs.

Q: Of course you toured country clubs later with the Highwaymen?
A: We did shows all over the world. It was quite a trip. These guys, every one of them was my hero while I was still emptying ashtrays as a janitor.

Q: Give me some of your favorite moments from those times.
A: Every night I got to stand right next to Johnny Cash and sing with him whether he liked it or not. (Laughs). I remember one time he said, and he was laughing, he said, “You know, I don’t think one other person on this planet has ever tried to sing harmony with me on ‘Folsom Prison Blues,’--would have the gall to sing harmony with me.” He was laughing about it. For me, that whole time was like waking up on Mount Rushmore . I was the janitor for all those guys at one point in my life. I have the highest respect for them. It was a humble feeling up there but so much fun. They’re the funniest guys I ever met. It was rough on the road. We were hauling our families around with us and going to places like Indonesia and Singapore . At one show they had hooked up our wires badly. It was a foreign crew and didn’t speak any English. Willie’s monitor was mixed with mine so I was turning up my guitar and couldn’t hear it because it was in Willie’s monitor. Well, there are few sounds on the earth that would displeasure Willie as much as my guitar playing. He doesn’t even want to hear his own. So, he’s got this blaring guitar of mine. He finally pulled the cord out.”

  Q: Let’s talk about Broken Freedom Song. The night at the Gershwin when you recorded this album, did you have a set list when you went in?
A: Yeah. I always do. There are so many of the old songs that I have to sing and I like to mix them up with songs that aren’t so familiar. Most of the songs on this album are the songs that haven’t been heard much.

Q: I like the choices you made for the album. Why did you choose these particular songs?
A: I like that some of the old songs that are meaningful with current events. ‘Darby’s Castle’ makes me think of post-9/11 America . All the materialism, we're losing the eye on the real prize.

Q: There are four previously unreleased tracks. Let’s talk about those. You wrote “Sky King” when you were in the army but never recorded it?
A: I never even thought of recording “Sky King.” It’s a good live song to sing. It was interesting that I wrote while I was in the army and it made its all the way to Vietnam on its own and was sung by performers over there. I used to sing it in Germany in clubs that were associated with the soldiers. I guess somebody learned it over there. I never sang it in Nashville . I was flying helicopters in the army and when I moved to Nashville I needed some money so I joined the Tennessee National Guard. I did it for about a month and I quit. But during the time, they were having their summer exercises down in Fort Stuart , Georgia . I was down there with a bunch of other helicopter pilots and we were passing the guitar around and I sang that song. One of the guys said he had heard the song over in Vietnam . I felt so validated because I hadn’t yet emerged as a songwriter. I had been trying for a couple of years to get things cut, unsuccessfully.

Q: Well that changed, didn’t it?
A: (Laughs.) Yeah, it was just about to change at that time.

Q: Tell me about “The Circle.” I love the story you tell on the album. Can you expand on it?
A: I heard a newscast when they fired those rockets at Baghdad , right when Clinton took office. Not much was made of it in the press. But, I heard on the news story that the rockets missed their target and hit the home of this woman who was a national figure and famous artist. It killed her and her husband and wounded her children. As I said on the record, I didn’t catch the name. I just instinctively knew that I wasn’t going to hear it again because they probably wouldn’t run that story again. And they didn’t. The next time I found any evidence of it was reading Howard Zinn’s book, the updated “People’s History of the United States .” He mentioned it but again didn’t mention her name. I sang the song at a benefit for a human rights group that works a lot in Central America . I mentioned that I never got the artist’s name and somebody gave me her name, Layla al-Attar. Since then I’ve read it in Ramsay Clark books. It seems symbolic of what is going on around the world, most of it in our name.

Q: Did you write the song shortly after the event happened?
A: Yeah. And then I combined it with a song I wrote about the disappeared people down there in Argentina . The image of the circle that ended with Layla al-Attar goes into the circle of the Argentina people carrying the signs with the names of the disappeared ones around the plaza circle. It seemed to be such a poignant expression of something going on that maybe we don’t know about. Most people don’t know that we fired those rockets off to Baghdad . They don’t know what we’re involved in and that we’re killing people in our own hemisphere.

Q: Well the big corporations own all the media and they sanitize the news and tell us what they want us to hear. People don’t know the truth.
A: It’s depressing to see people are starting to ask questions now that should have been asked before the war. It’s hard for me to believe that people are just now asking now for the evidence (of weapons of mass destruction). Did they ever think they were telling the truth?

Q: Not to get off the track here, but we live in such an apathetic society where as long as it doesn’t affect you in your own backyard…
A: Well unfortunately we’re that way a lot in America . And if anybody questions it they get pilloried to death. The discouraging thing is that the insane people are the guys with the guns who don’t mind using them. I remember getting this creepy feeling back when I was doing “Heaven’s Gate” which was about the Cattleman’s Association getting government backup to go in with mercenaries and kill a bunch of civilians. I remember thinking at the time that maybe there’s always been a dark part of this American dream where money was more important than people. That’s exactly what’s going down now. The money involved in this Iraq reconstruction is shameless. It’s right in your face and everyone can see it. I don’t know if its apathy or if it’s more a feeling of powerlessness. What can we do? They elected Bush without him really winning the election. The Supreme Court is stacked and we’re fixing to stack it worse. All this destruction is done in our name. And the simple things that Bush keeps saying are so embarrassing. He says, “These are evil people who hate peace and hate freedom and that’s why they’re blowing themselves up.” Christ.

Q: You’re known as an activist for social justice and human rights. How did you get involved?
A: For as long as I can remember we’ve been supporting people like Caesar Chavez and United Farm Workers. I think I started that back in 1972. Sometimes when I do concerts for different causes, I meet people. I was doing a show in Mexico for human rights and sang songs about Nicaragua . A guy from Nicaragua came up to me and thanked me for standing up for his people and invited me down there. It was the first time I went to Nicaragua . That was back when we were the terrorists. When you get into those circles and experience it firsthand, and go through the places that the contras were attacking, you can’t help but get involved. There were soft targets like schools and heath facilities and hospitals full of victims—kids that have their arms and legs blown off. It’s real terrorism. We trained these terrorists here in the U.S. I don’t think anyone could know the truth of what we’ve done to Nicaragua and not be sympathetic to them. We, as Americans, simply weren’t given the truth. The depressing thing about it is that all the guys that were running the Contra deal, like Elliot Abrams, are back in the government again. Elliot Abrams is in charge of human rights. They’re just rubbing our faces in it. It’s like giving us the finger. Human rights? Good Lord.

Q: You recently received a Veteran’s Award for your service in the American military. Was it a big honor for you?
A. It would have made my daddy proud. I grew up in a military family. I grew up in a time when people believed in duty, honor and country. I served in the Army myself, as did my brother. My father was a General in the Air force. My grandfathers were both officers. I’ve always felt a kinship with the troops. My wife thinks it’s a little ironic but I think it’s possible to support the warrior and be against the war. I couldn’t help but be surprised because some of things I’ve been vocal about have pissed off veterans. Well, some things I’ve said have pissed off everybody at some point or another. (Laughs) I was really surprised that they picked me for that. I sang at Sandinista’s 10^th anniversary of the revolution. When I came back, there were people picketing my shows because they considered them the enemy.

Q: Good for them for giving it to you. You’re still an American veteran. Kris, how many kids do you have?
A. I have eight kids. Five still in the house, well, four because one is going off to college. The youngest is eight. My daughter Tracy just had a baby, Maggie. My daughter Casey has a daughter named Hana. They’re all cute. They all love each other. It’s really good.

Q: Looking forward, you’re working on a memoir for Hyperion. Have you been working on that for a while?
A: I’m getting together stuff that I’ve been writing but nothing is in good form yet.

Q: Have you kept journals throughout your career?
A: I have at different times but not regularly enough. I wish I had done it every day but then I wouldn’t have gotten to do all the fun stuff I’ve done.

Q: Is there anything you haven’t done yet that you want to do?
A: I always thought I would end up writing novels. I’ve got a part of a novel I want to get to but I’m still at that in between stage. There’s still some traveling I have to do.

Q: You’re being inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame this summer? That’s cool.
A: Yeah, it is. I’ve always been proud to be a Texan and it’s nice to be recognized by your home.

Q: You and Willie are going to perform together at that ceremony?
A: I think so. He’s giving the award to me. I don’t know what the format is, but we’ll probably just stand there and alternate songs for a while. When I was in the army, I was one of the few people outside of his personal friends who knew who Willie was. There was a disc jockey over there that happened to be a Willie Nelson fan and he would play Willie’s songs and talk about him all the time. By the time I got to Nashville , he was a superhero to me. For guys like me, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were these two gods we worshipped.

Q: Did you hook up with Willie pretty quickly after you got to Nashville ?
A: Not really. After I started working I did. The closest I got to Willie before that was Jimmy Day, his steel player. We used to hang out and drink and roar for days and push songs back and forth at each other. But I never did run into Willie until later on. Then, of course, we got to be best friends. I came from a position of idolizing him to finding out he’s the funniest son of a bitch you could be around. (Laughs)

Q: Kris, you mentioned Howard Zinn earlier. Do you read a lot of stuff like that?
A: Yeah, well I read Zinn’s “People’s History” and I read Noam Chomsky and Ramsey Clark. I like to read stuff you can’t find in the newspapers. I wish they’d put Noam Chomsky on TV.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to when you’re just hanging out?
A: I don’t listen a lot. I listen to what’s in my head and try to organize it into a song. I don’t read a lot like my friend Vernon used to. He used to read all the time. I remember a college professor telling me, “For a man who wants to be a writer, your reading list is pitifully small.” (Laughs) That being said, when I do listen, it’s to songwriters like John Prine, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. I love George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles. New guys like Shawn Mullins, Todd Snider and John Flynn. And Jessi Colter.

Q: Is there anything you want everybody to know about you that they don’t already know?
A: That I have a wonderful family and I still feel creative and I’m grateful for that.

Q: You have a couple of movies in the works?
A: Yes. A mini series with Sophia Loren. I had a small part in Where The Red Fern Grows. There’s a rumor that there’s going to be a Blade 3 but I’m not sure. There’s a film that Roger Deacons is going to direct. He’s the cinematographer for the Coen Brothers. It’s a script of a film called Comeback about a guy who gets out of prison and goes back on the road and he’s got Alzheimer’s. It’s a great script and an interesting character and we’re talking about that. I think Sissy Spacek is in it. The best interpretation anybody’s ever done of an artist was Sissy doing Loretta Lynn. The essence of Loretta Lynn is no bullshit, so what you’re getting is this performance that is the absolute truth.

Q: She was amazing in Coal Miner’s Daughter wasn’t she?
A: I was so impressed. And then to find out Sissy even sang. I love Loretta Lynn, ever since I emptied her ashtrays. She’s just a real person and her music is the same way. To see it come out like that in the film was really something. She is so cool. You know, you get to know people when you’re emptying their ashtrays— you see what they’re really like, and she is cool.

Q: Let’s go back to Broken Freedom Song. Tell me about “The Race.”
A: It’s really more of a joke. I wrote it when I was walking around in Paris when I was doing A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries. There’s a lot of shit on the ground in Paris because they let dogs run around the cobblestone. It was really a joke, an answer song to “The Wind Beneath My Wings.” They used to have a tradition in country music of doing that with a lot of songs, like The Wild Side of Life and The Child Side of Life, and It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.

Q: Tell me about “The Captive.”
A: A lot of my friends seem to have trouble getting along with their significant other—trouble communicating or whatever. It seems like with all your talents, all your brains, it still doesn’t work. There’s a line that says: “The brain blew itself to pieces.” I wrote it right before my friend and manager Vernon died. He was going through something with his ol’ lady. She could just blow him out of the water for no reason. I sang it to him and he thought it was a great song.

Q: When did Vernon die?
A: About a month after Sept 11.

Q: Was it sudden?
A: Totally out of the blue. He left a big hole because he was my link to the outside world. I met him when he was working for Martin Scorsese on “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” He knew so much about the movies and studios. He had been friends with Bette Davis and all these great actors. Vernon went the way he would have wanted to go, in bed asleep. Unfortunately, his little boy was there, too, He was 4 or 5 years old and he’s the one who called 911.

Q: A lot of death lately with June Carter Cash…
A: I know. I hate to pick up the paper. Gregory Peck just died, too. He was such an ideal actor. Atticus Finch was the model I used whenever I was trying to be a bachelor father. I remember I was over in Moscow at a peace rally when Gorbechav was the premier. The room was full of all dignitaries and I was walking up these stairs and someone said, “Well, hello Kris.” It was Gregory Peck. I was just awestruck that he knew who I was.  

Q: You came to town for June Carter Cash’s funeral?
A: Yeah, I brought my whole family. She was very good to all of them. It’s so sad for Johnny. She was so much of his life and she was taking care of him. I just can’t imagine what he is feeling.

Q: And Waylon not too long ago, another good friend of yours.
A: Oh Christ, yeah. And Mickey Newberry. It started with Shel Silverstein. It is the end of a quite an era.

Alan Abrahams, Producer

Q: How did this record come to be?
A: I’m doing a benefit CD for Bread & Roses, the organization that our mutual friend Mimi Fariña founded. The notion has been one separate song recorded by 18-20 artists. Kris was doing a one off concert in San Francisco . It had been three years since he played with his band; there was no rehearsal. It was literally a one off concert. They did it at the Gershwin Theater at San Francisco state. I had permission and encouragement from Kris to record the show to get a cut for the Bread & Roses CD. I told Kris I would record the entire show and give it to him for posterity. What a moment. There wasn’t any sound check for the live recording. We all were winging it and that is the beauty of the whole thing. The sound is fantastic; Kris’s performances are so exquisite. He’s a legend. He’s a genius. He’s way past superstar. He’s very shy. We caught a moment in history. There was no plan for an album. Once I brought it home and listened to it, I sent it to Kris. There were 30 songs recorded. I mixed it all and sent it to them. I knew as I was mixing it, that it was special. The political overtones are very timely. To my delight they called and said that they loved it. They wanted to consider it being an album. I thought it was a treat and a great honor. Kris wasn’t on a label and he wanted me to send the record to his friend Al Bunetta at Oh Boy. Oh Boy heard it and, no bullshit, they called back and said they wanted it. It has come together like that. The serendipity of it has been beautiful.

Q: What was it like working with Kris?
A: Kris came in to my home studio and we tweaked the live recording just a bit. We had a beautiful couple of days together. I’ve produced many famous people, yet it was freaky to answer a knock at the door and look through the glass and see this guy in t-shirt and jeans saying, “I know I’m early, can I come in?” He was the most wonderful, genuine, brilliantly clever man. We had so much fun. At the end of the day, I want the artist to love the record, to me that’s successful. There is a very beautiful and sweet spirit surrounding all of this. Again, the moon was lined up; it was an extraordinary confluence of matters. Kris was in amazing voice that night. Clearly, he had lots of fun doing it.

Q: What do you think everyone should know about Kris?
A: He’s a brilliant man. Everyone knows he was a Rhodes scholar, but he’s also a very concerned humanitarian. He is soulful. He has a deep, deep heart. He’s an original. He’s an innovator. He is able to put words and melodies together to celebrate humanity. He’s also incredibly humble, so he would hate to hear me say this. His presence is amazing even though he is self-deprecating. He has an incredible presence. It was a true joy to work with Kris. I’ve produced more than 80 albums and this was such a treat. He sounds fresh and giggly even. It’s got a beautiful energy to it and we were fortunate to capture it. This record wasn’t in anyway contrived; it was very natural.

-Official Press Release

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