NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — He made a powerful impact on songwriting, performing, and in film. Nashville is saying goodbye to Kris Kristofferson.
People were lined up Monday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, waiting to sign a guest book in memory of Kristofferson.
"The thing about Kris Kristofferson is he'll pull you in," said Michael McCall of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. "He's a great storyteller."
In his years as a Nashville music journalist, several times McCall got to meet and interview Kristofferson. He said Kristofferson's breakthrough came about after writing a string of hits in quick succession including Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down. That was a #1 country hit for Johnny Cash. The song was also named Song of the Year at the 1970 CMA Awards.
"Kris Kristofferson elevated country songwriting," McCall said. "Very much a man of the people. He had a kind of poetry that hadn't been in country music."
The museum carries Kristofferson's handwritten lyrics for Me and Bobby McGee, a song that would go on to become the signature hit for Janis Joplin. It was released after her death.
"If you talked to him at the time, he did not want to be a singer," McCall said of Kristofferson. "He didn't think he could sing. He has a famous quote where he said, 'I sound like a expletive frog!'"
Kristofferson did end up releasing albums and was also part of country super group The Highwaymen alongside Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings. Then there were the many starring film roles, including the 1970s adaptation of A Star Is Born. That got Kristofferson a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
"Martin Scorsese, working with him on Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, all these great roles he ended up taking, he never trained as an actor," McCall continued.
"He never had an ambition to be an actor, but once it happened, I think he enjoyed doing it.
Kris Kristofferson died at 88-years-old.
"He had such a rugged exterior, but he was such a tender, sort of empathetic person," McCall said. "He wasn't after the most popular song he could write. He was after the most powerful song he could write."
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