Page 12 - Songwriters Workshop issue 2

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Kris Kristofferson SONGWRITERS WORKSHOPNGWRITERS WORKSHOP

career came with the 1977 remake of A Star Is Born, Written by John Patterson
in which Kristofferson is the only compelling figure. First published on Tue 4 Mar 2008 10.32 GMT
The Guardian
By that time he was, like his character, a fully fledged
boozehound. “I had a half-gallon of Jose Cuervo in
my trailer and they never let it empty. They just kept
coming back in and filling it up, same half-gallon
bottle. I don’t know how much I was drinking, but
it was a lot, and I had to quit it soon after. Doctor
said my liver was the size of a football and that if I
didn’t quit, I was gonna kill myself. I had a new little
daughter, so I quit. I drink wine today, but at the
time I just went cold turkey. It was probably harder
on the people around me than on myself.”

Talking of drinkers, Kristofferson took major roles
in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid and Convoy, two of the
films that nearly killed Sam Peckinpah.

“I’ll tell ya what - he was on the way out. When we
were on Convoy, they tried to fire him, and I told
them I’d walk, too, if they did. And I guess I was hot
enough then that they gave a shit. But
afterwards I’m walking out of there back to my truck
and Peckinpah comes out and says, ‘Goddamn you,
ya stupid sonofabitch, I was almost outta here and
you dropped me back in this shit!’”

Lisa, Kris’s third wife and his manager, shows up
just as we are broaching politics again. It’s showtime,
so we never get to talk about Janis Joplin (whom
Kristofferson dated), or the Highwaymen (the band
he formed with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and
Waylon Jennings), or John Sayles (who directed him
in Lone Star in 1996). But Kristofferson gets in a
parting shot about Iran-Contra and the war in Iraq.
“Iran-Contra! We should have jailed all those guys
for ever back then, and we wouldn’t be where we are
right now - because it’s the same guys now, the same
20 guys!”

The next time I see him, he’s singing Help Me Make
It Through the Night. He doesn’t need our help.

12 SONGWRITERS WORKSHOP