Comments on: 100 Greatest Men: #48. Kris Kristofferson

By: bulbul

bulbul — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:56:44 +0000

Paul,

your point is well taken and if you see me arguing with some parts of it, know that I do so for purely academic reasons – i.e. sometimes I like to argue :)

one short burst of creativity – everyone cites the same five or six songs
You could say the same about Herman Melville – all his memorable work came from the same period (1846 – 1851) and everyone cites that one book. But that still doesn’t change the fact that “Moby Dick” one of the greatest works of literature of all time and as such, it earns its author a high place in the pantheon of writers.

Also, not that it matters much to me, but there is a world of difference between pop success before Beatles (like e.g. Felice and Boudleaux Bryant had with Everly Brothers) and after.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 02:53:49 +0000

Virtually every song that anyone remembers from Kris Kristofferson came during one short burst of creativity – everyone cites the same five or six songs and maybe a couple more that were sung by less well know artists (Roy Drusky – “Jody and The Kid”)

If you rank Kris higher, then what do you do with songwriters who were at least as creative as Kris and far more prolific (over a far longer period of time) such as Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, Dallas Frazier and Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, songwriters who probably also had more pop success than Kristofferson ?

If anything I would think you have Kristofferson too high – I’d probably have him in the 60-75 range

By: bulbul

bulbul — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 23:46:02 +0000

I realize we could quibble over some of the rankings all week which is why I won’t do it, but seriously, 48 for Kris is just wrong. “Sunday Morning” and “Help Me Make It Through The Night” alone should earn him a spot in the top ten or at the very least above, say, Charlie Rich or Tim McGraw. Those two songs are true classics.

By: Erik North

Erik North — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 01:19:36 +0000

It isn’t just Nashville artists and legends that have done his stuff. Gladys Knight had a minor 1972 with “Help Me Make It Through The Night” as well; and Jerry Lee Lewis even made it into the Top 40 on the pop charts with a version of “Me And Bobby McGee” that same year (it was also done by the Grateful Dead). His influence and the respect Kristofferson has had, inside and outside of country music, is enormous.

And as for films, I would also point out his turn as Billy The Kid (even though he was a decade and a half older than the real-life outlaw) in director Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac 1973 western PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, opposite James Coburn. That was a very tremendous achievement (IMHO).