There’s one thing I often find myself retelling about Kris Kristofferson when I recall the one night I saw him play in Glasgow. It was the woman leaning over balcony shouting (there were always a good few women shouting at Kris). ‘Marry me Kris.’ He brushed it off in the gentlemanly way he’d been causally disregarding such proposals over the many decades he’d visited the city. If he managed to ignore that particular approbation he was keener to respond to the frequent requests which were usually shout outs for some big songs. ‘If we did that one then the night would be over.’ Kris would reply.
Of course, with Kris, there were were so many big songs and he was, as ever, over modest. Which song could possibly end the show? Help Me Make It Through The Night, For The Good Times or the song he himself credits with his big breakthrough, Me and Bobby McGee? Take your pick. There are so many great songs in the Kris Kristofferson catalogue which will continue to be played long after his death which was announced earlier this week.
That gig by Kris had seen him do something he’d never done for most of his life; play a solo show. Accompanied only by his guitar and alone on the stage he’d first performed solo in Scotland a few years before and the format had become his preferred option each time he returned. That night and the many other times he performed here over the years he would invite my good friend and colleague Roddy Hart to open for him. Roddy knew him well and credits Kris with life affirming advice in a beautiful tribute he posted on his own socials. In 2010 the AC caught up with Kris and talked about that catalogue of songs before he played a beautiful show at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall. On this week’s show we’ll replay some of that conversation and play the songs which made Kris one of the best known and best loved songwriters in Music City.
Elsewhere we’ll have new songs from Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert and Joy Oladokun and share a magical moment from the last Highwayman left, as Willie Nelson covers The Flaming Lips. It’s all there in two hours of country music our way on this week’s Another Country which you can hear from 8 p.m this Tuesday evening on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds. Join me if you can.
I feel blessed to have seen Kris Kristofferson give one of those solo shows at Union Chapel back in 2016.
The audience were full of requests that night, too, but also reverential and attentive during the songs themselves. It was a memorable night in my continuing education on his music—one I pretty much started with that 2010 edition of the AC!
Looking forward to hearing some of that interview again, as well—as always—to the rest of the show.