Kris Kristofferson: Country Highwayman

Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson first became known in 1970, when he was awarded the Country Music Award for his song “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” as sung by Johnny Cash. Hurd provides the first detailed look at the “arc of Kristofferson’s creative output”, starting with his first LP in 1970, which featured his classic “Me and Bobby McGee”; through his best songs combining country and folk-rock in the 1970s, such as “Loving Her Was Easier” and “Why Me”; to his work with Cash and Willie Nelson in the country supergroup the Highwaymen; and finally to his critically acclaimed 2006 album “This Old Road,” recorded at the age of 70. Hurd is excellent at showing how all of Kristofferson’s work and life—including refusing to follow his family’s long tradition of serving in the military, and his stint in England as a Rhodes Scholar—are connected by one theme: “His mandate to live an artist’s life as he thought it should be lived hinged on the concept of personal freedom.” This solid overview makes it clear just how important Kristofferson’s work has been to the history of country and rock music. (June)