Everyday Creation
The truth about us — that's what Everyday Creation is about. As humans, we're amazingly creative. Consider what we do: We make music and design buildings; we cook, we dance, we invent things. The list goes on. There's another part of our creativity, and that's divine Creation. It doesn't have to be religious. Just consider the awe we feel when we contemplate birth, death, our life purpose. That's when we know that there's something bigger afoot, and it's more profound than we imagined. Lastly, there's another type of creation worthy of attention, and that is our ability to direct our words, thoughts and actions toward creating a better life for ourselves and others and, along the way, making the world a little better. You'll find at least one of these types of creation in every episode.
Everyday Creation
Despite All Expectations, Kris Kristofferson Achieved Success His Way
In college, Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar and a Golden Gloves boxer who also happened to play guitar and write music. After Oxford, he moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting and eventually managed to gain Johnny Cash's attention by delivering a demo tape by helicopter to Cash's home. Cash ended up recording Kristofferson's song "Sunday Morning Coming Down," which became a hit.
So began Kristofferson's wildly successful career that included starring roles in movies.
The image in this episode's chapters and thumbnail is from the cover of the 2010 unauthorized biography of Kristofferson by Stephen Miller, who also wrote "Johnny Cash: Life of an American Icon." It's available on Kindle and in paperback.
Miller (not the White House deputy chief of staff!) also wrote "The Million Dollar Quartet" about the recordings made during an impromptu jam session at Sun Record Studios in Memphis. The musicians were Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Cash.
To watch Kristofferson and Cash performing "Sunday Morning Coming Down," go here. The clip is from Cash's Christmas show in 1978.
This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Sheldon:
00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:01.060
Sports Illustrated
00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:03.300
hinted at Kris Kristofferson's
00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:04.580
greatness
00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:07.360
long before he wrote his first song or
00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:08.900
starred in his first movie.
00:00:09.680 --> 00:00:14.535
The magazine highlighted him in its March 31, 1958,
00:00:14.615 --> 00:00:16.315
Faces in the Crowd section.
00:00:17.095 --> 00:00:19.895
He was a senior honor student majoring in
00:00:19.895 --> 00:00:23.175
English at Pomona College. He'd starred in rugby
00:00:23.175 --> 00:00:26.295
and football. He was a Golden Gloves boxer
00:00:26.295 --> 00:00:27.515
and a Rhodes scholar.
00:00:28.130 --> 00:00:28.790
The magazine
00:00:29.090 --> 00:00:31.570
even noted that he played guitar and wrote
00:00:31.570 --> 00:00:32.070
music.
00:00:33.330 --> 00:00:33.830
Kristofferson
00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:36.070
died September 28
00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:37.910
at his home in Hawaii.
00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:39.750
He was 88.
00:00:40.725 --> 00:00:42.645
The Song of the Day is paying tribute
00:00:42.645 --> 00:00:45.845
to the singers, songwriters and musicians who died
00:00:45.845 --> 00:00:47.305
in 2024.
00:00:48.165 --> 00:00:48.665
Kristofferson,
00:00:49.045 --> 00:00:50.425
after leaving Oxford,
00:00:51.125 --> 00:00:53.765
turned down a teaching position at the U.S.
00:00:53.765 --> 00:00:54.985
Military Academy.
00:00:55.850 --> 00:00:56.350
Instead,
00:00:56.730 --> 00:00:59.790
he moved to Nashville to pursue his songwriting.
00:01:00.650 --> 00:01:03.310
His parents disowned him, calling him a disgrace.
00:01:04.730 --> 00:01:05.230
Kristofferson
00:01:05.610 --> 00:01:08.590
worked as a janitor at Columbia Studios.
00:01:09.475 --> 00:01:12.695
He worked part time as a helicopter pilot,
00:01:12.995 --> 00:01:15.975
taking workers to and from oil rigs.
00:01:16.995 --> 00:01:19.975
He gained Johnny Cash's attention with a helicopter.
00:01:20.675 --> 00:01:21.415
One day
00:01:21.720 --> 00:01:22.220
Kristofferson,
00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.420
who flew helicopters for the Army Reserve,
00:01:25.960 --> 00:01:26.860
took a detour
00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:30.120
and landed at Cash's home in hopes of
00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:31.660
giving him a demo tape.
00:01:32.600 --> 00:01:35.480
Cash said Kristofferson landed with a beer in
00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:35.980
hand,
00:01:36.365 --> 00:01:38.145
gave him the tape, and left.
00:01:39.085 --> 00:01:39.585
Kristofferson
00:01:40.045 --> 00:01:42.065
called Cash's story hyperbole.
00:01:42.845 --> 00:01:44.945
He said Cash wasn't even home.
00:01:46.285 --> 00:01:48.945
Cash decided to record one of the songs,
00:01:49.690 --> 00:01:53.150
"Sunday Morning Coming Down," which became a hit.
00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:56.330
Kristofferson wrote the song at a low point
00:01:56.330 --> 00:01:57.230
in his life
00:01:57.690 --> 00:02:00.030
when he had no money and was separated
00:02:00.170 --> 00:02:01.070
from his family.
00:02:01.775 --> 00:02:04.895
He'd walk around Nashville pondering his life and
00:02:04.895 --> 00:02:06.275
observing his surroundings.
00:02:07.455 --> 00:02:09.135
He said it was the song that allowed
00:02:09.135 --> 00:02:10.275
him to quit working.
00:02:10.655 --> 00:02:13.055
He became one of the most successful singer-
00:02:13.055 --> 00:02:13.555
songwriters
00:02:14.015 --> 00:02:16.195
of the 1970s and '80s.
00:02:16.760 --> 00:02:19.960
He also starred in several movies, including "A
00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:22.760
Star Is Born" and "Alice Doesn't Live Here
00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:23.260
Anymore."
Kate:
00:02:25.640 --> 00:02:28.300
That was Song of the Day creator Sheldon
00:02:28.440 --> 00:02:31.290
Zoldan. And I'm Kate Jones, host of Everyday
00:02:31.290 --> 00:02:31.790
Creation.
00:02:32.410 --> 00:02:34.510
Thank you for joining us today.
