“They Weren’t Into Being Dazzled”: Kris Kristofferson on the Nashville Scene Upon His Mid-1960s Arrival

When Kris Kristofferson first arrived to the Nashville music scene in the mid-1960s, he was part of an underground tidal wave of musicians who prioritized words over sound. For better or worse, that attitude changed countless times in the decades that followed the “Me and Bobby McGee” co-writer’s early days as an aspiring songwriter and part-time janitor.

But fortunately, Kristofferson was able to see a slow transition back to the Nashville he recognized as an Oxford grad fresh from across the pond. The prolific artist spoke of the scene he first met all those years ago during a 2006 interview with Classic Rock’s Paul Sexton at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Kris Kristofferson’s Mid-1960s Nashville Scene

When Kris Kristofferson first started cutting his teeth in Music City, USA, he did so without the benefit of deep ties to the Nashville scene (or the music industry in general). He worked various jobs to make ends meet—helicopter pilot, bartender, and janitor, to name a few. On his off days, he spent his time with other songwriters, trying to make a name for themselves.

“The guys I hung out with who also hadn’t made it yet were a respected clique of underground guys. They didn’t want to hear any good musicianship or vocalizing,” Kristofferson recalled to Classic Rock magazine. “They didn’t care if you sounded like George Jones or Ray Charles; they wanted to hear the song and what it meant.”

Kristofferson began setting his poetry-forward lyrics to jangly honky tonk rock that was a bit rough around the edges. “When I went to Nashville, people still called it ‘s***-kicking music.’ I fell in love with the whole life. It was so different from the military or the academic world. It was people really creating stuff and knocking each other out every night, and staying up for a week at a time. They called it ‘roaring’ back in those days.”

No Interest In Commodities Made For Little Competition

The Nashville country music scene has undoubtedly undergone several phases since its earliest incarnations. Some eras valued glitz and glam; others valued instrumental proficiency. As Kris Kristofferson explained in 2006, the Nashville scene he dove into in the mid-1960s was about what you had to say, not necessarily how you said it.

With no interest in flashy gimmicks or commodities, Kristofferson said there was far less competition and more camaraderie in the songwriting community. “The old guys hung out with the serious new guys,” Kristofferson said. “They weren’t standoffish at all. Guys like Harlan Howard would be encouraging, and Faron Young and Cowboy Jack Clement, they would all listen to you.”

“It wasn’t as competitive,” Kristofferson continued. “There were a lot of good songwriters like Tom T. Hall and Harlan. But it was more about delighting in each other’s work. It was as nice to hear another good songwriter, almost, as it was to write your own. They really weren’t into being dazzled by your footwork at all; they didn’t care if you could play the guitar real good or sing good. They wanted to hear what the song was about. That was good training.”

And indeed, if a former Rhodes scholar and U.S. Army Captain was anything, it was susceptible to proper training. Kristofferson caught onto the lyric-forward attitude of the mid-1960s Nashville scene quickly, penning iconic tracks like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Help Me Make It Through The Night” that would later become poignant mainstays of the modern American music canon.  

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images