Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson are the two remaining Highwaymen, with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings both gone. Kris Kristofferson turned 80 yesterday and Willie is three years older. Recently in this blog I posted about Merle Haggard on his 79th birthday just before learning of his death two hours later that same day. Also, we lost Guy Clarke a few weeks ago on May 17 at 74.
All of these men are great songwriters and as George Jones sang in the Troy Seals/Max D. Barnes song “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”:
No, there will never be another
Red-Headed Stranger
A Man in Black and Folsom Prison Blues
The Okie from Muskogee
Or Hello Darling
Lord, I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes?
These men represent the best of what the country tradition has to offer, their songs, especially Kristofferson’s, are finely wrought and tell us something meaningful about ourselves and the human condition.
Instead of me continuing, I will simply point you to the excellent tribute to Kristofferson that appeared in today’s No Depression by Terry Roland.
Kris Kristofferson at 80: An Appreciation
Musica Kaleidoskopea 