April 1, 1970: Kris Kristofferson Releases His Self-Titled Debut Album

April 1, 1970: Kris Kristofferson releases his debut album, Kristofferson. If there has ever been a country version of Bob Dylan, he was the one.

He wrote all the songs on it, including "Me and Bobby McGee," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "For the Good Times," and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down." Each of these would become better known by someone else, respectively: Janis Joplin (a former girlfriend of his), Sammi Smith, Ray Price and Johnny Cash.

Born on June 22, 1936 in Brownsville, Texas, on the Rio Grande and thus the U.S.-Mexican border, he grew up in the San Francisco suburb of San Mateo, California. By the time he won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England in 1958, he had already had stores published in The Atlantic Monthly.

There were more rockers with military service than you might think, and he enlisted in the U.S. Army -- albeit in 1961, before the Vietnam War resulted in big draft calls. He completed Ranger training, became a helicopter pilot, taught literature at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and was discharged with the rank of Captain in 1965.

He hit it big as a singer while working on an oil rig in Louisiana. So he was more of a "working man's poet" than just about anybody who's ever pretended to such a status. He went into acting, and starred in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, Convoy, and Heaven's Gate. And he joined with fellow "outlaw country movement" stars Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings to form the "supergroup" The Highwaymen.

He married 3 times, including to singer Rita Coolidge, who appeared on the cover of his 1973 album Jesus Was a Capricorn, which featured his biggest hit under his own name, "Why Me." He had 8 children.

In 1992, he served as the master of ceremonies for the Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden. This was shortly after Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on SNL. At the tribute concert, Kris introduced her by saying that, like Dylan, she was a champion of free speech, but she still got booed off the stage. She walked off and cried on Kris' shoulder, and a microphone picked up him saying to her, "Don't let the bastards get you down."

He retired from performing in 2021, citing age and health issues.

UPDATE: He died on September 28, 2024, at the age of 88. His last performance had been a year earlier, at a tribute concert for Nelson's 90th birthday.

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April 1, 1970 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA: The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-111 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor, scored 33 points. Billy Cunningham scored 50 in defeat.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Los Angeles Stars beat the New York Nets, 113-101 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 6-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Oakland Seals played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.