The Kristofferson Interview
The second half of Q the Podcast: 2010-02-04 (beginning about 22 minutes into the podcast) features an interview between the host, Jian Ghomeshi,1 and the always articulate, bluntly honest Kris Kristofferson on the occasion of the 73 year old Kristofferson being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Victoria Film Festival.
The entire interview, much of which has to do with Kristofferson’s early history, his relationship with his family, his close connection to Johnny Cash, and his career in movies, is a treat and highly recommended listening. This post, however, focuses on a brief (3 minutes) section dealing with Leonard Cohen, including Cohen’s crowd-charming performance at the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival,2 the accusation that Cohen used a Lefty Frizzell song as the tune for “Bird On The Wire,” and Cohen as “the most down to earth” and “humble” person.
Q Interview – Kris Kristofferson On Leonard Cohen
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Leonard Cohen - Isle Of Wight
Bonus: Lefty Frizzell’s Mom & Dad’s Waltz And Leonard Cohen’s Bird On The Wire
Lefty Frizzell – Mom & Dad’s Waltz
Video from livingadream2
Leonard Cohen – Bird on the wire – 1979
October 31, 1979. “Rock-Pop Special”, ZDF Studios, Munich, West Germany
Video uploaded by ved76
Credit Due Department
Adrian du Plessis, a frequent correspondent with and contributor to Heck Of A Guy and the business manager for Allison Crowe (AKA Icon In Training), alerted me to this podcast. The photo of Leonard Cohen singing was taken by Col Underhill and was found at The Archive: A History of UK Rock Festivals. The photo of a young Kristofferson with guitar was found at the SquidWho article on Kristofferson, and the outstanding photo of Kristofferson atop this post was found at Dorks On Sports.
- Jian Ghomeshi was also the host of an outstanding interview with Leonard Cohen [↩]
- See Leonard Cohen Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 [↩]
A very nice interview with Kris Kristofferson!
Thanks.