Kris Kristofferson
A genuinely good guy came to Redding a week or so back. He had called someone in Redding to ask, “If I pay for my own transportation, and my own Hotel and Food, and perform for free, could I come to Redding and do a concert, with all the proceeds going to the victims of the Carr Fire?” Apparently this phonecall was made on the 27th of July, 2018, the day after the Carr Fire hit Redding and devowered 230,000 Acres, destroyed over 1,000 homes and took the lives of 8 people. Some great people including Ben Haggard (Merle Haggard’s talented son) and The Strangers (Merle’s Band), got behind Kris’s offer and turned out for a night of nostalgia and good music.
I’m not a concert kind of guy, but I had to go, given my connections to Kris. Kris and I went to the same High School, San Mateo High. Kris was Class of ’53 and I was Class of ’56. I don’t remember Kris from High School. Kris’s sister, Karen Kristofferson, on the other hand, was in my class and I knew her well, in fact I was madly in love with her (She had no idea), as were 75% of the males in San Mateo High School Class of ’56.
Karen Kristofferson(Middle Row, Far Right)
As I sat and listened to “Me And Bobby McGee”, “Lovin Her Was Easier”, “Help Me Make It Through The Night”, “Sunday Mornin Comin Down”, “Darby’s Castle”. “For The Good Times”, and many more; I thought about High School, Karen, my buddies, the ups and downs. Kris is a mornful sort of singer who sings mornful songs, but for some reason the whole epiode was cathartic, leaving me pleased with my past. I’m glad I went.
