Kris Kristofferson was unquestionably one of the most prolific and talented songwriters of the past several decades. But even Kristofferson had musical heroes, especially when it came to songwriting. Talented and prolific as Kristofferson was, he says it's another songwriter who was more even more gifted.
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When John Prine was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, Kristofferson, who became a member in 1977, famously said, "If God's got a favorite songwriter, I think it's John Prine," via Folk Alley.
Unlike some others, Kristofferson was a fan of Prine from the very beginning. It's Kristofferson who pens the liner notes for Prine's self-titled debut record, out in 1971.
"Twenty-four years old and writes like he's two hundred and twenty," Kristofferson writes.
It's also Kristofferson who helped Prine get his start, even helping Prine get his first record deal. But Kristofferson isn't the only one who recognized Prine's early gift. Bob Dylan also praises Prine for his natural talent.
"Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism," Dylan says (via Far Out). "Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs. I remember when Kris Kristofferson first brought him on the scene. 'Sam Stone' featuring the wonderfully evocative line: 'There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes, and Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose.'
"All that stuff about 'Sam Stone'," he adds. "The soldier junkie daddy, and 'Donald and Lydia', where people make love from ten miles away. Nobody but Prine could write like that."
How Kris Kristofferson Helped John Prine Get His First Record Deal
It's hard to know if the world would have known of Prine without Kristofferson. But according to Prine, who passed away in 2020, it's Kristofferson who he owes his legendary career.
"Kris was hotter than a two-dollar pistol at the time," Prine recalls to Billboard. "He had just put his first record out a year before I met him, and he was playing a club in Chicago called the Quiet Knight. And my friend Steve Goodman, who was playing all the folk clubs with me, he was opening for Kris."
Kristofferson was hesitant to hear Prine at first, but once he did, he became an instant fan.
"It was a Sunday night, 2:00 in the morning. ...We got four chairs down," Prine remembers. "I got on the stage right in front of him and sang about seven songs. And then he bought me a beer and asked if I could get back up there and sing those seven again and anything else I wrote.
