In November 1970, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson first met at an airport lounge in Los Angeles before their flight to Memphis and were instantly drawn to one another. “I like to say that it was ‘Love at first flight,’” joked Coolidge in a 2016 interview. “We literally talked all the way to Memphis.”
Instead of continuing on to Nashville, where he had a meeting, Kristofferson deboarded with Coolidge in Memphis. “Before we went to sleep that night, we’d picked out a name for our first child,” led Cooldige. “There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be together.”
Just three years later, the two married and remained together until their divorce in 1980. During their married years, Kristofferson and Coolidge released three duets albums together—Full Moon (1973), Breakaway (1974), and Natural Act (1978). Each album featured original songs written by Kristofferson along with covers, except for Full Moon, which also featured two songs written by the couple.
“I think it was probably my idea,” Kristofferson said of the couple’s first duet album. “I love singing with people anyway, and I loved to sing with Rita together in harmony. I grew up with the Everly Brothers; harmony was always something I loved, and Rita sang backup with people all the time. Harmony came easily for both of us. It was very natural.”
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The album also won the couple a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1974 for their Full Moon duet “From the Bottle to the Bottom.” They won another Grammy in 1976 for the Breakaway duet and Billy Swan cover, “Lover Please.”
“Kris and I have a connection and we laugh at stuff that nobody else gets,” said Coolidge. “We just have a bond that is beyond any kind of understanding.”
The couple’s decade-long union produced three collaborations from their earlier days together to the very end of their marriage. Here’s a look behind the three songs Coolidge and Kristofferson co-wrote.
[RELATED: The Story Behind the Only Song Kris Kristofferson Ever Wrote for Roy Orbison]
“It’s All Over (All Over Again)”
Written by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge
Coolidge and Kristofferson got married a few weeks before releasing their first of three duet albums, Full Moon, in September 1973. Before their first collaborative album, Coolidge also contributed vocals to Kristofferson’s 1972 albums Border Lord and Jesus Was a Capricorn. For Full Moon, the couple wrote two songs, including “It’s All Over (All Over Again),” centered around lovers who refuse to give up on one another.
I know you know I’m sorry
And you know that I feel the same
We’ve grown too lonesome together (Oh, yes, we have)
And all that we share is the blame
Let’s take a chance while there’s something to say
Oh darling, don’t throw it away
We know that we’ve both got so much to lose
And the rest of our lifetime to pay
We could be good to each other (Yes, we could)
Better than we’ve ever been
Oh, darlin’, we’re starting all over
It’s all over, all over again
“I’m Down (But I Keep Falling)”
Written by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge
The second song the couple wrote on Full Moon, “I’m Down (But I Keep Falling),” is a story about two lovers who can’t help but fall back in love with one another during the most difficult times.
Hey, fairweather friend
You know you can bend me
I don’t wanna break
Hey, lend me a hand
Something I can lean on
’til I’m strong enough to
Make it…
’cause I’m lost, but I’ll be lookin’
I’ve been hurt, but I keep on hopin’
’cause I’m down, but I keep fallin’
Fall in love with you
Fall in love with you
Take all you can find
Any way you want to
Easy as you can
Leave something behind
Love enough to live on
’til I’m strong enough to stand it
On my own
“I’m sure that I made some stupid mistakes and pissed some people off, but looking back at it now, the album went pretty smoothly,” said Kristofferson of Full Moon. “I liked working with Rita; it wasn’t tense at that time. We worked well together at first, and it hadn’t gotten to where we were fighting, yet. There were several years that were pretty nice.”
“Fallen Angel”
Written by Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and Mike Utley
By the late 1970s, Coolidge’s career had eclipsed Kristofferson’s, particularly on the pop charts with hits including her covers of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and Boz Scaggs’ “We’re All Alone.” A year before their divorce in 1980, Kristofferson released his ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil, which featured one final co-write with his wife: “Fallen Angel.”
Co-written along with Jimmy Buffett‘s Coral Reefer bandmate Mike Utley, “Fallen Angel” addresses the fragility of love and ends the album as a farewell to their romance.
It’s sad to see we may never be the way we were before
We don’t believe in the magic of the music anymore
And everything’s older now and colder and grey
Oh, darlin’, I believe there’s got to be a better way
It seems to me we’ve forgotten how to let our feelings show
We seem to be so much farther from the dreams we used to know
And too many more, my friend, are dying today
Oh, darlin’, I believe there’s got to be a better way
Listen to the fallen angels learning how to spread their wings
How will they make it all alone?
Look into the children’s laughter
Tell me what tomorrow brings for those so far away from home
Kristofferson and Coolidge performed the song together during The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song concert for children in 1979.
Photo: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
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