In 1972, Rita Coolidge covered Kris Kristofferson’s “The Lady’s Not For Sale,” and used it as the title track of her album. By the time she started working on her next release, she and Kristofferson were already a couple and married weeks before their album, Full Moon, a year later.
The first of three collaborative albums by the couple, Full Moon featured two songs the couple co-wrote: the country ballad “It’s All Over (All Over Again)” and “I’m Down (But I Keep Falling).”
By the time the couple released their third album together, Natural Act, in 1978, their relationship was at its end, yet, despite their marital issues, sparked by Kristofferson’s infidelity and alcoholism, they wrote one more song together.
“When Kris and I broke up, I think that was the biggest heartbreak for our fans, more than the marriage counterpart—no more Kris and Rita records,” said Coolidge on the end of their marriage. “I loved being in Nashville and recording. I’m not a country singer, but being married to one, the music that we made was country, and we got two Grammy awards for Country Duo of the Year.”
Coolidge continued, “It certainly worked. However, it was difficult to be in the studio with Kris. There were wonderful times, too. It was completely reflective of our marriage and our life.”
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“Fallen Angel”
By the late 1970s, Coolidge’s songs were breaking into the country, pop, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and her career had eclipsed Kristofferson with hits including covers of Boz Scaggs’ “We’re All Alone,” Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”
In 1979, Kristofferson released his ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil, featuring one final song written his wife: “Fallen Angel.” Co-written along with Jimmy Buffett‘s Coral Reefer bandmate Mike Utley and musician and actor Stephen Bruton, “Fallen Angel” addresses the fragility of love and ends the album as a farewell to Kristofferson and Coolidge’s relationship.
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
A year before their divorce, Kristofferson and Coolidge performed the song together during The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song concert for children in 1979.
Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
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