Willie Nelson wasn’t the only country legend who was around while Lukas Nelson was growing up. He was also raised around the late great Kris Kristofferson. Nelson counts Kristofferson as one of his major influences and one of the reasons he started writing songs. He has also shown that he has a long list of Kristofferson’s songs in his repertoire.
Recently, Nelson took to social media to share a cover of “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again). While he has worked several covers into his live sets, this one is a little more intimate. The video shows him sitting in his bedroom playing his guitar and singing.
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In a previous social media post, Nelson spoke about how important Kristofferson was to him. “Kris helped me to believe in myself as a songwriter when I was a boy. Other than my father, he was my greatest inspiration,” he wrote in the post.
Lukas Nelson Covers a Kris Kristofferson Classic
Lukas Nelson delivered a stellar cover of “Loving Her Was Easier.” However, he was far from the first person to put his stamp on the song. He’s not even the first person in his family to do so.
Kris Kristofferson wrote and recorded “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” for his 1970 debut album. Roger Miller released it as a single from The Best of Roger Miller the next year. He had a top 10 hit with the song. However, his version wasn’t the most successful.
The largely unsung Outlaw Country singer Tompall Glaser recorded it with his group, Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. First, they recorded it for Vocal Group of the Decade in the ‘70s. Then, They recorded it again and used it as the title track of their 1981 reunion album. Their version went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
Waylon Jennings, Billie Jo Spears, Willie Nelson, Anita Carter, and many more recorded versions of the songs over the years.
Most recently, Mark Chesnutt recorded the song for his 2010 covers album Outlaw which featured songs by Kristofferson and other Outlaw Country artists.
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