Went to Kris Kristofferson's one-night stand in Boston

I'm busy with taxes, which I hate and try to postpone until I'm six feet under, but I took off about 5 PM yesterday with no ticket and a nice camera that was forbidden in the theater, and sho' nuff, there was the Man I've tried to imitate forever. Actually, he was in the Army in Germany, a West Point grad and a helicopter pilot, and sang in the GI clubs. I loved his songs, because they were written stright out, with passion and intelligence and strength of character, nothing sleazy, no knock-offs of anyone, just Kris himself.
I used to teach writing and public speaking for the Univ. of Maryland in Army Education centers in Germany 1975-1994, and I used him as a example of great writing. You can't change one syllable, one word, one comma or anything without making his songs weaker. They are that taut, that strong, that personal, and that well structured, polished, and perfected. You know when he's done his work, it's good work. There is no, absolutely no, such thing as good writing. There is only good RE-writing. Right! Rewriting and turning things in and out and up and down and tightening up, eliminating the fat, the fluff, the do-dads, the gimmicks that are often thought of as "poetry" or "style" or "art." Forget it. If you can eliminate even two or three words from a poem, a song, a speech, or a novel, you'll have a better piece of writing.
Kris amazed me. I've always loved his songs, I've never seen him in a movie, and never seen him life. But we're both 72, both singers and songwriters, but he's famous and I'm not, yet. But until last night, I thought he might have an "attitude," something I might not like. He did not. He came out with his harmonica around his neck, like Dylan in the old days, and his acoustic guitar with the electrics inside it, hidden, thank God, and he sang softly. No belting it out. No showmanship or dancing or anything lame or puny or stupid. He sang. I have only heard him on the radio, and that's not too often, and I thought he had a hard time holding a note, like he was a great actor and songwriter, but no singer. Last night he was so cool, so intimate with the audience of mostly mature people, and noisy, for a Boston crowd, without any "show" or dancing girls or laser lights or smoke, just a guy you would like to know much, much better, a guy with rich values and a world of vision and experience, overpowering in his mild and simple way. I've been suffereing from terrible sinus problems and I've been realy bothered by Tax Time, but since about ten last night, after I waited until I thought he'd come out of the theater, but he did not, so I passed a copy of my "Ballad of Sam Bede" (about a soldier who died in Vietnam in 1971) in a lig white envelope with my DrHanzonScience card taped in the return address place, and his naje in big Marker black letters on the front - to a guy who was making sure everthing was squared away in the alley next to the stage door, and asked him if he'd be seeing Mr. Kristofferson. He said yes, and agreed to hand him my envelope. I could not cut a CD until today, somehow I got the computer to make a good one with 11 of my favorite songs on it - all written my me, and sung my me, with just my 90 dollar guitar, here in this office where I sit, avoiding sleep . . . and I hope to be sending them to may favorite musicians. I need someone to give me a lift so I can make some money. I've dedicatd my whole life to doing good things for people, and I'm broke, so I hope somebody out there can use my songs and let people hear them and support me and my work. That would be nice karma!
If you have not listened to my songs, go to youtube.com/user/DrHanzonScience and click on my funny name. "My videos" will be ina dropdown menue. Click and listen and watch. I hope you like them.
James Louviere in Belmont, MA, louviere2001@yahoo.com