 By the end of the Seventies, Kristofferson was having much more success as a film actor than a recording artist, having won a Golden Globe for his role in the 1976 blockbuster "A Star Is Born".He had not had a hit solo LP since 1973's "Jesus Was a Capricorn", itself largely fueled by the surprise country gospel hit "Why Me", and a ten album contract with Monument, of which "Shake Hands with the Devil" was the ninth since 1970, resulted in rushed albums that many critics felt did not match the high standards of his early recordings.He was in the midst of divorcing wife and duet partner Rita Coolidge, whose recording career had eclipsed his by this time.