Kris Kristofferson seemed to live a thousand lives before he settled on the life of an outlaw country musician. He was a boxer, firefighter, Oxford scholar, writer, United States Army second lieutenant, commercial helicopter pilot, bartender, railroad worker, and janitor. Indeed, Kristofferson’s resumé signaled a life well-lived, but he credits finding his “fascination with living” to a select group of songwriters.
During a 1987 interview on BBC’s Wogan, Kristofferson said, “Country music really brought me back to life. When I went to Nashville and ran into people like Johnny Cash and people who I idolized for years, there was something about their spirit that brought me back into a fascination with living, you know? Country music was so close to the heart and to the soul that I feel like I fell in love with life again.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Kristofferson continued that before he discovered his passion for country music, “I might have had sort of a not-so-sublimated death wish.” The country singer then pointed to Cash, who was sitting beside him. “And even a guy with a death wish like this guy could inspire me.”
Kris Kristofferson Worked Hard to Get Johnny Cash’s Attention
Kris Kristofferson had the standard “American dream” path into the music industry. He started working as a janitor for Columbia Records in the latter half of the 1960s, getting close to some of the industry’s biggest stars. Kristofferson pitched songs when he could, but there were far more rejections than acceptances. During his interview on Wogan, Kristofferson laughed about sending songs to Johnny Cash through his wife, June Carter, and later hearing stories of Cash throwing the demos in the lake next to his house.
Eventually, Kristofferson got Cash’s attention by flying a helicopter to Cash’s house, landing it in his yard, and handing Cash a demo of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” in person. The stunt worked, setting off a decades-long professional and personal relationship. It was a theatrical, reckless, and honestly, pretty cool culmination of a connection Kristofferson had felt since the first day he ever saw Cash.
“I went to Nashville and shook Johnny Cash’s hand when I was still in uniform,” Kristofferson recalled in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “It just changed my life. It electrified me, and I knew that was where I belonged. I resigned my commission and got out of the army.”
Photo by CBS via Getty Images