An Army-earned skill helped get him his big break.
Bettmann/Getty Images
Kris Kristofferson was one of a kind.
The folks over atWide Open Countrypointed outone of the greatest stories ever about the star.
Credit:Bettmann/Getty Images
Kristofferson was an Oxford- (England, not Mississippi) educated songwriter who was desperate to break intoNashville.
He had done a stint in the U.S. Army and knew how to fly helicopters.
He used that skill to earn some cash by flying to off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
That same Army-earned skill also helped give him his big break.
Eager to get into the country music scene, Kristofferson made a bold decision to take a big shot.
He took a helicopter and landed it onJohnny Cashs lawn.
Still, the stunt understandably caught the Man in Blacks attention.
The demo tape Kristofferson left behind reportedly included the song “Sunday Mornin Comin Down”.
That tune not only garnered the interest of Cash, but eventually went on to the No.
1 spot on the charts and won the Country Music Associations Song of the Year.
Cash and Kristofferson famously worked together along with Waylon Jennings andWillie Nelsonin The Highwaymen.
Their first album,Highwayman, hit No.
1 on the country charts.
