Kris Kristofferson, who died yesterday at the age of 88, may have lived one of the most interesting lives in the history of humanity. The beloved outlaw country singer/songwriter was a Rhodes scholar, Golden Globe-winning actor and a janitor at CBS Studios when his future pal Bob Dylan was recording “Blonde on Blonde.”
But the coolest and most insane story from Kristofferson’s cool and insane life was the time he stole a U.S. Army helicopter and flew it to Johnny Cash’s house to convince him to listen to his music.
Yes, that really happened. Here’s how he did it.
While working as a janitor at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville in the mid-1960s, Kristofferson met June Carter and asked her to give some of his demo tapes to Johnny. She agreed, but Cash placed the tapes next to the massive pile from other aspiring musicians. It would have been easy to give up, but instead, Kristofferson decided to take matters into his own hands.
Before his custodial career shift, Kristofferson had served in the U.S. Army and was trained as a helicopter pilot, so he was experienced with flying and made the incredibly risky choice to take a joyride with a U.S. Army helicopter and fly over to Cash’s house. He apparently landed the helicopter on the front lawn and handed Cash demo tapes.
Initially, Cash was furious about the stunt and told Kristofferson to leave, but he refused until Cash would agree to listen to his tapes, according to David Thayer, who claims to have gotten the whole story from Kristofferson himself while the two were enjoying a few beers years later.
Cash, perhaps secretly impressed by Kristofferson’s gumption (or maybe just because it was the way to get Kristofferson and the helicopter off his damn lawn), decided to listen to his tapes this time, which included “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” In 1969, Cash recorded a cover of the song that charted at number one on the U.S. Hot Country Songs Billboard, and a year later Kristofferson won Songwriter of the Year for the song at the Country Music Association Awards, setting him on the path of stardom.
Now, there is possibly some revisionist history to this epic tale, as the late Cash said that Kristofferson was drinking while flying, though Kristofferson later said that Cash had a “pretty creative memory” and denied that he had a beer in hand while piloting the stolen helicopter. “It would simply be impossible to fly a helicopter with a beer,” Kristofferson said during an interview with the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum. “You gotta use both hands and both feet. I never would have done that.”
However, both parties did confirm that Kristofferson landing his helicopter on his fellow Highwayman’s lawn did, in fact, really happen. Though Kristofferson went back and forth at times over whether or not Cash was even home when he dropped in unexpectedly. For what it’s worth, Thayer says that Kristofferson told him Cash and Carter were both there.
So how the hell did Kristofferson not end up in jail for stealing a helicopter from the military? Did he somehow end up returning the helicopter without anyone noticing? And was he actually drunk or was Cash just adding some pizzazz to the story?
It’s pretty clear those questions are never going to be answered now. So let’s just enjoy what that helicopter ride brought about instead. Starting with this:
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