Yeah, probably best to get that talent in the studio. The late, great Kris Kristofferson was obviously best known for his incredible songwriting on songs like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Me & Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” But Kristofferson was one of the most interesting men in country music. He was a Rhodes Scholar, a graduate of Oxford, and a Captain and helicopter pilot in the Navy before moving to Nashville to pursue a career in music. And once he got to Music City, he went to great lengths to make his dream a reality, taking a job as a janitor at a record label and even landing a helicopter on Johnny Cash’s lawn to deliver some demo tapes in hopes that The Man In Black would record his songs. (It worked). Everybody knows that getting your big break in Nashville isn’t easy, even for someone as talented as Kris Kristofferson. You can throw a rock in this town and hit somebody who could easily be a superstar, and often just making the right connections and putting yourself in the right spot can be the difference between becoming a star or having to pack up and head home. For Kristofferson, the right spot was sweeping the floors at Columbia Records. Kristofferson took the job when he moved to Nashville to help pay off debt from his son’s medical bills. And as fate would have it, working as a janitor actually gave him the opportunity to get the attention of one of the biggest names in country music, Johnny Cash. Kristofferson would meet June Carter and ask her to give his demos to Johnny Cash, but they often ended up in a pile with all of the other demos he was being pitched. Eventually though, the janitor managed to set himself apart as a songwriter and finally got the Man in Black’s attention. In fact, Cash was such a fan that Kristofferson recalls one time that Cash refused to go into a recording session unless Kristofferson was in the room. Apparently, some weren’t happy with how much time Kristofferson was spending with Cash in the studio – and the influence he was having on the Man in Black. So his boss banned him: “I almost got fired one time because a couple of songwriters crashed the session, and they were trying to pitch him a gospel album. And for some reason the woman who was the secretary to the producer blamed me for letting them in there and tried to get me fired. And so the next night my boss came down and said “I don’t think you should go to John’s session tonight,” which was heartbreaking for me because I lived for those recording sessions. But I understood it.” But Cash wasn’t happy to find out that Kristofferson wouldn’t be sitting in on the recording session: “I hid down in the vault of the recording studio and was erasing tapes down there or doing some kind of busy work, and John appeared down there in the basement. He said “I understand you’re not coming to the session.” I said “No, I’ve got a lot of work to do down here, I can’t.” He said “Well I just wanted to tell you I’m not gonna record until you come up there.” So I had to go up and sit on the floor.” Yeah, I’d say that if Johnny Cash says he’s not going to record until you’re in the studio, it doesn’t matter what anybody else says. Kristofferson says the experience was “uncomfortable,” because the same woman who tried to get him fired was also in the studio: “And here I was, the janitor, and I’m sitting on the floor and this woman who tried to get me fired was watching me the whole session. It was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life.” But Kristofferson says the whole experience was just an example of who Cash really was: Somebody who wasn’t afraid to stand up for the little guy. “But I thought it was the measure of the man. He’s always stood up for the underdog. And that’s something I’ve tried to live up to. He’s been a good example.” Yeah, not a bad guy to have in your corner. The post Johnny Cash Once Refused To Record Until Kris Kristofferson, A Janitor At His Record Label, Was Allowed To Sit In On The Recording Session first appeared on Whiskey Riff.