Kristofferson got creative in delivering song
This week in 1970: students burned their draft cards in memorial at Ohio’s Kent State University; Cuba returned a hijacker to the U.S. for the first time; Soviet Luna 16 landed safely, ending the first unmanned round trip to the moon; and a singer from Kingsland, Ark., had his 71st hit record.
Songs have been delivered to recording artists in several different ways, but Kris Kristofferson scored a first with his delivery of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” to Johnny Cash. According to Kristofferson, he wrote the song while living in a dilapidated apartment following a divorce. He had met Cash while working at Columbia Studios but he had been told that he would be fired if he tried to pitch his songs to artists while working.
According to Johnny Cash, “I was taking a nap one Sunday afternoon and Kris landed in my yard in a helicopter. He got out of the helicopter and handed me a tape and said he had a song for me. So I figured if he went to that much trouble, I oughta hear it so I invited him inside and we played the tape and I loved the song and I told him I would record it.”
Cash’s Columbia single “Sunday Morning Coming Down” made the country music charts Sept. 5, 1970 and was in the top slot the week of October 10th—where it stuck for two weeks.
It was his 71st charted song and his 11th No. 1. It was on the charts for 15 weeks.
Johnny Cash placed 135 songs on the country music charts between 1955 and 2003—including 13 No. 1s. Fifty of his 135 charted country titles also placed on the pop charts.
Cash died in 2003 at age 71.