And when he was starting out in the mid-'60s, songwriters were generally not welcome in the studio. Kristofferson, though, was an exception � of sorts. He spent a lot of time in the studio, although the reason why was less than glamorous. "I was a janitor at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville at the time," he told Radio.com.

In fact, that was the gig Kristofferson was holding when he first heard one of his songs on the radio. "It was probably 'Jody and the Kid,' he recalled. "A song you probably don't even know. That was the first good song that I wrote that got recorded."

"Jody and the Kid" was recorded the 1968 version by country singer Roy Drusky, and it reached No. 24 on the country singles chart. Kristofferson's own version of the song would later appear on his second studio album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I.

So, while he was sweeping floors in the studio, did he happen to mention to any of the artists recording there that he had a hit record? "No, I didn't talk to anybody in there, because songwriters weren't allowed to be in the sessions back then, until Bob Dylan and people like that," Kristofferson said. He was referencing the sea change that happened when Dylan introduced the idea of singers writing their own songs to the music industry. "I was fortunate to be the janitor."

In fact, he worked in the Columbia Studios in 1966 when Dylan recorded his landmark album Blonde On Blonde there. He never approached Dylan, though, for fear of losing his job.

Years later, Kristofferson and Dylan would costar in the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and in 1986 Dylan covered Kristofferson's song "They Killed Him" on his album Knocked Out Loaded.