Other Notable CoversĪnd just to note, a number of other top-level artists have covered this tune. Some of the many big names on the list include the below: Moreover, as Kris Kristofferson revealed in 2015, Joplin’s rendition of the tune played an instrumental role in making him a household name in the entertainment field. He has also stated that afterwards he “walked all over L.A., just in tears” and that he and Donnie Fritts (1942-2019) went on to write a song in Joplin’s memory entitled “Epitaph” (1971). And as he explained, the experience, when he heard it for the first time it “just blew (him) away”. However, as the story is told, he did not even know she laid down a recording of the tune until the day after her tragic death. In fact it was he who introduced her to this song. Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson were at a time romantically involved. Janis Joplin’s rendition came out, via Columbia Records, on 11 January 1971. This was after the songstress had already passed away, at the age of 27, in late 1970. In fact she recorded this song just a few days prior to expiring from a drug overdose on 4 October of that year. So this track is actually the lead single from her posthumous album, “Pearl”. This song was written primarily by Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson has been both a professional singer and actor and is best known as the latter as of the 21 st century (due to co-starring with Wesley Snipes’ in the Blade trilogy). The first singer to record it, back in 1969, was the late Roger Miller (1936-1992). Did Janis Joplin write “Me & Bobby McGee”? So Bobby is gone, and the singer is heartbroken. And such is the conclusive sentiment of this song. Thus in the aftermath, she doesn’t necessarily regret not stopping him. But that does not prevent the vocalist from still being in her feelings. It’s obvious that she’s a free spirit, and in hindsight Bobby was like her soulmate. Or stated bluntly, she misses him dearly. And note that this song was written during the 1960s, when it was exponentially more difficult for free roamers to remain in contact with each other. Well they do in fact make it to California, and it’s in the city of Salinas where everything changes. That is to say that upon reaching their destination, the narrator and Bobby part ways. And it reads as if doing so was Bobby’s idea. And perhaps the singer could have stopped him, but she let him roam free in the name of pursuing his destiny. Indeed going through something like this with another human being is that type of experience which often results in a permanent bond being formed. And that’s the main idea that comes out through the first half of the song, that the singer and Bobby McGee had a genuine, loving bond akin to a close friendship, even in putting the romance aspect aside. Prior to that, they read like a couple of homeys who basically traverse the southern part of the United States, starting in New Orleans, to get to California. Or stated differently they hitchhike across almost the entire length of the country, dealing with a number of challenges along the way yet holding each other down throughout. ![]() ![]() Indeed it isn’t until late in the second verse that Joplin lets it be explicitly known that she and Bobby actually had a thing going on. This is precisely how it was intentionally designed by Kristofferson. ![]() Well as far as Janis Joplin’s version is concerned, the cat is let out of the bag kinda early as listeners will for the most part presume that Bobby is a male and subsequently someone whom the singer is romantically involved with. And both of those presumptions are true in this case.īut that being noted, “Me and Bobby McGee” isn’t really what you would call a love song in the truest sense of the word. Let’s say that if it were turned into a film, it would be akin to a buddy movie with a romantic undertone and a sad ending. Janis Joplin’s Rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee”
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