{"id":203187,"date":"2025-09-05T20:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/203187\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T20:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:24:12","slug":"on-this-day-in-1970-janis-joplin-began-recording-the-second-posthumous-no-1-ever-a-timeless-version-of-a-kris-kristofferson-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/203187\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in 1970, Janis Joplin Began Recording the Second Posthumous No. 1 Ever\u2014a Timeless Version of a Kris Kristofferson Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Janis Joplin<\/a>\u2018s version of \u201cMe and Bobby McGee\u201d is a cover that has surpassed the original. It\u2019s a rare feat that a new rendition can topple the original, but that speaks to the weight of Joplin\u2019s talent. To add even more mystique to this release, Joplin\u2019s \u201cMe and Bobby McGee\u201d was released posthumously, making it only the second No. 1 single released after an artist\u2019s death. On this day in 1970, Joplin began recording what would become her calling card and a piece of integral music history. <\/p>\n

Kris Kristofferson Version<\/p>\n

Kris Kristofferson<\/a> penned \u201cMe and Bobby McGee.\u201d Inspired by a secretary of one of his friends, this track became one of Kristofferson\u2019s greatest moments as a songwriter. He played into the traditional country sense of storytelling, creating a cinematic listening experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, I thought of\u00a0La Strada, this Fellini film, and a scene where Anthony Quinn is going around on this motorcycle and Giulietta Masina is the feeble-minded girl with him, playing the trombone,\u201d Kristofferson once explained<\/a>. \u201cTo me, that [film] was the feeling at the end of \u2018Bobby McGee.\u2019 The two-edged sword that freedom is. He was free when he left the girl, but it destroyed him. That\u2019s where the line \u2018Freedom\u2019s just another name for nothing left to lose\u2019 came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristofferson did release his own version of this hit, but it paled in comparison to Joplin\u2019s version, which was one of the last songs she recorded before her death. <\/p>\n

Janis Joplin\u2019s Version<\/p>\n

Joplin died several months before the release of \u201cMe and Bobby McGee.\u201d It belonged to her final studio album, Pearl. Because of the circumstances under which it was released, this album was shrouded in mystery and intrigue. It ultimately earned Joplin a massive, yet posthumous release. <\/p>\n

Unlike Kristofferson\u2019s version of this song, Joplin\u2019s was fiery and flexed her unique vocals. She shied away from any soft, singer-songwriter sensibilities and let her rock roots take over. It\u2019s very different from the intent Kristofferson had for this song, but it was a welcome difference. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I heard Janis Joplin\u2019s version was right after she died,\u201d Kristofferson once said. \u201cAfterwards, I walked all over L.A., just in tears. I couldn\u2019t listen to the song without really breaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a sentiment shared by many rock fans. Though Joplin\u2019s version of this song is upbeat, it has an inherent darkness to it. It\u2019s impossible not to be hit with a wall of emotion when listening to this track. <\/p>\n

(Photo by Tucker Ransom\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Janis Joplin\u2018s version of \u201cMe and Bobby McGee\u201d is a cover that has surpassed the original. It\u2019s a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":203188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3988,171,84681,112126,975,4185,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-203187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-country-music","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-janis-joplin","11":"tag-kris-kristofferson","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-rock-music","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115153565424862877","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}