Janis will always live on
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Artist:
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Album:Pearl Legacy Edition
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Track:Me and Bobby McGee Demo
Taken from the 2005 2cd Legacy Edition of her biggest selling LP Pearl, comes this demo version of Janis covering her then beau Kris Kristofferson's tune.
From Wiki:
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, originally performed by Roger Miller. Janis Joplin notably covered the song on the album Pearl. The song was recorded only a few days before her death in October 1970.
Some sources state that Gordon Lightfoot issued the first recorded version; another story tells how Kristofferson popped his head into the studio with freshly written verses as Roger Miller was recording the song. Regardless, Miller was the first artist to have a hit with the song, peaking with it at #12 on the US country charts in 1969. Lightfoot's version hit #13 pop, and #1 country in his native Canada in 1970. In a 2008 autobiography, Don Reid and Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers say Kristofferson promised it to them, but when they later inquired about recording it, they learned Miller had already cut the song. The Reids say there were no hard feelings, and were happy about Miller's success with the song. The song was later included on a Statler Brothers album, but was not released as a single.
By far the best known recording is by Janis Joplin on her 1971 Pearl album. Joplin's version topped the charts to become her only number one single and only the second posthumous number one single in rock & roll history (the first was "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding). In 2004, the Janis Joplin version of this song was ranked #148 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Kristofferson performed the song live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 and a CD and DVD of the event were issued 30 years later as Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1970.
In the original version of the song, Bobby is a woman; Janis Joplin, who was a lover and a friend of Kristofferson's from the beginning of her career to her death, changed the gender and a few of the lyrics in her cover. Kristofferson states he did not write this song for her, but the song is associated with her. Especially, he has said, in the line, "Somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away."
Comments (15)
Her voice is so cool....
ok, so I'm repeating myself - but worth another listen :-)
When you get on a roll, you don't stop do you.
I'm on the fence about Janis, I have to admit. But I spent a good portion of my childhood listenin' to my pops play these records and they have a piece of my heart for sure.
No doubt that she an an ear though..and she sang some great tunes and put her stamp on 'em◄
I missed the Joplin era (Janis, not Scott, although I missed that one too) mainly because I didn't like her voice. Now I see (hear) it as a rock legacy. but I always feel for those artists who died such tragic deaths, most often needlessly.
agreed. Janis will always live on. such a powerful voice.
"only the second posthumous number one single in rock & roll history"?
Err...."It Doesn' Matter Any More" by Buddy Holly and "Three Steps To Heaven" by Eddie Cochran were posthumous Number Ones in the UK at least.
I'm a bit "wavy hand motion" when it comes to Janis I must admit; accept she was a dynamic performer who always turned it up to eleven, but still think that at her worst she's down there in the same circle of Hell as Axl Rose. It's reserved for those vocalists who think that shouting=REALPASSION, man
Next you are gonna tell me you don't like the Beatles, aren't you Mr.B...oh yeah, that's right you already did tell me that:)
Back in the day (Big Brother) I heard Janis, Tracy Nelson and Linda Tillery (Loading Zone). The latter two did not have the commercial success Janis had, but either could and did blow Janis off the stage. The best thing I heard Janis do was a widely circulated home tape of her singing with Jorma Kalkonan (sp?) playing guitar with a typewriter going in the background. You could probably dig up an interview Lee Hildebrand or Joel Selvin did with Linda fairly recently on SF Gate, the SF Chronicle's website. Linda still performs from time to time around the Bay Area, but primarily focuses on an interfaith gospel choir. She is a great live act.
I was in san francisco around the end of the 60's too..my pops worked at ACT. We lived in an appartment where you could see Alcatraz out the window..alas, I was only 4 years old and that image is about all I can remember.
The early recordings of 1964,65 that were on the Janis movie soundtrack are the ones I like most, this is not video but a couple of the songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25NcSZ885b0
nice - thanks!
Great post. I have the "Pearl" album on vinyl and have always enjoyed it.
cpetersonart3, that video is quite interesting. Seeing her holding a guitar is unusual, and her voice could do things that it later couldn't do in her hit Columbia LP.
Yea IMHO Janis deserves kudos for this and many other great rock moments.Theirs a great doco about janis which showed her star quality(cant remember its name).A worthy reminder.
Oddly enough, I just caught the tail end of "The Rose," the Bette Midler film vehicle loosely based on Janis Joplin's life/career/demise. Meh. I've never been a big fan of Ms. Joplin, but...
Janis, si! "The Rose," no.