"Me and Bobby McGee"

Single by Janis Joplin
from the album Pearl
B-side	"Half Moon"
Released	January 11, 1971 (1971-01-11)
Recorded	September 5 - October 1, 1970
Genre	Blues rock, country rock
Length	4:33
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster
Producer(s)	Paul A. Rothchild

"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, originally performed by Roger Miller. Others performed the song later, including the Grateful Dead, Kristofferson himself,Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, and most famously Janis Joplin, whose posthumously released version topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.

The suggestion for the title came from producer and Monument Records founder Fred Foster. Kristofferson did not write the song for Joplin, but it became strongly associated with her after her death.

The song is the story of two drifters, the narrator and his girlfriend Bobby McGee. The couple hitches a ride from a truck driver and sing as they drive through the American south. They visit California and then part ways, with the song's narrator expressing his sadness after her departure.

Roger Miller was the first artist to record the song and it appeared at No. 12 on the U.S. country chart in 1969.Gordon Lightfoot's version hit No. 13 on the pop music chart and No. 1 country music chart in his native country of Canada in 1970. The song was included on a Statler Brothers album but was not released as a single.

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition recorded the song (with Rogers on lead vocals) and released in on their album Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town in 1969.

Joplin recorded the song for inclusion on her Pearl album only a few days before her death in October 1970. Studio musician Stephen Ryder manned the keyboard for that session, and famously "Got a little carried away." Kristofferson had sung the song for her, and singer Bob Neuwirth taught it to her. Kristofferson did not know she had recorded it until after her death. The first time he heard her recording of it was the day after she died. Joplin's version topped the charts to become her only number one single and in 2004, her version of this song was ranked No. 148 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

...
Wikipedia