Kris Kristofferson and Janis Joplin had been close friends, yet Kristofferson had never heard Janis Joplin sing “Me and Bobby McGee.” In a 1999 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, Kristofferson remembered first hearing the tape the day after Janis Joplin died. Producer Paul Rothchild played the recording.
Kristofferson recalled the invitation again in a 2009 Los Angeles magazine interview. At the motel where Janis Joplin had died, the producer asked Kristofferson to come to the office the following day. Kristofferson described the force of hearing the performance and said he listened for as long as he could.
The late-night listening session in Nashville
In an account published by Performing Songwriter, Kristofferson recalled walking through Los Angeles in tears afterward. Back in Nashville, he went to the Combine publishing building late at night and played the recording repeatedly, trying to become able to hear it without breaking down. Songwriter and keyboardist Donnie Fritts joined him. That night, the two wrote a song about Janis Joplin called “Epitaph.”
The country song that became a pop No. 1
“Me and Bobby McGee,” credited to Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, already had a country audience. Roger Miller’s recording reached No. 12 on the country chart in 1969. Kristofferson included the song on his own debut album, released in April 1970.
Janis Joplin’s version appeared on Pearl, her final solo studio album, released posthumously on January 11, 1971. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated March 20, 1971, the single reached No. 1.
By then, other singers had also brought Kristofferson’s writing considerable recognition. Johnny Cash’s recording of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” had become a country No. 1 and won the Country Music Association’s 1970 Song of the Year award. Janis Joplin’s success extended a breakthrough already underway, bringing his work to a broader pop audience.
Kristofferson later told Performing Songwriter:
“Every time I sing it, I still think of Janis.”