THE HIT HAMMER: Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)

Janis Joplin - "Me and Bobby McGee"

Hit Number 1: March 20, 1971

Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks

Kris Kristofferson wrote a song with no idea on how significant it would become in music's history. The story of "Me and Bobby McGee" follows two drifters, the singer and Bobby, from their hitchhiking journey of Baton Rouge to New Orleans. The couple and the truck driver who picked them up sing all kinds of different blues songs, and are having a great time. The singer recounts how her and Bobby travelled all over the place, and he would always make her feel safe and warm through "all kinds of weather." However, the ending of the song is the part where the sadness comes in. Bobby is tired of life on the road, and he leaves the singer who still desires to travel. She says that he's looking for a home and a stable life, but the end of the relationship seems amicable when she says "I hope he finds it." Her continuation of life on the road isn't near as happy as it was when she was with Bobby. Unfortunately that's how the song ends. There is no happy ending.

With a song that tells such an interesting story, it should be no surprise that "Me and Bobby McGee" has been recorded by many artists, with Kristofferson even recording it himself. Kristofferson had seen the movie La Strada, where the final scene is Anthony Quinn staring at the night sky in sadness and brokenness. He wanted to convey the level of despair the character was feeling in that scene. Kristofferson had been challenged by Monument Records founder Fred Foster to write a song with the name of Barbara McKee, who was a studio secretary at the company. Kristofferson misheard her name, and that's why the song says "McGee" instead of "McKee." Roger Miller was the artist that Kristofferson had in mind to record the song, and he did. But that's not the version that everyone remembers.

Janis Joplin, a rock/soul singer out of Port Arthur, Texas, was a well-known singer, but didn't have tons of success on the pop charts. She wanted to record her own version of "Me and Bobby McGee" for her album Pearl, and the song was sung to her by Kristofferson himself. Bob Neuwirth, a fellow singer, helped teach Joplin the song. Joplin of course was an interesting figure. She always dressed up in hippie fashion, was one of the most hardcore drug users around and sang in a bluesy style that hardly anyone, let alone female artists, performed. Some of her quotes include things like: "I'm one of those regular weird people," and "On stage I make love to twenty five thousand people; and then I go home," and the deep "If I hold back, I'm no good. I'm no good. I'd rather be good sometimes, than holding back all the time." Artists like John Lennon and Bob Dylan were key figures in hippie culture, but there wasn't anyone like Joplin. She lived in her own world, and either didn't realize what the world was like around her, or she did and just didn't care.

I can just imagine what her initial thoughts were when she first heard "Me and Bobby McGee". She probably thought she'd have the time of her life recording the song, turning it into something that was swelled up in hard bluesy rock, her signature sound. The song starts out soft, and it only gets more carried away as it goes along. By the time you reach the 3-minute mark, the song becomes a runaway train. Joplin has completely lost her mind at this point, shouting, scatting and yelping all the way to the end. That's the best part of the song, when all hell has broken loose, drowning you in an ocean of soul. It's also clear that Joplin is, indeed, having the time of her life recording the song. But just a few days later, she overdosed on heroin and died. She was 27.

"Me and Bobby McGee" wound up being the second posthumous #1 hit on the Hot 100, after Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". It's hard to gauge what our opinions of these songs would have been if they weren't connected to an artist's death. It gives these songs a whole new meaning. While I'm unsure of what I would have thought of "The Dock of the Bay" if it wasn't connected to Redding's untimely death, I think I still would have loved "Me and Bobby McGee". I usually like songs that build; I think it makes them unpredictable, and keeps them from getting stale halfway through. I also enjoy Joplin's signature snarl on the track. The approach could have been a ballad, or at least a slower jam. Joplin was never gonna have any of that though. By the end, the song is an irresistible, soulful number that's easy to dance to even. The piano riffs and the bluesy guitar licks bounce off of each other in a lively manner. The song is so full of life at the end!

Even though the song is a great deal of fun, its story, as well as having the ties to Joplin's death, makes it sad anyway. Kristofferson said that he was unaware of Joplin's recording of it, and the first time he heard it was the day after she died. Even today, Kristofferson said that when he sings the song, he still thinks of Joplin. Despite her career being brief, she's still one of the most influential artists of all time, and songs like "Me and Bobby McGee" will always keep her legacy alive. It's good enough for me.

GRADE: 10/10

JUST MISSED:

Tom Jones' jazzy, somewhat-still-soulful "She's a Lady" peaked at #2 behind "Me and Bobby McGee". It's a 6.