chet atkins wrote and sang me and bobby mcgee.
chet atkins wrote and sang me and bobby mcgee.
who wrote and sang me and bobby mcgee?
chet atkins
in 1971, janis joplin, who dated kristofferson for some time until her death, had a number one hit with "me and bobby mcgee" from her posthumous album "pearl". when released, it stayed on the number-one spot on the charts for weeks. more hits followed from others: ray price ("i'd rather be sorry"); joe simon ("help me make it through the night"); bobby bare ("please don't tell me how the story ends"); o.c. smith ("help me make it through the night"); jerry lee lewis ("me and bobby mcgee"); patti page ("i'd rather be sorry"); and peggy little ("i've got to have you"). the country music performer kenny rogers has also recorded some of kristofferson's compositions, including a version of "me and bobby mcgee" in 1969 with the first edition for the ruby, don't take your love to town album.
kris kristofferson
when kristofferson was a new hire in 1969, he was having a little dry spell in writing and foster suggested he come up with a song where the hook would be about the name of a woman; a secretary named "bobbie mckee" who worked in their office. kristofferson came up with "me and bobby mcgee" and sang it for her in the office. kristofferson said, "you know, somebody would give you a title and then bet you couldn't write a song to fit it". the song began to take off, first recorded by roger miller in 1969. kristofferson's own version was released on his first monument album in 1970 but it did not chart. it was janis joplin's posthumously-released version that pushed the song to no. 1. joplin's version changed the gender of "bobby mcgee" into a male. other artists took three of the songs on his "kristofferson" album to top-ten status: "for the good times" (ray price); "sunday mornin' comin' down" (johnny cash); and "help me make it through the night" (sammi smith).
bob beckham