6/24/2023 0 Comments Words to me and bobby mcgeeThanks for stopping by and have a great day. Feel free to leave a comment and talk about the song and tell me how right or wrong I am on this one. Let me know which version you like the best and why. I am really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks of these two songs. But there are no right or wrong answers here as you can’t go wrong with any of the versions. It was actually the Janis version of the song that changed Kris’ career to the better afterwards. Hell, even Kris mentioned that after hearing her version, it was her version he would think about when he played that song. She delivers one of her finest appointments. Not just for her vocals, but musically I love the jamming of the piano and organ. Since I have to pick one, I think I will go with Janis’ version. It is really up to the listener and your taste. Janis Joplin brings us a blues, country, rock song with a faster tempo and full of that trademark Janis grit and power. Kris Kristofferson’s version is traditional country as well, but is a slower tempo and very dark and full of sadness and regret. Roger Miller’s is more traditional country, but more upbeat and a mariachi feel at the end. You have 3 completely different and completely outstanding takes on a song. Okay, this might the hardest choice I have ever had to make on an Original vs Cover song. It adds a playfulness to the song and shows off what a powerhouse she is. The song ends with the same “la, la, la’s” as all of them, but Janis plays with them and takes them to levels the other gentlemen can’t reach. With the title character name of Bobby, she can convert it to a man with no problem. As the tempo picks up so does her powerful vocals and the free spirit she exudes fits perfectly in a song about that free spirit. Janis Joplin’s vocals are a little of that Janis squeak and full of the grit we love. It is a blues rock song and gives a third completely different take on the song. The end of the song is a full on jam with the piano getting a solo, the organ thrown in and some fine guitar work. The song is more uptempo and they add some killer organ and piano elements to give the song a whole new dynamic. There is a little more drumming in the song and still has that guitar pickin’ feel to have the country vibe. Janis Joplin’s version has that country feel, but a little more gusto and brings in a little of the rock edge. Overall, it is a great version of the song. But he sounds like he is celebrating his time with her. His singing is more pleasant and has a more upbeat, happy tone and I think misses some of the sadness and regret the narrator has after Bobby McGee. Roger’s vocals are great and he sings in a pretty traditional country delivery. That is the only reason I can see for the change in the song. I believe the beginning had a more country / blues feel as they were in New Orleans and then by the end of the song they are in California and that is the more mariachi sound. Then the last part of the song turned in to a little more uptempo with some horns added that gave the song a slight mariachi sound. Roger’s version was country slanted full of guitar pickin’ and a mouth harp at a relatively mid-tempo. This is about which version is the best so we will get to that part of the show. I could go in to more depth about the song and the lyrics, but then this would turn in to a My Sunday Song episode where we deep dive in to the songs. They end up breaking up and going their own ways and the singer is filled with sadness and regret about them parting as I believe he loved that Bobby McGee. They are hitchhiking, singing the blues and discovering the land and each other. The song is about a couple that is traveling across the southern part of the country. Kris didn’t think he could write the song, so he avoided Foster for months until he finally got it written. The song was started by Fred Foster, the head of the label Kris was signed, when he went to Kris with a song title called “Me and Bobbie McKee” which Kris thought it he heard McGee. There were actually two other versions released in 1970 by Gordon Lightfoot and the Statler Brothers and then in 1971, Jerry Lee Lewis released a version. The versions we are covering are the original release by Roger Miller (1969), Kris Kristofferson’s own version (1970) and then the version by Janis Joplin (1971). This time we are discussing the song “Me and Bobby McGee” which was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, but let’s be honest, Fred only gave the song the title. the Cover and this time it is another trio of versions.
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