ME ANA BOBBY MAGEE

COULD SOME ONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THE SONG ME AND BOBBY MAGEE WAS
COMPOSED BY GORDON LIGHTFOOT?

[TheWatchman]

Kris Kristophersen wrote that song. Gord covered it along with a gazillion other people.

[Iron]

Gordon was the first to record it, and in my opinion it was the best version ever done..

Iron, are you sure about Gord being the first to record, Me and Bobby McGee, I always thought that Janis Joplin was the one who did that one first. The story I read once said that Kris Kristofferson had a friendship with Janis and wrote it with her in mind to sing and record it,so she did just that. Randy

[Auburn Annie]

From a review of the album "Sit Down Young Stranger":

******************************************
Renamed If You Could Read My Mind after that track's Top Five success, Sit Down Young Stranger provided Gordon Lightfoot with his first commercial success as a performer. Augmenting his basic trio with musical luminaries and labelmates like Ry Cooder, John Sebastian and Van Dyke Parks, and with string arrangements by Nick DeCaro and Randy Newman, Lightfoot produced an album filled with attractive, folky melodies. The title track told the tale of a draft resister gone to Canada without resorting to polemics. The rest of Lightfoot's original lyrics were much more personal.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The one non-original was the first cover of Kris Kristofferson's soon-to-be-classic "Me and Bobby McGee" to be issued.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, "If You Could Read My Mind" was ubiquitous in the early months of 1971, launching Lightfoot on a six-year run of popularity. While future albums would begin to drift away from the folky acoustic timbres of this one (there are no drums to be found here), the beauty and simplicity of Sit Down Young Stranger make it a timeless recording. -- Jim Newsom, All-Music Guide


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Having said that, Roger Miller ("King of the Road") recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" on his 1969 self-titled album. So I think Roger got there first. Janis Joplin didn't record it until summer 1970; it was on the posthumously released PEARL in January 1971 - and was, I think, her only #1 hit.

[vlmagee]

quote:Originally posted by Auburn Annie:

Having said that, Roger Miller ("King of the Road") recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" on his 1969 self-titled album. So I think Roger got there first. Janis Joplin didn't record it until summer 1970; it was on the posthumously released PEARL in January 1971 - and was, I think, her only #1 hit.

You are correct that Roger Miller's recording was the first one out there; however, as I understand it, Gord was the first to record it but held back releasing it when asked to, so that the much better known Miller would be the first one to release it on a record.

I don't know the exact timing in 1969, but I can say that as of the summer - August 9th, to be specific - folk DJ Skip Weshner in LA had never heard of Kris Kristopherson. Lightfoot sang the song live on Skip's show that day, perhaps the first broadcast performance of it (along with a number of Lightfoot originals including Looking At The Rain which wouldn't even be on the next album).

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Valerie Magee

Visit my GL web site at gordonlightfoot.com and Cathy Cowette's site at cathycowette.com

[This message has been edited by vlmagee (edited November 02, 2003).]

[Iron]

Let me rephrase if I may,
I read somewhere that Gordon was the first to record it.In my opinion,and this I am sure of,Gordon did it best.

[johnfowles]

quote:Originally posted by Iron:
In my opinion,and this I am sure of,Gordon did it best.
Iron Man I don't think many here will disagree with you on your opinion!!
I personally have never been able to appreciate Janis Joplin.
In confirmation of Annie and Val's assertations regarding Roger Miller I am able to provide definitive proof from the man
himself. One of my prize possessions is an old 3 1/4 inch tape reel up on which I recorded a CBC radio broadcast (Showcase) in
October 1969 (when Borderstone was still soiling his diapers {nappies}) of a 1-hour broadcast of Gord's performance at that
summer's Charlottetown (PEI, Canada) Festival Gord sang Me And Bobby Magee
and introduced it as follows:-
the opening remark was as so often with Gord's stage pronouncements somewhat indistinct but the gist of what he said is
"the .....song Me and Bobby Magee.......
I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna "pump?" (could be push) that song. I love that song so much. I did the Johnny Cash show we got an all night picking session with the writers in Nashville and we were swapping songs. This guy's name is Kris Kristofferson he's the son of General Kristofferson of the Air Force. Anyway he's a West Point drop-out.He's living in Nashville writing songs.
I heard Roger Miller had taken it and murdered it so we'd like to do it the way it should have been done. After he lays a big enough egg with it, I might even record it myself. (Gord laughs nervously).
This seems to prove that Gord had not at that time (summer 1969) actually recorded it but of course he included it in his next album IYCRMM/Sit Down Young Stranger recorded in LA in Sept Nov and Dec 1969


this is also confirmed on Wayne Francis' site at:- http://www.lightfoot.ca/radioapp.htm
SHOWCASE - CBC FM - Oct. 5, 1969
"This broadcast aired portions of Lightfoot's concert in
Charlottetown the previous summer as part of the Charlottetown Summer Festival (the festival continues to this day, by the way, but 1969 was GL's last appearance there)."
and also at:- http://www.lightfoot.ca/tv.htm
in a note about Gord's 1969 appearance on the Johnny Cash show
where Wayne says " While in Nashville for this appearance,
Lightfoot was introduced to Me And Bobby McGee by Kristofferson"
John Fowles

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My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot



[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited November 02, 2003).]

Wow !!! You guys are so informative about things, that's what I like about this place,I'm always learning new stuff. Randy

[BILLW]

I saw Janis Joplin LIVE, only once though and I'd be lying if I said I remembered if she sang the song that evening. But I agree, Gordon's version is my favorite. BTW 1969 is just a tad hazy in my memory, LOL. I'm glad someone was taking notes.

Bill

And YES it was a very nice concert !

[Borderstone]

I don't think she could have. I have yet to see any footage surface of her singing that song. If it exists,it would had to have been filmed either weeks or a few months before her passing. It would sure be a rarity!

------------------
Borderstone (Hello! )

To Bill W. below- Then there's a window of chance you may have heard her sing it! All that needs to happen now,is the filmed (or even more rare video taped) performance. Boy,what if she actually had made an actual "studio" video? OOOh,cool!

[This message has been edited by Borderstone (edited November 03, 2003).]

[BILLW]

I think you're right "B" ! According to her official website she sang the tune in concert first in mid-December 1969 and I was at the concert at the Fillmore East in Feb. 1969.

Bill

[Iron]

I'll try to be carefull here,
There is footage of Her doing it (I'm refering to MaBM}and this I'm sure of.It was'nt that long ago(3-6 months give or take)I saw a documentary of her and I'm not sure what channel but I think it was the E channel.No offence to any Joplin fans,But I remember this because I still get the bumps when I think of it,and they are not the kind that Gordon can give me ,More like the one's when I hear fingernails on the blackboard.......