Me and Bobby McGee

Kris Kristofferson's eponymous debut album appeared in 1970 without much fanfare. Given Kristofferson's unconventionally stark (read "offensive") approach to lyrics and his idiosyncratic (read "lousy") singing voice, it's understandable that Nashville didn't see much commercial potential in this disc. Then Johnny Cash turned "Sunday Morning Coming Down", the album's closing track, into a huge hit. A few months later, Janis Joplin covered "Me and Bobbie McGee". Sooner than you can say "Oops!", Monument Records re-released the album under the title ME AND BOBBIE McGEE.
Two monster hit songs isn't a bad yield for a debut album. ME AND BOBBIE McGEE produced two more than that: "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (a #1 hit for Sammi Smith in 1971), and "For the Good Times" (#1 for Ray Price). But BOBBIE McGEE did more than generate hits: it literally changed the face of country music, redirecting it toward the outlaw movement that dominated the charts for most of the '70s. Once Kristofferson's unflinching songs of drunkenness, betrayal, degradation, and despair struck a chord with country audiences, Eddy Arnold mustn't have seemed very interesting anymore. If you love Willie, Waylon, and Coe, this is a must-have.|

On the evidence of his first collection of songs, Kristofferson was ahead of his country music peers in realizing that, despite Nashville's conservative political tilt, there was a natural affinity between the country archetype of a hard-drinking, romantically independent loner and the rock & roll archetype of a drug-taking, romantically free hippie. A sleeve note suggested that Kristofferson had been reluctant to record, but while he didn't have much range as a singer, he brought a conviction to his vocals and a complete understanding of the nuances of the lyrics. The songs were so personal that they seemed to demand a personal interpretation, and established the persona of a poor songwriter struggling against despair. Nashville, as it turned out, didn't have much use for his countercultural songs, but the country music community could recognize a good love song, and Ray Price quickly cut "For the Good Times," which topped the country charts. Then Johnny Cash covered the first-person hangover narrative "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" for a number one country hit, and Sammi Smith gave a twist to "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by recording it as a woman's song for yet another country number one. The finishing touch to Kristofferson's sudden renown was Janis Joplin's cover of the classic on-the-road song "Me and Bobby McGee," released shortly after her death, which topped the pop charts. When it was released in 1970, Kristofferson did not reach the charts. By the following year, however, its creator was on his way to becoming a major star, and after his second album broke into the pop charts in July 1971, Monument retitled the first album Me and Bobby McGee and reissued it. This time around, it made the pop and country charts and went gold. ~ William Ruhlmann