Early Covers
Astonishingly, the original Roger Miller version of “Me and Bobby McGee” was covered a total of nine separate times before Janis Joplin’s version was even released. The likes of Kenny Rogers, Charley Pride, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Gordon Lightfood, and Bill Haley & His Comets all performed the song for various albums of their own from 1969 through to 1971. Perhaps most notably, Kris Kristofferson himself actually recorded his own personal version of “Me and Bobby McGee” for his self-titled debut album, “Kristofferson”.
There are, in addition, notable versions of the song that were released after Joplin’s hit.