Janis Joplin would have turned 78 years old today (January 19th). Janis’s longtime guitarist, the late Sam Andrew, met Kris Kristofferson around the time he wrote “Me and Bobby McGee” and liked him a lot. The album “Pearl”Topped the Billboard Hot 100. Sam Andrew accompanied Janis Joplin on every album she recorded except her final one, Pearl. But in a 1980s interview, he said he did recall meeting the writer of that album’s best-known song.
“I remember meeting Kris Kristofferson at about that time that he wrote “Me and Bobby McGee” and I really liked him. Now there’s a great guy. He’s a Rhodes scholar, he’s got a great big giant brain, but he’s not overcome by it. He’s just a really nice guy.”
