Within four months of her tragic death from a heroin overdose, Janis Joplin became the second artist to score a posthumous US number one hit with the rollicking country blues rocker ‘Me and Bobby McGee’. It was her only chart topper, but gained her the wider recognition that her unique take on the blues and charismatically soulful vocals had always warranted. Starting off as a gently swaying country number with Joplin’s prominent East-Texan accent its most distinctive feature, the singer’s recording of the number builds to a blues-rock crescendo that brings her trademark, deep-throated rasp to the fore. Behind her,...