Them were mightily pissed off as they wanted to release this a follow up to their first single but their record company released a version by Lulu first. They were delighted when it flopped and theirs got to no 2 the highest single Van The Man had in this country. Still one of my all time favourites.
Have you heard the demo she did of this with just an acoustic? Interesting how the song came about. https://mondaymondaynetwork.com/music/true-story-behind-janis-joplins-bobby-mcgee/ I first heard it by Roger Miller, a favourite of mine and different from my usual soul and blues choices.