The cover of The Girl from Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters by Bobbie Gentry.
Before Tuesday, I had never heard Bobbie Gentry.
Don't do what I did: hear her now.
I love Dusty Springfield. Bobbie's voice is similar, and that should be enough to get you rolling.
What made me start listening to her, I hear you ask? Well:
Bobbie Gentry is an amazing, somewhat unsung artist. This box set has all seven of her albums – the last one was in 1971 – plus tons of unreleased stuff. She is one of the few people who said: “I’m going to go away” and meant it. She really knew what she was doing in every area: singing, songwriting, choreography. She was often producing her music but didn’t get credit for it. I think the reason she quit and disappeared was because she was a woman who wasn’t being taken seriously in the music industry. She probably just got fed up with it and said: “Nah, I don’t need this.”
Kathryn Bromwich https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/22/on-my-radar-mark-oliver-everetts-cultural-highlights
OK, the box set is online, ready to stream! What a cover painting, by the way.
What a track list:
She made music with Glen Campbell!
She...
Bobbie Gentry was one of the first female musicians who wrote, produced and even published her own music.
Born in Chickasaw County, she is remembered for her Southern themed narrative songs including her classic recordings Fancy and her debut single Ode To Billie Joe which became a U.S. number one hit and a worldwide sensation. Bobbie released seven albums on Capitol including her defining works Patchwork, The Delta Sweete and Ode to Billie Joe, before her self-imposed retirement. She also had a successful partnership with Glen Campbell with whom she recorded an album of duets.
Bobbie’s defining works: Ode To Billie Joe (1967), The Delta Sweete (1968) and Patchwork (1971)
Bobbie’s career fell neatly into two halves: After releasing her final album in 1971 she re-invented herself as a live entertainer and for the remainder of the 70’s starred in her own lavish stage productions primarily in Las Vegas, where in the mid 70’s she broke attendance records. Bobbie was a ubiquitous presence on American and British television of the 60’s and 70’s appearing on countless shows and having her own specials on CFTO and CBS. At a time when TV executives didn’t believe a woman could front a prime time programme, in 1968 she became the first female songwriter to host her own TV series on the BBC.
Years ahead of her time, Bobbie was also a keen businesswoman: Within months of the success of her first single, she established two music publishing companies, organized beneath her parent company Gentry Ltd which among other activities produced her live shows. Later when she was primarily performing, she negotiated her own multi-million dollar contracts. In the early 1980’s she retired from show business, and has not performed or recorded since.
Bobbie Gentry http://bobbiegentry.org.uk/biography/
She did a LOT of things. She composed, sang, conducted, directed...
Gentry's performances on- and off-screen impressed the head of the BBC so much that in 1968 she was asked to host a variety show on BBC 2, making her the first female songwriter to host a series on the network. With help from producer Stanley Dorfman, Gentry made six half-hour episodes that aired weekly from July 13 to August 17. Dorfman told author Tara Murtha, "After a few episodes, she was pretty much co-directing the show because she had such great ideas. [But] the BBC wouldn't have it, wouldn't have an artist credited as a director or producer, so the credit went to me as producer and director. But she definitely contributed as much as I did creatively to the show. She was just full of ideas."
What a cool person she is.
She's not made any public appearances since the early 1980s, but what a legacy.
Get the box set! Now! Check out what it contains:
https://youtu.be/VypXU9a7jNQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_from_Chickasaw_County:_The_Complete_Capitol_Masters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-tweUVMvS8