Retro Reviews: Bobbie Gentry: Ode To Billie Joe

     I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums.

Bobbie Gentry: Ode To Billie Joe (1967)

****

Producer: Kelly Gordon

Musicians: Bobbie Gentry, James Burton, Mike Deasy, Jesse Ehrich, George Fields, Harold Diner, Barrett O’Hara, Jack Sheldon, Norman Serkin, Joseph Saxon

Songs: Mississippi Delta, I Saw An Angel Die, Chickasaw County Child, Sunday Best, Niki Hoeky, Papa; Won’t You let Me Go To Town With You?, Bugs, Hurry; Tuesday Child, Lazy Willie, Ode To Billie Joe

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    In places, this is an astonishing debut, and Bobbie wrote all but one song, and she has a range with her vocals, raspy, gritty, sensitive. Of course the single has been generating a lot of attention, there’s a surface, yet subtext to “Ode To Billie Joe” that is indeed tragic. There’s a candor to some of these songs that separate them from some of the typical country fare you hear these days. The opener “Mississippi Delta” Is an up-tempo country blues with a rock accent. The harmony vocals give it an extra grit, the horns give it an extra ominous flavor, there's also some clever word play. “I Saw An Angel Die” is a sensitive, jazz pop flavored number, and shows a little of her vocal range, the melodic harmonica is surprising, there’s a sadness that makes you feel Gentry might be an old soul. “Chickasaw County Child” is another blues, there’s some good guitar support, and the arrangement even features either steel drums or xylophone, there’s some high strings near the end that give it an unsettling feeling. The lovely “Sunday Best” had a laid back feel and some further musical sophistication. “Niki Hoeky” is the album cover, and has a faster blues feeling with some honky Tonk electric piano, and Bobbie is able to sing in a higher register, an impressive

    “Papa, Won’t You Let Me Go To Town With You” is another narrative blues with a rich arrangement, although the arrangement almost overwhelms her vocals, but not quite. The whimsical “Bugs” is pretty self explanatory with some nice arrangement accents the illustrate the mood. The jazz flavored ballad “Hurry, Tuesday Child” has a relaxed feeling and Gentry’s delivery reminds me of some of Sarah Vaughn’s vocals. She may have come from the south, but there’s a certain depth I hear that is refreshing. “Lazy Willie” has a bleak quality to it, in spite of the country blues setting, yet to does evoke an effective mental setting, and it does seem to prelude into the album closer and title track. “Ode To Billie Joe” is something of a wonder, it paints a bleak picture of rustic, small town life, dressed in a table conversation, the mournful strings just add to the unsettling quality.

    While it is subtle with its execution, there’s some real artistry with the arrangements and Gentry’s delivery, she sits on a lot of blues seventh chords, but she does it well. Some of the finer points of her work may get lost for some listeners, she may be marketed as a country artist, but there’s a relatability to her songs that move her  little above some peers, along with a new artist like Dolly Parton, Gentry is one of the freshest singers and writers I have heard thus far. Recommended.