Again in 1969 Rollins Took Time Out From Music to Devote Himself to

100 Greatest Women

#67

Bobbie Gentry

Yard-I-Double S-I-Double S-I-Double P-I.

Bobbie Gentry'south swampy vocals came straight out of the Mississippi Delta where she was born and raised. She was born in Chicksaw County, Mississippi, and spent most of her childhood there.

It must have been a culture shock when her family abruptly moved to California when she was thirteen, but she plant quick success after high school playing the country club excursion. She had a large cheerleader in show business legend Bob Hope, who encouraged her to perform in Vegas.

Amazingly enough, she chose to go back to school after her time there, and majored in philosophy at UCLA. The music bug kicked in again, and a tranfer to the Los Angeles Solarium of Music helped her develop her singing and songwriting crafts. Earlier long, she had put together a demo tape that landed her a deal with Capitol in 1967.

The label issued her get-go single "Mississippi Delta," which featured a growling vocal and that catchy "M-I-Double S I" claw. Simply while that first single would end up being her breakthrough smash, information technology wasn't the "A" side of the 45 that did it. Radio stations chose to play the B-side, a mysterious story song chosen "Ode to Billie Joe," which centered around a southern dinner table. A immature girl copes with the news that her boyfriend Billie Joe has committed suicide, and her family unit's reaction is gossipy and callous.

Gentry's intent was to spotlight the insensitivity of the family, merely in one of the later verses, her Mama says that the girl was seen with Billie Joe "throwin' something off the Tallahatchie Bridge." An instant nationwide fascination exploded, with debates raging on about but what was thrown off of the span. The song not only topped the country charts, it was a four-week No. i pop hit. It sold more than than 3 million copies along the way. She won 3 Grammys and an ACM honour in the wake of the song'south success.

In the shadow of this massive hit, Gentry carved out an interesting career path. Though her debut anthology, Ode to Billie Joe, sold briskly, its follow-upwardly The Delta Sweete didn't produce a hit, and made little bear on. Gentry went to London to tape her third set, Local Gentry, which was critically-acclaimed just also faded quickly.

Back in u.s., Gentry made a comeback when she teamed up with Glen Campell for a duet album. Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell produced state and adult contemporary hits in "All I Have to Do is Dream" and "Allow it Be Me," two Everly Brothers covers. She then had the biggest overseas hit of her career when she recorded "I'll Never Fall in Dear Once more," which was a hit for Dionne Warwick in the States. It was a No. 1 blast in England, where "Ode" had peaked at #13.

It wasn't a large hit at the time, but Gentry's most well-known song today might be "Fancy,"  thanks to Reba McEntire's 1990 version of the classic tune. The rags-to-riches saga of a Louisiana girl who is pushed into prostitution past her mother, Gentry's version is grittier than McEntire's. When an interviewer suggested that her glamorous image was offensive to the burgeoning feminist movement of the early seventies, she replied:

"Fancy" is my strongest statement for women's lib, if you really heed to it. I concord wholeheartedly with that movement and all the serious problems that they stand for – equality, equal pay, day intendance centers, and ballgame rights. Actually, I've had no problems with [feminists], possibly because they recognize that I'grand a woman working for myself in a man'south field.

Gentry turned her attention to the U.G. when Capitol chose not to renew her contract. She toured Europe, building up a significant fan base that withal exists today. She headlined a Vegas revue and starred in her own network multifariousness bear witness, The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hr, which ran in the summer of 1974. She began to piece of work behind the scenes in television production, and did scoring for telly movies, including one based on her virtually famous song. In the Tv set movie version of Ode to Billie Joe, the titular character commits suicide over his homosexuality.

And so, she was gone. She retired from the entertainment business in 1978, making her final public appearance on The Tonight Bear witness with Johnny Carson on Christmas nighttime. She hasn't performed in public since. In a sense, she's surrounded these days by as much mystery every bit her grapheme Billie Joe in one case was. Thankfully, fervent fan interest remains, particularly in the United Kingdom, where excellent compilations have been released that document the highlights of her brief merely dazzling career.

Bobbie Gentry

Essential Singles

• "Ode to Billie Joe," 1967
• "Permit it Be Me" (with Glen Campbell), 1969
• "I'll Never Fall in Dear Again," 1969
• "All I Have to Do is Dream" (with Glen Campbell), 1970
• "Fancy," 1970

Essential Albums

• Ode to Billie Joe (1967)
• Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell (1968)
• Touch 'Em with Love (1969)
• Fancy (1970)

Manufacture Awards

• Grammy: All-time New Artist, 1968
• Grammy: Best Vocal Performance, Female – "Ode to Billie Joe," 1968
• Grammy: Best Gimmicky Solo Vocal Performance, Female – "Ode to Billie Joe," 1968
• ACM Superlative New Female Vocaliser, 1968

==> #66. Paulette Carlson (Highway 101)

<== #68. Holly Dunn

100 Greatest Women: The Complete Listing

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Source: https://www.countryuniverse.net/2008/04/29/100-greatest-women-67-bobbie-gentry/

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