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Features Disc of the day
Bobbie Gentry
The Delta Sweete
(Capitol, 1968)
Lost high-point of the sultry, country songstrel's decade-long career...
The mysterious tale of Bobbie Gentry, the cult country songstress that ruled the airwaves for ten years before suddenly disappearing in 1978, begins in 1940s Mississippi. Like so many of her Southern counterparts, the young Roberta Lee Streeta became captivated by the impassioned, gospel sounds streaming from her local church - a home-from-home that gave her the opportunity to practice the piano and begin honing her songwriting skills. After a stint in the theatres of Las Vegas, she arrived in Los Angeles in the mid-'60s, just in time to watch The Beatles-propelled British invasion send the west coast music community into an anglo-beat frenzy. Gentry's sultry, southern-flavoured narratives eventually found their way onto the Capitol imprint, her 1967 radio-ruling smash, Ode To Billy Joe, knocking All You Need Is Love from the number one spot during its first week of release. With the label marvelling at her vertiginous rise to the top, she was ready to record her undisputed masterwork.
From the first sounds of a clunked guitar string vibrating against the fretboard, The Delta Sweete sounds ice-cool and quite unlike anything else. Gentry's bluesy, downhome vocals swim alongside lavish orchestration, bare-bones country ballads and rolling, horn-filled boogie. It's a passport back to the land of her childhood, with versions of Mose Allison's Parchman Farm, Jimmy Reed's Big Boss Man and that Tennessee standard Tobacco Road, perfectly aligned next to Gentry's own equally grand-standing songs. Like Creedence's John Fogerty, she manages to evoke a vivid picture of the South, a place where small town hardship, heartbreak and sadness ride above big a '60s production and buckets of Nashville sass.
Suffice to say, the album flopped, fell off the radar completely and kickstarted Gentry's slow retreat from view. But listen to The Delta Sweete and discover a woman who combined righteous soul power, country-pop craftsmanship and a tall mane of jet black hair to create an individual album that is sadly still yet to have its day in the limelight.
Ross Bennett
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 08/09/2008
Further Listening
Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell - Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell (Capitol, 1968)
Evie Sands - Any Way That You Want Me - (A&M, 1970; Reissued Rev-Ola, 2005)
Bobbie Gentry - Local Gentry (Capitol, 1968)
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Comments
Comment on this post
Well, this wonderful album is in the same level of Flannery O'Connor's tales or Faulkner's novels on the recreation of american deep south life. The voice of Bobbie is masterful and her compositions are jewels. A must and one of the most underrated albums of all-time.
Posted by carneham at 10:20 PM GMT 09/09/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Yes, a fabulous record - thank you for writing about it.
As a sidebar - check out 'Bobbie Gentry' by The Music Lovers on their myspace page - it is sublime.
Love
Nel
Posted by Nel at 9:39 PM GMT 15/09/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Yes, a fabulous record - thank you for writing about it.
As a sidebar - check out 'Bobbie Gentry' by The Music Lovers on their myspace page - it is sublime.
Love
Nel
Posted by Nel at 9:39 PM GMT 15/09/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Yes, a fabulous record - thank you for writing about it.
As a sidebar - check out 'Bobbie Gentry' by The Music Lovers on their myspace page - it is sublime.
Love
Nel
Posted by Nel at 9:39 PM GMT 15/09/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
While this great album failed in comparrison to the massive 1.5 million tally of her debut album, Ode to Billie Joe,it was hardly a flop. It chugged up to #111 on the top 200 pop album charts and stayed on the chart for over three months Counting Capitol Records 1969 re-issue ,it sold 200,000 units. The single from the set,' Oklahona River Bottom Band' made it to #54 pop and sold in the six figures too.
Posted by Skytorch at 5:33 AM GMT 19/02/2010 Report Abuse
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