BOBBIE GENTRY
Chickasaw County Child (Shout!)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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People with a limited exposure to Bobbie Gentry's recordings are apt to think that her best-known song was her best song, and they just might be right. "Ode To Billie Joe" was, and is, a real fine song. There's a reasonable chance, though, that by the time they work their way through the 23 tracks on this outstanding compilation they might find a new favorite or two, because Bobbie Gentry wrote a bunch of real fine songs.

This collection is large enough to hold all of the essentials and offer a few special tracks in reserve, with a number of facets of Gentry's musical persona shining throughout. Her strengths as a performer and composer continue to inspire, with artists from Lucinda Williams to Beth Orton citing her influence, but while she's widely admired, she's never been duplicated, and certainly never surpassed.

With a voice that flows like the Mississippi River, and carries the fine grit of delta sediment, and the ability to tell a story in song as richly as the finest back porch storytellers of her childhood home in Chickasaw County, Bobby Gentry may have retired from the musical stage, but she's left a powerful musical legacy, and this is a great way to bask in the very best of it.

Track List:

Ode To Billie Joe * Papa, Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You? * Mississippi Delta * I Saw An Angel Die * Bugs * Hurry, Tuesday Child * Chickasaw County Child * Okolona River Bottom Band * Penduli Pendulum * Mornin' Glory * Jessye' Lisabeth * Refractions * Casket Vignette * Hushabye Mountain * The Girl From Cincinatti * Fancy * Apartment 21 * Benjamin * Marigolds And Tangerines * Beverly * Billy The Kid * Lookin' In * Another Place, Another Time

© 2004 - Shaun Dale