“Ode to Billie Joe” is a fantastic tune and the title track of Bobbie Gentry’s debut album from 1967. Gentry was one of the first female artists in the United States to produce and compose her own music. This song catapulted her to international fame and earned her two Grammy Awards in 1968.
Born in Mississippi in 1942, Gentry was raised by her grandparents on a farm without electricity or plumbing. Her grandmother once traded a cow for a neighbor’s piano, and at just seven years old, Gentry wrote her first song, “My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog.” Later, she picked up the banjo and guitar while living with her father, eventually moving to California to perform as a duo with her mother.
In Glendale, Gentry recorded a demo at Whitney Recording Studio. Initially, her goal was to write songs for other artists, but after signing with Capitol Records in June 1967, her own album Ode to Billie Joe began to take shape.
Gentry’s voice is remarkable—intimate, as though she’s sitting right next to you, sharing the latest gossip from Choctaw Ridge. The song’s haunting arrangement, crafted by the legendary Jimmie Haskell, is equally extraordinary. Haskell, whose career included arranging for hits like Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” and Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, also worked on Billy Joel’s debut album Cold Spring Harbor and contributed uncredited arrangements for the 1960 film The Alamo.
Together, Gentry’s rich, storytelling vocals, Haskell’s evocative strings, and the simple acoustic guitar lines create a uniquely eerie and unforgettable blend of music and narrative.
I hope you enjoy this amazing tune!
Song: “Ode To Billie Joe”
Artist: Bobbie Gentry
Album: Ode To Billie Joe
Year: 1967
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin’ cotton and my brother was balin’ hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door “Y’all remember to wipe your feet”
And then she said “I got some news this mornin’ from Choctaw Ridge”
“Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
“Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please”
“There’s five more acres in the lower forty I’ve got to plow”
And Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin’ ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe MacAllister’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn’t I talkin’ to him after church last Sunday night?
“I’ll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don’t seem right”
“I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge”
“And now you tell me Billie Joe’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
And Mama said to me “Child, what’s happened to your appetite?”
“I’ve been cookin’ all morning and you haven’t touched a single bite”
“That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today”
“Said he’d be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way”
“He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge”
“And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin’ off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
A year has come ‘n’ gone since we heard the news ’bout Billie Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going ’round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn’t seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin’ flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
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My name is Michael Sanchez and I’m an avid record collector and obscure song searcher. My goal is to post (hopefully) one song a day that’s been on my stereo/turntable frequently. If you don’t like the song… too bad 🙂 You can just wait for the next one. All the info I find is from wikipedia/youtube/interviews/news articles/personal stories I’ve heard/random googling. Sorry if there are any mistakes.
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