Search - Bobbie Gentry :: American Quilt 1967-1974

Off The Talahassee Bridge

02/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sound quality may not as good as it was on 45 (25-35 years ago), but to these ears it all sounds fine. Since Bobbie Gentry albums are about as scarce as the artist herself, AMERICAN QUILT serves as the perfect introduction. Audiophiles & rabid fans are certain to be disappointed. They always are. But if you love "Ode To Billie Joe" & want more, the body of work represented here is likely to surpise you. What's particularly commendable about this collection is it's focus on Gentry's originals. Needless to say, she has a lot more to offer than a pretty voice. Despite some rather dated production, Bobbie Gentry was a first rate songwriter. Lyrically she has the subtlety of Joni Mitchchell & the Gothic appeal of Johnny Cash. As for being a Country Artist, there's far too much diversity here to catergorize her so easily. Vintage late 60's Pop, Blue Eyed Soul, Backwoods Funk & a touch of Psychedelica---it's all there. Vocally, I'd say she has more in common with Dusty Springfield than Loretta Lynn. For fans of "Billie Joe"'s seductive grooves, tunes like "Mississippi Delta" & "Okolona River..." are sure to please. "Sermon" takes all the fire & brimestone of a Baptist minister & sets it to a sultry beat Elvis would envy. On "Morning Glory" she sounds like she just woke up beside you, whispering in your ear. Southern gentility meets English Psychedelica on numbers like "Penduli Pendulum", "Jessye' Lisabeth" & "Refractions". "Courtyard" & "I Saw An Angel Die" capture Gentry at her most haunting & desolate.There's a sense of the macabre lurking beneath many of her songs which may have accounted for her lack of chart topping power after "Billie Joe". Pretty as they are, ballads like "Fancy" & "Apartment 21" allude to a sordiness worthy of early Lou Reed. Gentry's black sense of humor is more than evident on "Casket Vignette". Despite it's cheery demeanor, the lyrics sound straight out of Flannery O'Connor.At the moment, Gentry's albums are out of print on CD. The current resurgence of interest in the music press might change that. Until then, AMERICAN QUILT is probably your best bet to check out this unique & crimminally neglected artist."

Best of her solo recordings

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 03/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whatever it was that suicidal Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahatchie bridge, Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe" earned a permanent place among music's enigmas. Backed with six violins, two cellos and Gentry's acoustic guitar, the folk-noir ballad hit #1 on 1967's pop chart. The album Ode To Billy Joe topped both pop and country charts.Remastered from her 1967-74 Capitol singles and LPs (but skipping her hit duets with Glen Campbell), the well-annotated, 26-song An American Quilt presents the everyone's favorite swamp chick vacillating from country pop, baroque pop and white soul to lackluster pop that pushes her down in the mix as her natural throaty alto turns into a thin soprano, as on Bachrach and David's "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" (a British #1). Sometimes these tracks are funny. A sunny bubble-pop arrangement comically enhances the Randy Newman-like "Casket Vignette." "Fancy" (a bigger hit when remade by Reba McEntire in 1990) has lightly scurrying guitar notes when a cockroach skitters across the upwardly mobile heroine's high-heeled shoe. And "Mississippi Delta" shows that Miss Gentry is a darn good speller!I would have liked to have seen some of the Campbell duets included here. You can get the best of them ("Let It Be Me," "All I Have To Do Is Dream") on Glenn's new "All The Best" Capitol retrospective."

Half good , Half bad?

J.R. Sanchez | Tucson, Arizona United States | 08/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was disappointed by the sound/recording flaws on
five tracks, rather, I was surprised. The liner notes
and pics are excellent!! There does need to be a box
set with ALL the contents of lps Fancy, Patchwork, and
the ones missed off of the Delta Sweete, and Local Gentry.
The most disappointing was "Another Place, Another Time",
the sound quality is very Poor, and cheats the listener
of the whole song. I'm grateful for the effort put forth
in getting a compilation of her songs out, but there needs'
to be control in the QUALITY of SOUND. Gentryman1967"