Gentry

The Best of Bobbie Gentry: The Capitol Years Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
At two discs – one devoted to original compositions, one to covers – Zonophone's 2007 collection The Best of Bobbie Gentry: The Capitol Years (its subtitle is unintentionally amusing, as Gentry only recorded for Capitol) is the most comprehensive Bobbie Gentry set yet released, which isn't the same thing as the best. Not that this compilation is bad – far from it, actually, since it does have all her hits and the great majority of her best tracks, plus a handful of rarities to lure in diehards. The problem is, it's too exhaustive to act as an introduction, especially with three terrific single-disc sets on the market (EMI's 2000 Ode to Bobbie Gentry, Raven's 2002 An American Quilt, Shout! Factory's 2004 Chickasaw County Child: The Artistry of Bobbie Gentry), and if you're already part of Gentry's cult, you'd be better served by getting Raven's pair of two-fers of original albums. That said, anybody who picks up this Best of Bobbie Gentry will hear plenty of wonderful music, so it's hardly a bad purchase; it's just that there are better options out there.

Cody has found his voice and honed in his skills in every music hall, bar, and coffeehouse he has played, with his only intention being to connect his music with the people listening.

Kritzerland is proud to present a world premiere CD release: "ODE TO BILLY JOE" Composed and Conducted by Michel Legrand. “Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”. In 1967, Billie Joe jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge was one of the hottest topics of that summer, all over the world. The fact that it all had to do with a surprise number one hit song shows the power of great storytelling. Everyone was conjecturing what it was that was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge and why Billie Joe had killed himself. It became part of popular culture almost instantly. The song garnered eight Grammy nominations, winning three for Gentry and one for arranger Jimmie Haskell. Nine years later, Warner Bros. decided to turn the song into a feature film and hired author Herman Raucher (Summer of ’42) to do so. Max Baer, Jr. directed and produced the film – he was, at the time, best known for playing Jethro Bodine on the hit TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. Young actors Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor were cast in the leads, along with Joan Hotchkiss, James Best (giving a sensitive and wonderful performance), and others. Raucher changed the spelling of Billie to Billy and his screenplay fleshed out the events of the song, and gave the audience the reason for Billy Joe’s jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge.