Bobbie Gentry's work to be re-mastered for 'The Girl From Chicksaw County'
For the first time ever, some 51 years after Bobbie Gentry’s debut single was released, all seven of the popular singer-songwriter’s albums are set to be re-mastered from the original tapes, to form an eight-disc collection.
Titled ‘The Girl From Chicksaw County’, the eight-disc special will be released on 21 September via Capitol/UMe, and along with Gentry’s plethora of hits, the collection features 75 previously unreleased recordings, which – among demos, outtakes and other hidden gems – includes her ‘lost’ jazz album.
One thing that Gentry is famously known for it her debut album ‘Ode to Billie Joe’, which – mere weeks after entering the Billboard 200 album charts – dislodged the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ from top spot.
The eighth disc in the collection is a ‘Live at the BBC’ special, as Gentry became the first female singer-songwriter to have her own series on the BBC, and the CD contains excerpts from that series.
There is also an 84-page book with the collection, eight different postcards, a copy of Gentry’s handwritten lyrics for the song Ode to Billie Joe, and specially commissioned cover art from David Downton.
Throughout her career, Gentry won three Grammy awards – including Best New Artist – and weaved through genres such as country, folk, soul, jazz and blues with remarkable ease.
It still remains a mystery to this day as to why Gentry called time on her musical career so early – her last studio album was released in 1971, just four years after her debut – but her music has long stood the test of time, and Gentry’s work is still lauded as inspiration for a number of female artists in the music industry.
Disc 1: ‘Ode to Billie Joe’
Disc 2: ‘The Delta Sweete’
Disc 3: ‘Local Gentry’
Disc 4: ‘Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell’
Disc 5: ‘Touch ‘Em With Love’
Disc 6: ‘Fancy Disc’
Disc 7: ‘Patchwork Disc’
Disc 8: ‘Live at the BBC’
‘The Girl From Chickasaw County’ is available from 21 September, and can be pre-ordered here.
