- Audio CD (19 Feb 2007)
- Number of Discs: 2
- Label: Zonophone
- ASIN: B000L213KS
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 176,026 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ode To Billie Joe | |||
| 2. Chickasaw County Child | |||
| 3. Mississippi Delta | |||
| 4. I Saw An Angel Die | |||
| 5. Sunday Best | |||
| 6. Hurry, Tuesday Child | |||
| 7. Penduli Pendulum | |||
| 8. Jessye' Lisabeth | |||
| 9. Okolona River Bottom Band | |||
| 10. Mornin' Glory | |||
See all 20 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. I'll Never Fall In Love Again | |||
| 2. Peaceful | |||
| 3. Louisiana Man | |||
| 4. Touch 'Em With Love | |||
| 5. Greyhound Goin' Somewhere | |||
| 6. Natural To Be Gone | |||
| 7. Papa's Medicine Show | |||
| 8. Show Off | |||
| 9. Rainmaker | |||
| 10. He Made A Woman Out Of Me | |||
|
See all 19 tracks on this disc
| |||
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Yikes! I've been eagerly awaiting someone to reissue Bobbie Gentry's back catalogue on cd and was thrilled to learn that UK-based Zonophone planned to do the deed. They started with this compilation billed as the Best of the Capitol Years (which is a silly subtitle as she only ever recorded for Capitol, but oh well). It's easy to forgive the titular foolishness, but the mastering on this is another matter. It's an utter mess. The vocals seem to be pushed way to the front and sound harsh; the instrumentation fades into a background mush on subtle tracks such as "Sweet Peony." "Casket Vignette," for example, sounds as if it were mastered from a cassette tape that had been run over by a John Deere tractor. I hope to goodness that they figure out what Bobbie Gentry sounds like before they release the albums!
The rare and unreleased tracks make this a must-own for diehards like me. For neophytes, there are much better Bobbie Gentry comps out there. The organization principle on this is clever (self-penned tunes on disc 1, covers on disc 2), but not especially revelatory or interesting.
The rare and unreleased tracks make this a must-own for diehards like me. For neophytes, there are much better Bobbie Gentry comps out there. The organization principle on this is clever (self-penned tunes on disc 1, covers on disc 2), but not especially revelatory or interesting.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you liked Bobbie Gentry back in the day and fancy a CD, I think this may be the one. If ODE TO BILLY JOE was a favourite song of yours and you'd like to hear more from her, there's a good selection here. The CD features little or nothing of the garbage she produced later in her short career under duress - just plenty of the simple country-bluesy stuff from her roots, the product of her debut and the songs she held most dear. I bought this in on recommendation and was not disappointed. There are plenty of good songs, her own on the first CD and some well-chosen ones on the second. It's unique voice, a rich, soft, deep southern drawl and lots of the tracks show it off well. You can hear the influence of later performers in it - Norah Jones for one - and like the latter you don't need to be a country fan to appreciate her. Other reviewers have pointed out the inconsistency of the transfer and I think they're right. Some tracks are remastered poorly. Personally I can live with this. Better than many other efforts (one of which I binned!) but disappointing for a label of this repute. And there was certainly room for more of her own songs on the first CD but the choice of material compares favourably with that on other CDs. And look at the price for double-disc!
Bobbie disappeared while still successful and after only a few years in the spotlight. The word was she despised the pressure to produce rubbish. This CD is a fair representation of the good years. But where are you, Bobbie? If Debbie Harry can come back so can you.
Bobbie disappeared while still successful and after only a few years in the spotlight. The word was she despised the pressure to produce rubbish. This CD is a fair representation of the good years. But where are you, Bobbie? If Debbie Harry can come back so can you.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Seven Tracks Not Yet on Other CDs
12 Mar 2007
Format:Audio CD
I don't have this yet (the star rating is simply for the songs). But as of March 12, 2007, I count seven tracks here that I never have found on any other Bobbie Gentry album CDs, "best of" CDs or compilation CDs. That includes four songs that apparently never were available on vinyl, either ("Windows of the World," "Smoke," "Siepe" and "Citta E'Grande"). The other three never-before-on-CD are "Delta Man" and "Rainmaker" from Gentry's "Fancy" album, and "But I Can't Get Back" from "Patchwork."
(UPDATE: Two days after posting this review, I heard from someone at Australian label Raven Records that they will be releasing a two-for-one CD of "Fancy" and "Patchwork" "in about two months" -- which would put the release date around May 2007. Raven already has released an excellent-sounding two-for-one of Gentry's "The Delta Sweete" and "Local Gentry," which also includes bonus tracks.)
Here's the full breakdown of what is on this new 2-CD collection: six tracks are from "Ode to Billie Joe," six from "The Delta Sweete," four from "Local Gentry," six from "Touch 'Em With Love," five from "Fancy," four from "Patchwork," five non-album tracks that previously have appeared on other compilations, and the four otherwise unavailable tracks.
Even taking this new compilation into account, two tracks from "Fancy" ("Something in the Way He Moves" and "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody") and four tracks from "Patchwork" ("Miss Clara/Azusa Sue," "Jeremiah," "Belinda" and "Mean Stepmama Blues") never have appeared on CD, so far as I know. Which means the upcoming Raven label two-for-one of those two albums still will be a required purchase for any Gentry fanatic!
(UPDATE: Two days after posting this review, I heard from someone at Australian label Raven Records that they will be releasing a two-for-one CD of "Fancy" and "Patchwork" "in about two months" -- which would put the release date around May 2007. Raven already has released an excellent-sounding two-for-one of Gentry's "The Delta Sweete" and "Local Gentry," which also includes bonus tracks.)
Here's the full breakdown of what is on this new 2-CD collection: six tracks are from "Ode to Billie Joe," six from "The Delta Sweete," four from "Local Gentry," six from "Touch 'Em With Love," five from "Fancy," four from "Patchwork," five non-album tracks that previously have appeared on other compilations, and the four otherwise unavailable tracks.
Even taking this new compilation into account, two tracks from "Fancy" ("Something in the Way He Moves" and "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody") and four tracks from "Patchwork" ("Miss Clara/Azusa Sue," "Jeremiah," "Belinda" and "Mean Stepmama Blues") never have appeared on CD, so far as I know. Which means the upcoming Raven label two-for-one of those two albums still will be a required purchase for any Gentry fanatic!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Such harsh sounds for such a fine artist!
28 Mar 2007
Format:Audio CD
Yikes! I've been eagerly awaiting someone to reissue Bobbie Gentry's back catalogue on cd and was thrilled to learn that UK-based Zonophone planned to do the deed. They started with this compilation billed as the Best of the Capitol Years (which is a silly subtitle as she only ever recorded for Capitol, but oh well). It's easy to forgive the titular foolishness, but the mastering on this is another matter. It's an utter mess. The vocals seem to be pushed way to the front and sound harsh; the instrumentation fades into a background mush on subtle tracks such as "Sweet Peony." "Casket Vignette," for example, sounds as if it were mastered from a cassette tape that had been run over by a John Deere tractor. I hope to goodness that they figure out what Bobbie Gentry sounds like before they release the albums!
The rare and unreleased tracks make this a must-own for diehards like me. For neophytes, there are much better Bobbie Gentry comps out there. The organization principle on this is clever (self-penned tunes on disc 1, covers on disc 2), but not especially revelatory or interesting.
The rare and unreleased tracks make this a must-own for diehards like me. For neophytes, there are much better Bobbie Gentry comps out there. The organization principle on this is clever (self-penned tunes on disc 1, covers on disc 2), but not especially revelatory or interesting.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great collection
19 July 2007
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
What were Billy Joe and the girl in the song throwing off the Tallahatchie Bridge?
Why did Billy Joe jump off later?
"Ode to Billy Joe" launched Bobbie Gentry's career with a mystery that nobody's ever quite solved. In interviews, Ms. Gentry claimed she didn't know, either. The movie inspired by this song had a theory--but I suspect everyone who loves this song has their own thoughts.
That song, sadly, was the biggest hit Gentry had, but there's a lot more to this Mississippi girl with a voice reminiscent of hard liquor and hot peppers.
The songs in this collection are about real life--and much of it is hard. "Fancy" is about a poor girl whose mother can't care for her, so she buys her daughter a fancy dress--and tells her to go out and make her living.
There's also a lot of historical vignettes here. "Rainmaker" which was popularized by the 5th Dimension talks about a rainmaker coming to Kansas to stop a drought--and the dire consequences when the town doesn't pay him.
"Papa's Medicine Show" talks about the itinerant families selling medicines around the turn of the 19th century:
One bottle, two bottle, three bottle, four
Mama looks twenty, but she's really eighty four...
And the harsh reality for the family who 'just sold enough liniment to barely get along.'
Papa started ailing and passed away last fall
We all had to pick cotton to pass the funeral hall...
This is a great collection of folkloric country. If you missed Gentry the first time around, you might want to give her a listen. She's definitely worth the time.
My one complaint about this CD is it could have been re-engineered to sound a little less like the original vinyl album I bought. The sound is very monaural and something of a disappointment at the price for the 2-disk set.
Why did Billy Joe jump off later?
"Ode to Billy Joe" launched Bobbie Gentry's career with a mystery that nobody's ever quite solved. In interviews, Ms. Gentry claimed she didn't know, either. The movie inspired by this song had a theory--but I suspect everyone who loves this song has their own thoughts.
That song, sadly, was the biggest hit Gentry had, but there's a lot more to this Mississippi girl with a voice reminiscent of hard liquor and hot peppers.
The songs in this collection are about real life--and much of it is hard. "Fancy" is about a poor girl whose mother can't care for her, so she buys her daughter a fancy dress--and tells her to go out and make her living.
There's also a lot of historical vignettes here. "Rainmaker" which was popularized by the 5th Dimension talks about a rainmaker coming to Kansas to stop a drought--and the dire consequences when the town doesn't pay him.
"Papa's Medicine Show" talks about the itinerant families selling medicines around the turn of the 19th century:
One bottle, two bottle, three bottle, four
Mama looks twenty, but she's really eighty four...
And the harsh reality for the family who 'just sold enough liniment to barely get along.'
Papa started ailing and passed away last fall
We all had to pick cotton to pass the funeral hall...
This is a great collection of folkloric country. If you missed Gentry the first time around, you might want to give her a listen. She's definitely worth the time.
My one complaint about this CD is it could have been re-engineered to sound a little less like the original vinyl album I bought. The sound is very monaural and something of a disappointment at the price for the 2-disk set.
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