The iconic singer songwriter Chaka Khan, who had been disguised as Miss Monster, on Season 3 of The Masked Singer impressed Judges in episode 2 with a performance of Bobbie’s 1969 hit ‘Fancy’. Chaka made the song her own and viewers and panelists knew then there was a legendary singer under that pink monster mask! If you missed her performance you can catch up with it on youtube here.
The ongoing PBS ‘My Music’ series features Bobbie in it’s latest episode on story songs, hosted by five time Grammy Award-winning singer B.J. Thomas. Their press release states: “Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, ‘Story Songs’ weren’t just great music — they helped unite us through our shared culture, history and personal experiences. From country pop favorites to folk-rock epics, ‘Story Songs’ relate to all of our lives. Don McLean’s anthem ‘American Pie’ (the number one hit for a full month in 1972), Bobbie Gentry’s iconic 1967 musical monologue ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ (one of Rolling Stone’s Greatest Songs of All Time) and Harry Chapin’s poignant ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’ are musical tales we all know and love.”
The episode broadcasts in June, but you’ll have to search the listings on your local PBS website for the dates in your area.
For a staggering six decades, Perry Como was a regular presence on U.S television screens with his long-running, award-winning programs. This month MPI Home Video releases a unique DVD from the late crooner. Perry Como’s Music Hall features a rare April 1967 broadcast from NBC’s New York studios with guest stars George Carlin along with the late pop-jazz chanteuse Nancy Wilson, and young ballerina Joyce Cuoco. The disc comes with some bonus features including a rare Bobbie duet of Doctor Dolittle‘s ‘Talk to the Animals’ from her appearance on the November 1967 episode.
The long awaited album by Mercury Rev; ‘Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited’, is released today via Bella Union and Partisan Records on CD, Vinyl and digital. The album is a re-imagining of Bobbie Gentry’s 1968 masterpiece and features an incredible gust list of guest vocalists including Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Norah Jones, Margo Price, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucinda Williams, Vashti Bunyan, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Lætitia Sadier (Stereolab), Beth Orton, Marissa Nadler, Kaela Sinclair (M83), Susanne Sundfør, Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones) udiscover review the album, contrasting it with Bobbie’s original release.
Music journalist Charles Donovan has written a new feature on Bobbie for Pop Matters, where he examines the impact of the boxset, and speaks to four Gentry commentators to try to understand more about her life, her music career and her decision to call it quits including; Andrew Batt (boxset compiler/producer), Tara Martha (author/journalist), Donald Bradburn (Bobbie’s choreographer), and John Cameron (Musical Director for Bobbie’s three BBC series).Check it out here.
The Financial Times ran a great piece about Bobbie and the forthcoming Mercury Rev album ‘The Delta Sweete Revisited’which you can read online here.
Mercury Rev, pay tribute to Bobbie on The Delta Sweete Revisited, their song-for-song remake of her masterpiece second album featuring a seriously amazing cast of guest vocalists, including Hope Sandoval, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Margo Price, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucinda Williams, Vashti Bunyan, Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab), Beth Orton, Marissa Nadler and more. In the run up to release, fans can listen to a selection of tracks in advance, including Norah Jones, who lends her voice to the album’s opening track, ‘Okolona River Bottom Band’, which you can listen to here, Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør interprets ‘Tobacco Road’ which originally opened side 2, and whilst it doesn’t feature on the original album, Lucinda Williams tackles Bobbie’s classic ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ here. Mercury Rev re-imagine the album in their own inimitable style, putting the accent on sweeping strings and touches of gothic psychedelia entirely complimentary to Bobbie’s original vision. The album is out 8th of February on Partisan records.
As the year draws to it’s close the press have compiled their ‘the best of 2018’ lists, and we are pleased to report, that the Bobbie boxset The Girl From Chickasaw County appears prominently on many of them!
The Times – No’ 1
The LA Times – No’ 1
The New York Times – No’ 1
MOJO – No’ 1
19th Annual Country Music Critics’ Poll – No’ 1
The Boston Globe – No’ 2
Shindig! – No’ 2
Record Collector – No’ 2
Paste Magazine – No’3
Variety – No’ 3
Billboard – No’ 5
Rolling Stone – No’ 5
Pop Matters – No’ 5
The Sun – No’ 8
Uncut – No’ 13
The Times have published their end of year review, and the Bobbie Gentry boxset The Girl From Chickasaw County has been chosen as their number one boxset of the year, and gets a solid gold 5* out of 5: “One of the most underrated songwriters of the 20th century… This is a fitting tribute to a great talent.”
The latest issue of RnR Magazine features an excellent three page article on Bobbie and the new boxset by music journalist Charles Donovan. In an insightful piece he speaks to boxset compiler/producer Andrew Batt author Tara Murtha and former colleagues and friends including John Cameron who was the Musical Director of Bobbie’s BBC TV series and Don Bradburn who choreographed many of her concert spectaculars. The magazine has Billy F Gibbons on the cover and is on sale now.