Career-Defining Deluxe Eight-Disc Box Set Features Seven Remastered Studio Albums And A Wealth Of Rarities

A career-defining deluxe eight disc boxed set spanning Bobbie Gentry’s Capitol Records years has been announced for September 21st via Capitol/UMe. The Girl From Chickasaw County – The Complete Capitol Masters features seven remastered studio albums from the original source tapes, and a wealth of rarities featuring seventy-five unreleased recordings including her “lost” jazz album, outtakes, demos, rarities and an eighth disc of live performances taken from her celebrated series for the BBC.

This is the the first major retrospective from this most groundbreaking artist. The release has specially commissioned cover art by David Downton and includes an 84 page book with a comprehensive essay by boxed set compiler Andrew Batt, rare and unseen photos, eight postcards and a facsimile of her original handwritten lyrics for “Ode To Billie Joe.”

Gentry’s seven albums for Capitol Records featured some exceptional material. She was an artist who could turn her hand to fit country, folk, soul, pop, Americana, blues and jazz, and this box set brings all the magic together. Pick outs include the classic originals of “Ode To Billie Joe,” swamp funk mover “Mississippi Delta” (complete with an alternative version), classy Glen Campbell duet “Mornin’ Glory,” her definitive cover of “Hushabye Mountain,” pop-soul triumph “Fancy,” and from her final album, the melancholy “Lookin’ In.”

In addition, there are superb previously unreleased recordings including originals like “I Didn’t Know” and “Joanne” alongside essential covers of “Conspiracy Of Homer Jones,” “God Bless The Child,” and “Spinning Wheel.” Also included are intimate acoustic performances of “The Seventh Son,” “Feelin’ Good,” “Seasons Come, Seasons Go” and “Belinda.” For the rarities and obscurities fan, making their appearance on CD/digital for the first time are “La Siepe,” Gentry’s Italian-language entry to the 1968 San Remo song festival, UK number one single “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” sung in Spanish, and a little-known duet with Kelly Gordon; “Love Took My Heart And Mashed That Sucker Flat.” Lastly there’s disc eight featuring live recordings from her BBC TV series, including an inspired pairing of “Niki-Hoeky with Barefootin’,” and dazzling takes of “Refractions,” “Ode To Billie Joe,” “He Made A Woman Out Of Me,” and an extended “Your Number One Fan.”

Gentry’s career blazed brightly for a few short years, but only now is the full extent of her artistry coming into focus. When we think of empowered female stars we think of Beyoncé, Madonna, or even Dolly Parton, but before all of them there came the girl from Chickasaw County. When she emerged in the late 60’s women were just starting to make their mark in the music industry, but female identity was polarized between the light entertainment star and the confessional singer-songwriter. Gentry developed her own unique persona, which was a hybrid of both; part creative songwriter, and part musical theatre performer. A storyteller at heart, Gentry created characters and situations that were often inspired by her Southern childhood, and the media and public alike were fascinated by the contrast between her glamorous appearance and the rural simplicity of her origins. Romanticized over time, these stories have coalesced into a classic version of the American dream; a rags-to-riches story that took Gentry from the Delta backwoods to the world’s most glittering stages.

Her disappearance intrigues us quite as much as what was thrown from the Tallahatchie Bridge: Why did she disappear? What has she been doing? Where is she now? But “Where is Bobbie Gentry?” is not the question we should be asking: Gentry was a trailblazer who was years ahead of her time; a successful writer, singer, musician, performer, producer, publisher, and businesswoman. What we should really be asking ourselves is “Who was Bobbie Gentry?” – The Girl From Chickasaw County provides more answers to that question than ever before, definitively re-appraising the musical legacy of this influential and iconic artist.

8 CD

CD 1: Ode To Billie Joe

1. Mississippi Delta
2. I Saw an Angel Die
3. Chickasaw County Child
4. Sunday Best
5. Niki Hoeky
6. Papa, Woncha Let Me Go to Town With You?
7. Bugs
8. Hurry, Tuesday Child
9. Lazy Willie
10. Ode to Billie Joe
11. The Seventh Son [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
12. I Saw an Angel Die [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
13. Niki Hoeky [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
14. Papa, Woncha Let Me Go to Town With You? [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
15. Hurry, Tuesday Child [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
16. Mississippi Delta [Alternate version]* (Bonus Track)
17. Sunday Best [Alternate take]* (Bonus Track)
18. Show-Off [Stereo version]* (Bonus Track)
19. La Siepe [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
20. La Citta E’ Grande [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)

CD 2: The Delta Sweete

1. Okolona River Bottom Band
2. Big Boss Man
3. Reunion
4. Parchman Farm
5. Mornin’ Glory
6. Sermon
7. Tobacco Road
8. Penduli Pendulum
9. Jessye’ Lisabeth
10. Refractions
11. Louisiana Man
12. Courtyard
13. The Seventh Son [Band version]* (Bonus Track)
14. Feelin’ Good [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
15. I Didn’t Know [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
16. Morning to Midnight [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
17. Refractions [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
18. Louisiana Man [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
19. Sermon [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
20. Morning Glory [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
21. Jessye’ Lisabeth [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
22. Courtyard [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
23. Louisiana Man [The Tom Jones Show 06/07/1968]* (Bonus Track)
24. Ode to Billie Joe [The Tom Jones Show 06/07/1968]* (Bonus Track)

CD 3: Local Gentry

1. Sweete Peony
2. Casket Vignette
3. Come Away Melinda
4. The Fool on the Hill
5. Papa’s Medicine Show
6. Ace Insurance Man
7. Recollection
8. Sittin’ Pretty
9. Eleanor Rigby
10. Peaceful
11. Here, There and Everywhere
12. Hushabye Mountain [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
13. Skip A Long Sam [Ode to Bobbie Gentry] (Bonus Track)
14. Conspiracy of Homer Jones* (Bonus Track)
15. Sweet Peony [Alternate Version]* (Bonus Track)
16. Cotton Candy Sandman [Demo] * (Bonus Track)
17. Hushabye Mountain [Demo]* (Bonus Track)

CD 4: Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell

1. Less of Me
2. Little Green Apples
3. Gentle on My Mind
4. Heart to Heart Talk
5. My Elusive Dreams
6. (It’s Only Your) Imagination
7. Mornin’ Glory
8. Terrible Tangled Web
9. Sunday Mornin’
10. Let It Be Me
11. Scarborough Fair/Canticle
12. All I Have to Do Is Dream [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
13. Walk Right Back [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
14. Sunday Mornin’ [Alternate version]* (Bonus Track)
15. Let It Be Me [Without strings]* (Bonus Track)
16. Scarborough Fair/Canticle [without strings]* (Bonus Track)
17. Love Took My Heart and Mashed That Sucker Flat [Duet with Kelly Gordon] [Defunked, 1969] (Bonus Track)
18. Fool on the Hill [Japanese language version] [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
19. No me quiero enamorar [Spanish Language ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’] [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
20. En Todas Partes [Spanish Language ‘Here There and Everywhere’] [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)

CD 5: Touch ‘Em With Love

1. Touch ‘Em with Love
2. Greyhound Goin’ Somewhere
3. Natural to Be Gone
4. Seasons Come, Seasons Go
5. Glory Hallelujah, How They’ll Sing
6. I Wouldn’t Be Surprised
7. Son of a Preacher Man
8. Where’s the Playground, Johnny
9. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again
10. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
11. More Today Than Yesterday* (Bonus Track)
12. Spinning Wheel* (Bonus Track)
13. Touch ‘Em with Love [Stereo version]* (Bonus Track)
14. Glory Hallelujah, How They’ll Sing [Alternate take]* (Bonus Track)
15. Seasons Come, Seasons Go [Demo]* (Bonus Track)
16. Suppertime* (Bonus Track)
17. God Bless The Child* (Bonus Track)
18. Since I Fell For You* (Bonus Track)
19. Save Your Love For Me* (Bonus Track)
20. Here’s That Rainy Day* (Bonus Track)
21. Stormy [Ode To Bobbie Gentry] (Bonus Track)
22. This Girls In Love With You (Bonus Track)
23. Windows of the World [The Best of Bobbie Gentry: The Capitol Years] (Bonus Track)

CD 6: Fancy

1. Fancy
2. Delta Man
3. Something in the Way He Moves
4. Find ‘Em, Fool ‘Em and Forget About ‘Em
5. He Made a Woman Out of Me
6. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
7. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
8. Rainmaker
9. Wedding Bell Blues
10. In the Ghetto [I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (UK)] (Bonus Track)
11. Fancy [Mono radio edit]* (Bonus Track)
12. Apartment 21 [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
13. Away In A Manger [The Christmas Sound of Music, 1969] (Bonus Track)
14. Scarlett Ribbons [The Christmas Sound of Music, 1969] (Bonus Track)
15. Circle ‘Round the Sun* (Bonus Track)
16. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head [Alternate take]* (Bonus Track)
17. Wedding Bell Blues [Alternate take]* (Bonus Track)
18. Apartment 21 [Without strings]* (Bonus Track)
19. Scarlett Ribbons [Alternate version]* (Bonus Track)
20. If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody [Live on ‘Top Of The Pops’] (Bonus Track)

CD 7: Patchwork

1. Benjamin
2. Interlude 1
3. Marigolds and Tangerines
4. Interlude 2
5. Billy the Kid
6. Interlude 3
7. Beverly
8. Interlude 4
9. Miss Clara/Azusa Sue
10. Interlude 5
11. But I Can’t Get Back
12. Jeremiah
13. Interlude 6
14. Belinda
15. Mean Stepmama Blues
16. Your Number One Fan
17. Interlude 7
18. Somebody Like Me
19. Lookin’ In
20. Smoke [The Best Of The Capital Years, 2007] (Bonus Track)
21. Joanne* (Bonus Track)
22. Salome Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear* (Bonus Track)
23. Benjamin [Alternate take]* (Bonus Track)
24. Belinda [Alternate version]* (Bonus Track)
25. Smoke (Demo)* (Bonus Track)
26. The Girl from Cincinnati [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)
27. You and Me Together [Original 7″] (Bonus Track)

CD 8: Live At The BBC

1. Mississippi Delta [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/03/1968]*
2. Papa Won’t You Let Me Go To Town With You [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/03/1968]*
3. I Saw An Angel Die [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/03/1968]*
4. My Dog Sargent [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/03/1968]*1.15
5. Ode to Billie Joe [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/03/1968]*
6. Mornin’ Glory [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/27/1968]*3.15
7. Sunday Best [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/27/1968]*
8. Hurry Tuesday Child [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/27/1968]*
9. Nikki Hokey / Barefootin’ [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/10/1968]*
10. Penduli Pendulum [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/10/1968]*
11. Ace Insurance Man [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/10/1968]*
12. Chickasaw County Child [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 08/10/1968]*
13. Recollection [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/16/1969]*
14. Sweet Peony [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/16/1969]*
15. Refractions [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/16/1969]*
16. Greyhound Goin’ Somewhere [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/16/1969]*
17. Cotton Candy Sandman [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 07/16/1969]*
18. Open Your Window [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 02/01/1971]*
19. Mother Nature’s son [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 02/01/1971]*
20. Mr. Bojangles [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 02/01/1971]*
21. Your Number One Fan [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 02/01/1971]*
22. He Made A Woman Out of Me [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 03/08/1971]*
23. Billy the Kid [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 03/08/1971]*
24. Wailing Of The Willow [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 03/08/1971]*
25. Belinda [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 03/08/1971]*
26. Circle ‘Round The Sun [Live on ‘Bobbie Gentry’ 03/08/1971]*

*Previously unreleased