Foreward, by Jill Sobule Chapter 1: Out of a Swamp Fog Chapter 2: Where is Bobbie Gentry? Chapter 3: The Bobbiebilia Chapter 4: Chickasaw County Child Chapter 5: Becoming Bobbie Gentry Chapter 6: "Produced by Kelly Gordon and Bobby Paris" Chapter 7: The Summer of "Ode to Billie Joe" Chapter 8: Capitol Pre-Orders Five Times as Many Records as Meet the Beatles Chapter 9: The Capitol Years Chapter 10: Viva Las Vegas Chapter 11: What the Song Didn't Tell You, the Movie Will Chapter 12: So I'm Packin' Up and I'm Checking Out
An in-depth study of the extraordinary rise to fame of Bobbie Gentry and her subsequent career and withdrawal from public life.
Tara Murtha is a journalist based in Philadelphia, USA.
Tara Murtha examines that song and the rest of Bobbi Gentry’s
career in Ode To Billie Joe, the latest release in the 33 1/3
series of books. It is a wonderfully compelling book and the best
I’ve read in the series since "Television: Marquee Moon." Perhaps
it’s her background as a reporter, but Murtha does not go down the
pedantic path that many of the books in this series seem to do
lately. Instead, the author presents a fascinating study of Gentry
and her career-defining debut. That’s right; "Ode to Billie Joe"
was her debut recording. Wow.
*AllMusicBooks*
Murtha pulls free the threads of truth from a tangled knot of
personal mythology and contradictions. Her book is likely to be a
hit with casual listeners and pop-culture obsessives alike.
*Utne Reader*
Philadelphia journalist Tara Murtha has dug deep into the story
behind Gentry’s song with the latest entry in the '33 1/3' book
series devoted to various pop albums of significance… Murtha charts
Gentry’s challenges as a musician who in her teens was most
interested in selling her songs to other singers, not recording
them herself. But once she did get into the position of recording,
she was up against a male-dominated record industry that offered
little validation to a young woman with her own ideas about
performance and production.
*L.A. Times*
While Murtha's exploration of the Gentry myth is fascinating, the
writer also takes pains to ensure that the myth - as well as
Gentry's sexual aura - will not eclipse her real achievement […]
Murtha's gem of a book is, above all, a testament to the enduring
complexity of Bobbie Gentry.
*Philly.com*
Murtha’s book conveys a Bobbie Gentry who knew what she wanted and
then went about to get it. For the past 30 years, Bobbie Gentry has
wanted to be left alone. The closest Murtha gets to Gentry is when
she tries on an old fur coat of hers that ended up in the closet of
her step-brother in Oregon, who only met Gentry once. This isn’t
nearly enough for Murtha ... Tara Murtha’s accessible and engaging
book is a welcome addition to the 33 1/3 Series. I believe her Ode
to Bobbie Gentry will succeed in attaining renewed attention and
interest in her music.
*The American Spectator*
In Ode To Billie Joe, a new contribution to Bloomsbury's 33 1/3
series, journalist Tara Murtha puts Gentry's feminism and efforts
to control her own image at the center of the work, which
re-introduces the world to Bobbie Gentry ... Today, it is unclear
where she lives and remains in touch with only a few friends from
her days in show business — leaving many questions unanswered. Ode
To Billie Joe is a 'looking glass that cuts both ways,' Murtha
writes. 'The wild commercial success of 'Ode' transformed Gentry
from an unknown working musician to an international star. But it
also ... ultimately served to obscure a larger, richer body of work
— and caged the artist into a persona she spent the rest of her
career trying to transcend.'
*The Quietus*
Excerpted and Interviewed
*Wondering Sound*
Q&A: With Tara Murtha, Bobbie Gentry Expert
*PHAWKER*
Who was Billie Joe McAllister and why did he die? ... There’s
another riddle to be solved: that of Gentry herself ... The
American journalist Tara Murtha, in her recently published book Ode
to Billie Joe (Bloomsbury), attempts to solve these mysteries. Her
book, then, is a reporter’s quest that takes her across America to
find people who knew Gentry and are willing to talk ... She finds
plenty of them.
*Irish Times*
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