Ode to Billie Joe • Bobbie Gentry

Ode to Billie Joe.  Southern Gothic. Bobbie Gentry came out of nowhere with this simple but captivating record in 1967. It was such a mysterious, fascinating, strange, seductive story, that DJs kept playing it. Bobbie Gentry was suddenly a phenomenon, almost James Bond-like, or even Beatlesque in her appeal; like a Magical Mystery Tour crossing over the Tallahatchie Bridge. 

The song describes a family having dinner while discussing the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister which occurred earlier that summer day. The mother explains how the local preacher claims he saw Billie Joe and his girlfriend (who looked much like the daughter/narrator) throwing an object from the bridge.

Such a force it was that it bumped The Beatles off the top of the charts (“All You Need is Love!”), right in the middle of the “Summer of Love.” “Ode to Billy Joe” was #1 within 3 weeks of release, and remained there for 4 straight weeks. And this during a pop music golden age in which there was massive competition. The record stayed on the Billboard charts for 20 weeks! It was also a huge international hit! Billboard ranked it as the number 3 song for the entire year. It had 8 Grammy nominations, resulting in 3 wins for Gentry and one for arranger Jimmie Haskell. “Ode to Billie Joe” has since made Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” and Pitchfork’s “200 Best Songs of the 1960s.” 

What really happened on that bridge with Billie Joe McCallister?! What did the singer know that she wasn’t telling? Had something dark taken place, something diabolical, evil? What deed was the singer covering up in her “innocent” silence? And then you don’t find out for sure - you just get the closing line of the song, “And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge... and drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge....” 

It’s like a whodunnit and a pop song all rolled into one. 

Bobbie Gentry virtually disappeared from public life some years ago. It is said that she is now living a secluded life somewhere in Los Angeles. Does anyone really know for sure?  

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Check out the song below. Here’s a Bobbie Gentry Video, Spotify Playlist, and a Rolling Stone article. 

A live performance of Ode to Billie Joe:

Here is a “Bobbie Gentry” Playlist on Spotify:

Below is an interesting Rolling Stone article, “The Secret Life of Bobbie Gentry.”