Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe (VMP)

Orange vinyl.

Few artists can say they knocked the Beatles off their pedestal, but Bobbie Gentry is one of them. The Mississippi-born singer-songwriter with the one-of-a-kind voice and similarly singular songwriting perspective scored a No. 1 album with her debut Ode to Billie Joe in 1967, temporarily ousting the Fab Four’s seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from a weeks-long stint atop the Billboard 200.

Topping the Beatles is a remarkable feat on its own, but especially so for a debut artist who approached music stardom with a skeptical curiosity before suddenly tapping out, and eventually vanishing, while at the top of her game. Ode to Billie Joe itself is both a time capsule of its era — the turbulent and transformative late ’60s — as well as a primer for Gentry’s chameleonic artistry.

Tracklisting:

A1 Mississippi Delta
A2 I Saw An Angel Die
A3 Chickasaw County Child
A4 Sunday Best
A5 Niki Hoeky
B1 Papa, Woncha Let Me Go To Town With You
B2 Bugs
B3 Hurry Tuesday Child
B4 Lazy Willie
B5 Ode To Billie Joe