the third of June

 

 

"Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped Billboard's Pop singles chart. It also appeared in the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, and in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list.

The song takes the form of a first-person narrative performed over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strings in the background. It tells of a rural Mississippi family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister, a local boy to whom the daughter (and narrator) is connected. The song received widespread attention, leaving its audience intrigued as to what the narrator and Billie Joe threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Gentry later clarified that she intended the song to portray the family's indifference to the suicide in what she deemed "a study in unconscious cruelty," while she remarked the object thrown was not relevant to the message.

"Ode to Billie Joe" was nominated for eight Grammy Awards; Gentry and arranger Jimmie Haskell won three between them. Gentry's writing was adapted for the 1976 film Ode to Billy Joe. The song appeared on Rolling Stone's lists, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Greatest Country Songs, while Pitchfork featured it on their 200 Best Songs of the 1960s list. In 2023, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe_(song)

 

When the song was released, Bobbie Gentry was only 25 years old.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_Gentry

 

Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter on July 27, 1942, near Woodland in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, to Ruby Lee (née Shipman; November 28, 1920 – April 2, 1989) and Robert Harrison Streeter. After her parents divorced shortly after her birth, her mother moved to California, leaving Gentry to be raised on a farm by her paternal grandparents. She grew up without electricity or plumbing. Her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and, at age seven, Gentry composed her first song, "My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog." Gentry lived in Greenwood, Mississippi, with her father for a few years and learned to play the guitar and banjo.

 

Apart from the fact that she grew up poor, what’s interesting about Gentry is that she was one of the first female artists to compose and produce her own material.

Here are the opening lyrics to the song:

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day

I was out choppin' cotton, and my brother was balin' hay

And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat

And mama hollered out the back door, y'all, remember to wipe your feet

And then she said, I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge

Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

 

And papa said to mama, as he passed around the blackeyed peas

Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please

There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow

And mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow

Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge

And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

 

If you want to hear the song again, here it is:

 

Bobby Gentry - Ode to BillyJoe - YouTube

 

Bobby Gentry was a commercial success, but she was not as fortunate in her romantic relationships. She was married a total of three times, and none of the marriages lasted more than a couple of years.

 

Her first marriage was to casino owner Bill Harrah, who was married a total of 7 times. Gentry was his third wife.         His last 4 marriages were all short lived.

 

Harrah had an extensive collection of cars. Many of his cars enjoyed 'best' or 'one-of-a kind' status. Some notable items of his collection were the two Bugatti Type 41s, a Phantom Corsair, two Ferraris and a pair of Jerrari Wagoneers. In 1966 his Bugatti Type 41 Coupe de Ville won Best of Show at Pebble Beach.

After Bill Harrah's death, Holiday Inn acquired Harrah's, including the car collection. The bulk of the collection was sold at several auctions between 1984-1986, garnering more than $100 million. An outcry by the people of Reno and Sparks led to Holiday Inn donating 175 vehicles to establish the William F. Harrah Automobile Museum in downtown Reno, Nevada. Some of the cars were donated to form the Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas.

He won Best of Show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 4 times in 1963, 1964, 1966, and 1976

 After her third divorce (in 1980), Gentry never remarried.

 The last time Gentry appeared in public was when she attended the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 30, 1982. Since that time, she has not recorded, performed or been interviewed. One 2016 news report stated that Gentry lives in a gated community near Memphis, Tennessee. According to another, Gentry lives in a gated community in Los Angeles

 She’ll be 81 years old in July, which means that she has been able to live a comfortable life in retirement for more than 40 years. That’s a lot easier, of course, if your net worth is $100 million dollars.

 Bobbie demanded 10% of the profits generated by the movie based on her life, "Ode to Billie Joe". She also demanded 15% of future royalties generated by TV syndication and other sales. To date these profits alone have totaled more than $50 million. She was one of the original owners of the NBA's Phoenix suns, owns tens of millions of dollars’ worth of real estate (mainly in California) and earned more than $3 million in royalties when Reb McEntire covered her song Fancy.

 I have often said that tough times don’t last, but tough people do. You may remember that Bobbie Gentry grew up in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing, further proof that life is full of surprises.