My first crush, as a very pre-pubescent young boy was, you may be surprised to learn, Bobbie Gentry. Bobbie who, you might ask? Who’s he? No, no, no. Bobbie is a she and she was beautiful.
She could sing, too. My God she could sing, her biggest hit record being the magnificent, the absolutely legendary, Ode Go Billie Joe, described by the music writer Bob Stanley as “a tale of suicide, loneliness and familial breakdown”. Quite why a young lad, still in short trousers, should become obsessed by an American country singer singing about stuff like that, I cannot explain.
The first time I saw her was probably on Top of the Pops, the BBC’s weekly unveiling of the singles charts, although it may have been in a copy of the Record Song Book, a monthly music publication in which were printed the lyrics of the modern songs, with sundry news items and photos. The one I remember more clearly than anything was one of Bobbie, wearing as I recall hot pants as they were known at the time (basically short shorts) and long boots. With her waves of long dark hair, she was perfection.
Incredibly, until recently I didn’t own any of her music, which was a massive oversight on my part. While I adored Ode To Billie Joe, I melted whenever I heard Seasons Come, Seasons Go, both written by her. But then came musical perfection with her stunning cover of the Bacharach and David song I’ll Never Fall In Love Again. Numerous artists have released their own versions, but none come close to Bobbie Gentry’s. The slight crack in her voice, which of course comes to nothing, makes it for me.
In recent years, I bought a slimmed-down version of her compilation box set The Girl from Chickasaw County and my Christ it’s even more brilliant than I ever imagined. I consumed the music with all the fervour of someone who had found something fantastically new, yet all of it was over 50 years old, some of it coming up to 60 years old.
The young me was consumed with her beauty and her voice, but she was so much more than that. She wrote most of her records, she made her own clothes, she hosted her own TV show and painted her own album art. Oh and did I say she was beautiful? I may have done.
