To celebrate the upcoming release of our 102nd 33 1/3 on Ode to Billie Joe by Tara Murtha, we bring you the fifth and final installment of Bobbie Gentry week.
Best known for the 1967 smash hit “Ode to Billie Joe,” Bobbie Gentry left the record industry in the early 1970s to focus on producing and starring in elaborate stage productions. Gentry was a regular fixture in Vegas, where she broke both showroom attendance & paycheck records, and often negotiated her own deals when not hanging out jamming with her friends Elvis Presley and Tom Jones.
This clip is a never-before-seen glimpse into Gentry’s over-the-top, razzle-dazzle Vegas era, a now-almost-forgotten time period in which she transcended the down-home persona created with the release of “Ode to Billie Joe.”
– Tara Murtha
[vimeo 113708821 w=500 h=281]
Bobbie Gentry performing in Las Vegas from Tara Murtha on Vimeo.
Two book release parties for Ode to Billie Joe are going down TODAY. Get tickets for the evening show at Underground Arts here, RSVP for the WXPN Free at Noon here, or listen online Friday at noon here.
Please tell me you’ll be uploading more of this. Loving the book
I am Blown away that it TOOK THIS LONG,,,,, WAY OVER DUE,,,,, STUPENDUS! JOB! THXS TARA…..