The last word on Bobbie Gentry, songwriter

A chronological, complete list of the enigmatic Southern Gothic siren’s 46 compositions recorded between 1967 and 1977

Forty-six Bobbie Gentry compositions have been issued, principally from her 1967–1971 stretch on Capitol Records. From the three million-selling “Ode to Billie Joe” to the dark horse, funky country of “Fancy,” the Mississippi-raised chanteuse’s legacy continues to proliferate. The Girl from Chickasaw County box set [2018] is approaching 15,000 units purchased with an asking price of $80. Two years later the two-CD Delta Sweete deluxe edition sold out its first pressing of 5,000 in 24 hours. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame also inducted Gentry in 2020. Never before has a chronological Gentry songwriting list with accompanying albums, A-side / B-side status, chart positions, release dates, and YouTube streaming links been attempted. ’Til today, that is.

The Bobbie Gentry Compositions

1. “My Dog Sargent” [according to Gentry during the August 3, 1968, telecast of her London-based, self-titled TV series, this was the first song she ever composed when she was seven years old on piano]
2. “Ode to Billie Joe” [No. 1 POP, No. 17 C&W, No. 8 R&B, No. 7 Adult Contemporary, No. 13 UK, July 10, 1967, title cut of the Ode to Billie Joe album]
3. “Mississippi Delta” [B-side of “Ode to Billie Joe,” also on the Ode to Billie Joe album issued August 21, 1967]
4. “I Saw an Angel Die” [A-side, Ode to Billie Joe]
5. “Papa, Woncha Let Me Go to Town with You?” [B-side of “I Saw an Angel Die,” Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
6. “Chickasaw County Child” [Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
7. “Sunday Best” [Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
8. “Bugs” [Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
9. “Hurry, Tuesday Child” [Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
10. “Lazy Willie” [Ode to Billie Joe, 1967]
11. “Show-Off” [unreleased ’til the 2000 compilation Ode to Bobbie Gentry: The Capitol Years]
12. “Okolona River Bottom Band” [No. 54 POP November 18, 1967, The Delta Sweete]
13. “Penduli Pendulum” [B-side of “Okolona River Bottom Band,” distributed February 5, 1968, on The Delta Sweete]
14. “Reunion” [The Delta Sweete, 1968]
15. “Mornin’ Glory” [The Delta Sweete, 1968; a later duet version from the Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell album climbed to No. 74 POP, No. 32 Adult Contemporary]
16. “Jessye’ Lisabeth” [The Delta Sweete, 1968]
17. “Refractions” [The Delta Sweete, 1968]
18. “Courtyard” [B-side of “Louisiana Man,” The Delta Sweete, 1968]
19. “I Didn’t Know” [acoustic outtake from The Delta Sweete sessions; on 2018’s The Girl from Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters eight-CD box set]
20. “Morning to Midnight” [acoustic outtake from The Delta Sweete sessions; on The Girl from Chickasaw County]
21. “The Way I Do” [acoustic outtake unveiled on the two-CD 2020 deluxe edition of The Delta Sweete]
22. “Sweete Peony” [A-side, bowed August 26, 1968, on Local Gentry]
23. “Casket Vignette” [B-side of “Touch ’Em with Love,” Local Gentry, 1968]
24. “Ace Insurance Man” [UK B-side of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” Local Gentry, 1968]
25. “Recollection” [Local Gentry, 1968]
26. “Sittin’ Pretty” [Bobbie Gentry / Kelly Gordon, Local Gentry, 1968]
27. “Seasons Come, Seasons Go” [B-side of “Apartment 21,” released July 7, 1969, on Touch ’Em with Love]
28. “Glory Hallelujah, How They’ll Sing” [UK B-side of “Apartment 21,” Touch ’Em with Love, 1969]
29. “Fancy” [No. 31 POP, No. 26 C&W, No. 8 Adult Contemporary, November 8, 1969, Fancy]
30. “Billy the Kid” [B-side April 4, 1970, of “He Made a Woman Out of Me,” Patchwork]
31. “But I Can’t Get Back” [Bobbie Gentry / Kelly Gordon, No. 37 Adult Contemporary, issued April 26, 1971, on Patchwork]
32. “Marigolds and Tangerines” [B-side of “But I Can’t Get Back,” Patchwork, 1971]
33. “Somebody Like Me” [UK A-side, Patchwork, 1971]
34. “Benjamin” [UK B-side of “Somebody Like Me,” Patchwork, 1971]
35. “Beverly” [Patchwork, 1971]
36. “Miss Clara / Azusa Sue” [Patchwork, 1971]
37. “Jeremiah” [Patchwork, 1971]
38. “Belinda” [Patchwork, 1971]
39. “Mean Stepmama Blues” [Patchwork, 1971]
40. “Your Number One Fan” [Patchwork, 1971]
41. “Lookin’ In” [Patchwork, 1971]
42. “Smoke” [outtake from the Patchwork sessions; available on 2007’s The Best of the Capitol Years]
43. “Joanne” [outtake from Patchwork; exhumed for 2018’s The Girl from Chickasaw County]
44. “You and Me Together” [B-side only August 12, 1972, of “The Girl from Cincinnati”]
45. “Another Place — Another Time” [theme song released circa May 9, 1974, from Max Baer, Jr.’s drive-in blockbuster Macon County Line]
46. “Slow Cookin’” [outtake from Gentry’s circa December 1977 sessions at “Fancy” producer Rick Hall’s Music Mill Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; included on the December 1990 Greatest Hits Curb compilation]

• **************“Sermon,” the last track on side one of The Delta Sweete, has long been credited as a Gentry original but is actually an adaptation of the traditional fire and brimstone spiritual “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” aka “Run On,” initially recorded post-World War II by the Golden Gate Quartet and later waxed by Odetta, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Tom Jones.

© Jeremy Roberts, 2020. All rights reserved. To touch base, email [email protected] and mention which story led you my way. I appreciate it sincerely.