Bobbie Gentry, Where Did You Go?

"Only the aphids know about the undertow of the amber waves of grain"

Photo by Kyle Johnson

I present to you the final single “Bobbie Gentry, Where Did You Go?” from the upcoming LP Death Valley. This is the fourth single from Death Valley which will be out on (drumroll…) March 28th!!! You can preorder the vinyl now!! (Please do!)

The last known photo of Bobbie Gentry

On April 30, 1982, Bobbie Gentry showed up to the Academy Country Music Awards held at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. She walked the red carpet, took a photo, watched Juice Newton win Best New Female Vocalist (Queen of Hearts slaps), etc. After the show, she effectively vanished and has not been seen publicly since. Some say she lives in a gated community near Memphis, others report Los Angeles. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) We know that up until 1987 she was partial owner of the Phoenix Suns (shoutout Seattle legend James Edwards). We know from reporting by the Washington Post (big middle finger to Seattle scourge Jeff Bez*s) that she was alive as of 2018. But there have been no appearances, recordings, interviews or acknowledgments in well over 40 years.

Bobbie Gentry is known mostly for her duets with Glen Campbell and especially for writing and performing one of the most enthralling songs in the history of recorded music, the remarkable, chart-topping Ode to Billie Joe; a Southern gothic thriller of a short story that has spawned decades of literary analysis as to what was thrown over the side of the Tallahatchie Bridge. According to Gentry, it is really a song about indifference in the face of tragedy.

I feel that Gentry’s The Delta Sweete album is a masterpiece that you all should listen to. Ode to Billie Joe is an undisputed stroke of genius. Beyond that, her music hasn’t really been influential enough to me for it to warrant me writing an Ode to Bobbie Gentry. So why write one that nominally seems to be?

I mused on Bobbie Gentry for this song for a couple of reasons. First, the prevalence of her music seems to be hindered by a complete disregard for the concept of genre. Is it Country? Folk? Soul? Funk? Showtunes? Depends on the fucking song, Dude! It depends on the specific moment in a song. It depends on the specific part being played amongst other parts being played in a specific moment of a specific section of a specific verse of a specific song.

Every time I release a song, in hopes of being heard, I have to go through a number of processes in which I must declare my genre to an algorithm that then allegedly presents my music to a playlist editor or blogger or vlogger who then allegedly listens to the song and decides if it is the type of song that they tend to feature. In these moments I have no idea what to say and feel completely trapped by the construct. If I were an artist on a label, some person from that label could make a little wink-wink arrangement with said editors, call it Classical Punk-Rap Harmonic Rock and Roll-Tonk American Folk Literary Blues Balladry, have them build a playlist around that, buy some ad space from them, and call it a win. As an independent artist I am stuck reluctantly and cluelessly entering “Rock(?)”, “Folk(?)” “Singer-songwriter(?)” before thinking about if there were any other career paths I could have chosen in my life (there aren’t).

“Bobbie Gentry, Where Did You Go?” might wind up in the bin with “country”, but only because it says Bobbie Gentry in the title, an artist who due to lack of collective imagination gets clumped in with that lot, and because it features a pedal steel guitar part played by Seattle legend Bill Patton. Pedal steel is the most gorgeous, haunting, heart-rending instrument out there. Especially when played by Bill Patton. That’s why I use it in my songs, not because I am a country artist setting out to make a country song. I grew up amongst Pacific Northwest urban Catholic libs. I don’t have a country bone in my body. Don’t let those Ballard cowboys fool you.

The other reason that Bobbie Gentry stands as a figurehead for this song is that she “disappeared”. She didn’t disappear to her friends and family. She disappeared to you and I. She disappeared to the media. She left what she could no longer condone.

These days the idea of pulling out of the rat race, pulling out of the fight, pulling out of the country, sounds increasingly appealing. That’s what “Bobbie Gentry, Where Did You Go?” is about. It’s not about Bobbie at all. It’s a song about loving something that you disavow based on what it’s become. It’s a song about the conflict between who you are and what you are immersed in. It’s a song about not having the answer.

As stated before this song features pedal steel guitar from Bill Patton as well as brilliant string arrangements from Peter Murray performed artfully by Laena Myers in a nod to the haunting string arrangements on Ode to Billie Joe. Richard Gowen plays drums. Ryan Nasci nailed the mix.

I love you all. Thanks for listening and reading this far. Be sure to get your Death Valley preorders in!

If you’re interested in learning more about Bobbie Gentry, I highly recommend checking out her records and listening to this fantastic episode about her from the podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones.