American Quilt 1967-1974

Bobbie Gentry | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1967
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Raven [Australia]
• ASIN: B00006C2P9
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,312 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ode To Billie Joe

2. Mississippi Delta

3. I Saw An Angel Die

4. Okolona River Bottom Band

5. Mornin' Glory

6. Sermon

7. Penduli Pendulum

8. Jessye' Lisabeth

9. Refractions

10. Courtyard

11. Sweet Peony

12. Casket Vignette

13. Recollection

14. Sittin' Pretty

15. Touch 'Em With Love

16. I'll Never Fall In Love Again

17. Fancy

18. Apartment 21

19. Benjamin

20. Marigolds And Tangerines

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

2002 career retrospective from female vocalist/songwriter contains 26 tracks including the US #1 hit 'Ode To Billie Joe', her classic rendition of Bacharach/David's 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again', as well as non-LP tracks (A-sides, B-sides, & contributions to soundtracks). Comprehensive historical liner notes, complete with rare photographs & album covers. Raven.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Off The Talahassee Bridge, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: American Quilt 1967-1974 (Audio CD)

The sound quality may not as good as it was on 45 (25-35 years ago), but to these ears it all sounds fine. Since Bobbie Gentry albums are about as scarce as the artist herself, AMERICAN QUILT serves as the perfect introduction. Audiophiles & rabid fans are certain to be disappointed. They always are. But if you love "Ode To Billie Joe" & want more, the body of work represented here is likely to surpise you.

What's particularly commendable about this collection is it's focus on Gentry's originals. Needless to say, she has a lot more to offer than a pretty voice. Despite some rather dated production, Bobbie Gentry was a first rate songwriter. Lyrically she has the subtlety of Joni Mitchchell & the Gothic appeal of Johnny Cash. As for being a Country Artist, there's far too much diversity here to catergorize her so easily. Vintage late 60's Pop, Blue Eyed Soul, Backwoods Funk & a touch of Psychedelica---it's all there. Vocally, I'd say she has more in common with Dusty Springfield than Loretta Lynn.

For fans of "Billie Joe"'s seductive grooves, tunes like "Mississippi Delta" & "Okolona River..." are sure to please. "Sermon" takes all the fire & brimestone of a Baptist minister & sets it to a sultry beat Elvis would envy. On "Morning Glory" she sounds like she just woke up beside you, whispering in your ear. Southern gentility meets English Psychedelica on numbers like "Penduli Pendulum", "Jessye' Lisabeth" & "Refractions". "Courtyard" & "I Saw An Angel Die" capture Gentry at her most haunting & desolate.

There's a sense of the macabre lurking beneath many of her songs which may have accounted for her lack of chart topping power after "Billie Joe". Pretty as they are, ballads like "Fancy" & "Apartment 21" allude to a sordiness worthy of early Lou Reed. Gentry's black sense of humor is more than evident on "Casket Vignette". Despite it's cheery demeanor, the lyrics sound straight out of Flannery O'Connor.

At the moment, Gentry's albums are out of print on CD. The current resurgence of interest in the music press might change that. Until then, AMERICAN QUILT is probably your best bet to check out this unique & crimminally neglected artist.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great attempt...but misses the mark, August 31, 2002

By 

Butch Tuohey (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Quilt 1967-1974 (Audio CD)

I have been a die-hard Bobbie Gentry fan since the first time I heard "Ode to Billie Joe". That raspy voice reached out and grabbed me; never mind trying to figure out what the mystery was behind the song. We all had our own explaination about that.
The movie's version was not what we had in mind...but never mind about that. When I first heard that a new complation CD "Bobbie Gentry: An American Quilt 1967-1974" was to be released I thought, it's about time. Now maybe we would get some of the old recordings re-mastered to digital quality and maybe some gems we haven't heard in the past. Well, I'm sorry to say that this CD falls short on both of those issues; particularly in the sound quality area! Most of the titles on this CD have appeared on other CDs already. The few that appear here for the first time on CD, namely,"Benjamin","Marigolds and Tangerines", "Billy the Kid", and a few others from the underappreciated "Patchwork" album, are a welcome addition to the fans CD library. The problem is the sound quality! I had earphones on and it was hard to tell if these were mono recordings or if I was slightly deaf in one ear. Particularly poor was "Another Place, Another Time". It sounded as if someone had a microphone next to the television speaker and recorded it when "Macon County Line" was playing on TNT. I pulled out my 45 of this on the Brunswick label to see if it was as poor as that. No way. The stereo and production quality was superb on this cut. Same problem with "Touch Em With Love". My 45 sounds infinitely better and it is stereo! If this is a definitive collection, why not include the lesser known "You and Me Together", "Crawdads", "Away In A Manger", "No Me Quiero Enamorar", and "En Todas Partes"? A great big THANK YOU to Raven Records for trying but I think I'll burn my 45s onto a CD if I want quality and selection.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of her solo recordings, March 17, 2003

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Quilt 1967-1974 (Audio CD)

Whatever it was that suicidal Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahatchie bridge, Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe" earned a permanent place among music's enigmas. Backed with six violins, two cellos and Gentry's acoustic guitar, the folk-noir ballad hit #1 on 1967's pop chart. The album Ode To Billy Joe topped both pop and country charts.

Remastered from her 1967-74 Capitol singles and LPs (but skipping her hit duets with Glen Campbell), the well-annotated, 26-song An American Quilt presents the everyone's favorite swamp chick vacillating from country pop, baroque pop and white soul to lackluster pop that pushes her down in the mix as her natural throaty alto turns into a thin soprano, as on Bachrach and David's "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" (a British #1).

Sometimes these tracks are funny. A sunny bubble-pop arrangement comically enhances the Randy Newman-like "Casket Vignette." "Fancy" (a bigger hit when remade by Reba McEntire in 1990) has lightly scurrying guitar notes when a cockroach skitters across the upwardly mobile heroine's high-heeled shoe. And "Mississippi Delta" shows that Miss Gentry is a darn good speller!

I would have liked to have seen some of the Campbell duets included here. You can get the best of them ("Let It Be Me," "All I Have To Do Is Dream") on Glenn's new "All The Best" Capitol retrospective.