Bobbie Gentry

Induction Year: 2020

Birth Name: Roberta Lee Streeter

Birth Date: 07-27-1942

Place of Birth: Woodland, Mississippi

Born Roberta Lee Streeter near Woodland, Mississippi, Bobbie Gentry was raised on her grandparents’ farm following the divorce of her parents. At age seven, she composed her first song and began teaching herself to play a variety of instruments. At 13 she moved to California to live with her mother.

Following high school, Bobbie entered UCLA as a philosophy major. During that time, she began performing occasionally at nightclubs before signing with Capitol Records several years later.

In 1967 Bobbie released her first single, “Mississippi Delta,” however, it was the flipside, “Ode To Billie Joe,” that became a worldwide smash. (That single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.)

After the release of her follow-up “Okolona River Bottom Band,” Bobbie scored another hit single with her self-penned “Fancy” (which would also become a hit years later for Reba McEntire).

Bobbie continued to write and perform other hits into the mid-1970s, including “Mornin’ Glory” (a duet with Glen Campbell) and “But I Can’t Get Back.”

In 1968-71, Bobbie had her own TV series on the BBC in the U.K. She later produced, choreographed, and wrote/arranged the music for her own nightclub revue in Las Vegas before retiring from show business in the early 1980s.

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Song Catalog

 

"Another Place, Another Time"

Bobbie Gentry1975 
Tony Joe White2006 

"But I Can't Get Back"

(written with Kelly Gordon)

Bobbie Gentry1971 #37 AC
 

"Casket Vignette"

Bobbie Gentry1968 
 

"Chickasaw County Child"

Bobbie Gentry1967 

"Fancy"

Bobbie Gentry1970 #26 Country
Lynn Anderson1971 
Irma Thomas1971 
Reba McEntire1991 #8 Country
Megan Mullally2003  
Kellie Pickler2006 
Kelly Clarkson2018 
 

"Find 'Em, Fool 'Em, Forget 'Em"

S'Express1991 #43 UK
 

"Glory Hallelujah, How They'll Sing"

Bobbie Gentry1969 
 

"Hurry, Tuesday Child"

Bobbie Gentry1967 
Deena Webster1968 
Chris Connor1972 
 

"I Saw An Angel Die"

Bobbie Gentry1967 
Lainie Kazan1968 
 

"Jessye Lisabeth"

Bobbie Gentry1968 
 

"Marie-Jeanne"

(written with Frank Thomas, Jean-Michel Rivat)

Joe Dassin1967 
Eddy Mitchell1976 
 

"Marigolds And Tangerines"

Bobbie Gentry1971 

"Mornin' Glory"

Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell1968 #32 AC
Bill Evans1973 

"Ode To Billie Joe"

Recording is a 1999 Inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Bobbie Gentry1967 #17 Country, #1 Pop, #7 Adult Contemporary, #8 R&B
Brook Benton1967 
King Curtis & The Kingpins1967 #6 R&B, #28 Pop
Lee Hazlewood1967 
Life 'N' Soul1967 #62 UK
Margie Singleton1967 #39 Country
Ray Bryant1967 #34 Adult Contemporary
The Ventures1967 
Billie Jo Spears1968 
Booker T. & The MG's1968 
Buddy Rich1968 
Diana Ross & The Supremes1968 
Flatt & Scruggs1968 
Floyd Cramer1968 
Jackie Wilson & Count Basie1968 
Joe Tex1968 
Liz Anderson1968 
Nancy Wilson1968 
Ramsey Lewis1968 
Tammy Wynette1968 
The Mighty Flea1968 #46 R&B
Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops1969 
Oscar Peterson1969 
Chet Atkins1970 
Aretha Franklin w/ King Curtis1971 
The 5th Dimension1971 
The Lennon Sisters1974 
Bobbie Gentry1976 #54 Pop
Frankie Ford1976 
Boots Randolph1977 
Ike & Tina Turner1988 
Ray Charles1995 
Sinéad O'Connor1995 
The Byrds w/ Nashville West & Clarence White1998 
Megan Mullally2002 
Jeannie Seely2011 
Tom Wopat2011 
Lorrie Morgan2016 
Stella Parton2016 
Kathy Mattea2018 
Mercury Rev w/ Lucinda Williams2019 

"Okolona River Bottom Band"

Bobbie Gentry1968 #54 Pop
Mercury Rev w/ Norah Jones2019 
 

"Papa, Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You?"

Bobbie Gentry1967 
 

"Seasons Come, Seasons Go"

Bobbie Gentry1969 
Faron Young1982 
 

"Sermon"

Bobbie Gentry1968 
Mercury Rev w/ Margo Price2019 
 

"Slow Cookin'"

Bobbie Gentry2018 
 

"Sweete Peony"

Bobbie Gentry1968 

Other Media

Bobbie Gentry

Induction Year: 2020