VIA PRESS RELEASE | Prior to the release of 2018’s The Girl From Chickasaw County box set, the music of Bobbie Gentry would often be lazily filed under “Easy Listening” or “Country” but the expansive collection opened the ears and the eyes of the world to what really lay in this incredible songwriter’s recorded oeuvre.
Her seven studio albums revealed an extraordinary body of work that merged Americana, soul, country, chamber-pop, bayou funk, jazz, folk, and psychedelia across recordings that possessed incredible musical ambition. And that doesn’t even touch on the quality of songwriting that lay within, where Gentry brings alive her evocative tales of life in the Deep South with all the characteristics of that region, its people and its customs illuminated to stunning effect.
The box set was a huge global success, earning a Grammy nomination and coveted Reissue of the Year accolades from The Times and Mojo. There were 5-star reviews, magazine covers, in-depth appraisals of Bobbie Gentry’s work and social media awash with listening parties bringing legions of new fans. Mercury Rev, Margo Price, Vashti Bunyan, and Hope Sandoval amongst others got together to make a superb tribute album, re-recording Gentry’s masterpiece The Delta Sweete as The Delta Sweete Revisited. After three represses, the box set became a collector’s item, but continued consumer demand from an audience either discovering or revisiting Gentry’s music now leads us to the August 5th release of The Girl From Chickasaw County: Highlights From The Capitol Masters.
Once again compiled and produced by Andrew Batt, Highlights From The Capitol Masters aims to be the ultimate “all killer, no filler” Bobbie Gentry 2CD and 2LP compilation drawn from all of Gentry’s studio albums supplemented by the cream of the previously unreleased recordings including tracks from her “lost” jazz album, The Windows Of The World, that was a standout vinyl release of RSD 2021, the deluxe edition of her classic album The Delta Sweete, other outtakes, demos, rarities and live performances taken from her TV series for the BBC.
Other picks include the classic original of “Ode To Billie Joe,” alternative versions of “Mississippi Delta,” “Touch Em’ With Love” and the classy Glen Campbell duet “Let It Be Me,” “Mornin’ Glory” from The Delta Sweete, her definitive “Hushabye Mountain,” pop soul triumph “Fancy,” and the melancholy “Lookin In” from her final album. In addition, there are exceptional acoustic demos of originals like “Hurry Tuesday Child” and “Seasons Come, Seasons Go,” new songs that never came out like “Smoke” and “Joanne,” alongside essential covers of “Conspiracy of Homer Jones” and “God Bless The Child.”
For the hardcore collector, a number of the recordings have been remixed from the multitracks especially for this release including “Caskette Vignette” and “Recollection.” Highlights From The Capitol Masters reprises the specially commissioned box set cover illustration by David Downton and the artwork also includes many of the rare and unseen photos included in the 8CD collection.
Bobbie Gentry’s career blazed brightly for a few short years, but only now is the full extent of her artistry coming into focus. The mystery of her disappearance detracts from her narrative as a self-made woman who strove for financial and creative independence. When we think of empowered female stars we think of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Madonna, or even Dolly Parton, but before all of them there came the girl from Chickasaw County. This impeccably curated new set reminds us once again just how special an artist she was.
