The Confounding, Enigmatic 'Ode To Billie Joe' — npr.org

hide captionBobbie Gentry rarely gave interviews and disappeared from public life in the mid-1970s. Bobbie Gentry rarely gave interviews and disappeared from public life in the mid-1970s. Today is June 3, a date marked by the song "Ode to Billie Joe." In 1967, it was a No. 1 hit for Bobbie Gentry, a singer-songwriter from Chickasaw County, Miss. For two weeks, Gentry was bigger than the Beatles, as her album bumped Sgt. Pepper off the top of the charts.

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