Sunday Morning Coming Down

This morning an undisputed classic for you delictation.

It’s a song often covered, to the point where I would struggle to say whose version I prefer. If pushed, I would probably plump for Dean Martin’s, but this version could easily push his into second on a good day. I think it’s the slightly wonky xylophone which does it for me:

Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell – Gentle on My Mind

More soon.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

This morning, one of the oddest, most wonderfully curious Country records ever made, which I can’t actually believe I haven’t posted before:

Bobbie Gentry – Ode to Billy Joe

Just brilliant, even if I have no idea what has actually happened in the storyline, other than somebody gets a frog put down their back, somebody else asks for some biscuits to be passed to him, and still somebody else either jumps or gets thrown into a river which I can’t spell.

More soon.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of Kris Kristofferson, particularly the records he released in his purple patch between 1970 and 1972.

Over the years, it’s become a bit of a mission of mine to introduce Kristofferson’s songs to friends of mine who I think would find their existence considerably enriched by having these records in their lives (by which I mean everybody), or at the very least to be aware that Kristofferson isn’t just the old bloke from the “Blade” film franchise.

 My go-to songs for such occasions are the one which shares a name with this thread, or “Me & Bobby McGee”. Some will know the latter because of Janis Joplin’s version.

But on more than one occasion, when playing the latter, and probably puzzled given Joplin’s version, I’ve been asked if Kristofferson was gay. I’ve had to point out that “Bobby” can be a nickname for a girl, being short for Roberta, and as an example have said “You know, like Bobbie Gentry”.

The problem with this, is that if the person I’m talking to doesn’t know who Kris Kristofferson is, they sure as hell don’t know who Bobbie Gentry is either, so I then have to explain who she is as well.

This morning’s post is going to save me a lot of time from now on.

This is Bobbie Gentry, not with her most famous song (that honour must surely go to genuinely unsettling “Ode To Billy Joe”), but instead with this Bacharach/David composition, perhaps more famously done by Dionne Warwick, despite Gentry’s version being a Number 1 hit in the UK before Warwick had even released her version, which failed to chart here.

Bobbie Gentry – I’ll Never Fall in Love Again

Plus, just look at the sleeve. That Bobbie ain’t no dude.

More soon.