1. Bobbie Gentry was born on Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27,1942 and is an American retired singer-songwriter.
41 Facts About Bobbie Gentry
1. 2.
Bobbie Gentry was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material.
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Bobbie Gentry charted 11 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and four singles on the United Kingdom Top 40.
4.
Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter on July 27,1942, near Woodland in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, to Ruby Lee and Robert Harrison Streeter.
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When her parents divorced shortly after her birth, her mother moved to California, leaving Bobbie Gentry to be raised on a farm by her paternal grandparents.
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Bobbie Gentry's grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and, at age seven, Gentry composed her first song, "My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog".
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Bobbie Gentry lived in Greenwood, Mississippi, with her father for a few years and learned to play the guitar and banjo.
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At age 13, Bobbie Gentry moved to Palm Springs, California, to live with her then-remarried mother.
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Bobbie Gentry took her stage name from the 1952 film Ruby Bobbie Gentry, which she had seen on television.
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Bobbie Gentry supported herself with clerical jobs, occasionally performing at nightclubs and country clubs, and when she appeared in a revue at Les Folies Bergeres nightclub in Las Vegas, Bob Hope encouraged her to keep performing.
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Bobbie Gentry worked as a fashion model, and on June 29,1962, United Press International circulated a wire photo of Gentry that included Cheryl Crane, daughter of Lana Turner.
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Bobbie Gentry transferred to the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, where she took classes in composition, music theory and arranging.
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Bobbie Gentry recorded a demo at Whitney Recording Studio in Glendale, California, in February and March 1967.
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Bobbie Gentry signed with Capitol Records on June 23,1967, where staff producer Kelly Gordon would produce Ode to Billie Joe as his first full-length album for the label.
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Bobbie Gentry won three Grammy Awards in 1967, including Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
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Bobbie Gentry was named the Academy of Country Music's Most Promising Female Vocalist.
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In February 1968, Bobbie Gentry took part in the Italian Song Festival in Sanremo competition, as one of two performers of "La Siepe" by Vito Pallavicini and Massara.
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In 1968, Bobbie Gentry was invited to host her own variety show on BBC Two in the UK, making her the first female songwriter to front a series on the channel.
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The initial six episodes of Bobbie Gentry were broadcast weekly from July 13 to August 17,1968.
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From 1968 to 1971, while in the UK recording her own series, Bobbie Gentry made numerous guest appearances on other BBC shows.
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Bobbie Gentry's cover of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" was released as the second single in the UK, where it became a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart.
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In 1969, Bobbie Gentry taped four television specials for Canadian television station CFTO-TV Toronto for North American syndication.
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Bobbie Gentry would be nominated for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards.
24.
Around the time Patchwork was released, the entire executive board that had been at Capitol throughout Bobbie Gentry's career was fired.
25.
Since Bobbie Gentry was unwilling to release an album with Capitol on the terms offered, she found herself unable to release an album on another label, meaning she was left with no choice but to wait out the remaining option period of her contract.
26.
In 1975, Bobbie Gentry wrote and performed "Another Place, Another Time" for writer-director Max Baer, Jr.
27.
In 1976, Baer directed the feature film Ode to Billy Joe, based on Bobbie Gentry's hit song and starring Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor.
28.
Records released a soundtrack of the score by Michel Legrand, including a re-recorded version of "Ode to Billie Joe", re-titled "Ode to Billy Joe" to match the film's title, with Bobbie Gentry stating that the original spelling was an error.
29.
In 1977 Bobbie Gentry reunited with producer Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals to record an album for the Curb Records division of Warner Bros.
30.
Bobbie Gentry appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on Christmas Day 1978.
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Bobbie Gentry attended the Best of Vegas Awards on March 21,1980.
32.
On May 10,1981, Bobbie Gentry was one of many celebrity guests to take part in An All-Star Salute to Mother's Day.
33.
The last time Bobbie Gentry appeared in public was when she attended the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 30,1982.
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One 2016 news report stated that Bobbie Gentry lived in a gated community near Memphis, Tennessee.
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Bobbie Gentry married casino magnate Bill Harrah on December 18,1969.
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Bobbie Gentry married Thomas R Toutant on August 17,1976, and she divorced him on August 1,1978.
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On October 15,1978, Bobbie Gentry married singer and comedian Jim Stafford with whom she had a son, Tyler Bobbie Gentry Stafford.
38.
Bobbie Gentry had partial ownership of the Phoenix Suns NBA team from the team's inception in 1968 until 1987.
39.
Bobbie Gentry charted 11 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and four singles in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
40.
Beth Orton recorded a song titled "Bobby Bobbie Gentry" featured on her The Other Side of Daybreak album.
41.
In 2011, producer and singer Joe Henry said Bobbie Gentry's writing influenced him early in his life.