Listening to Bobbie Gentry... part 7

Patchwork (1971)

Side one
1."Benjamin"
2."Marigolds And Tangerines"
3."Billy The Kid"
4."Beverly"
5."Miss Clara/Azusa Sue"
6. "But I Can't Get Back"

Side two
1."Jeremiah"
2."Belinda"
3."Mean Stepmama Blues"
4."Your Number One Fan"
5."Somebody Like Me"
6."Lookin' In"

Her last album, a marvelous work. After all the covers, she returns to write all of the songs and self-produce the album. And what songs and what a production! I can see that, like 'Delta sweete', it takes a few spins to settle in. There's so much going on, it's like listening to three records in a row. But this is great, unique, ambitious and, yes, a bit flawed. The music brings together all of her influences, it's no longer country or soul or pop or literate singersongwriter, but everything at once, with instrumental links between the songs and some songs that are like complete stageplays in themselves. I can't really describe it, but I sure love it.

Sadly, that was it. There was one more amazing single, 'The girl from Cincinnati/You and me' (1972) [most comps include the A-side, but the B-side is even better, a sad sad song about lost relationships]. Work on a follow-up to 'Patchwork' ground to a halt due to a payment dispute (is what I heard), and she quit the label. Musically, she briefly resurfaced in 1974 with the song 'Another place, another time' from a movie (also on some comps), a lovely, but slight little track.

In 1976 she started working at Warner Brothers and cut a couple of tracks, one of which was released as a single. What I've heard from these tracks sounded odd and unappealing. Bobbie doing her best over an anonymous semi-disco groove. Odd stuff that didn't play to her strengths. And then she disappeared...