The changing attitudes toward marijuana, with states legalizing medical marijuana or legalizing it outright, reminded me of a 45 rpm record I had as a kid. I had never seen or smelled pot at that time, but I just liked a funny song called “Wildwood Weed.”
Jim Stafford recorded the song, which is really more talking than singing. If you had a TV in the 1970s, you probably know who Jim Stafford is. Like Paul Williams (and to some extent John Denver), he was one of those singer-performers who for a period seemed to be on every television show before suddenly seeming to disappear.
Stafford was a country-singer-comedian who often appeared on The Tonight Show. He had his own summer variety TV show in 1975 called, appropriately, The Jim Stafford Show. You might also remember him as a co-host of Those Amazing Animals from 1980 to 1981. Or you might recall his appearances on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ‘Revival Show.’
But before all of that, I knew Stafford from a 45 rpm record playing in my bedroom where he sang a story about “Wildwood Weed.” Below Stafford performs “Wildwood Weed” while hosting Nashville Now. But first he explains how the song was controversial at the time.
“Wildwood Weed” went to number seven on the U.S. charts in 1974. One of his other songs that I recall from that same year was “My Girl Bill,” which is a little more serious than “Wildwood Weed.”
Stafford was one of the most likable people on television in those days, and he always seemed to be smiling. So I was glad to hear that he is still performing even if the shows are not on national TV. Since 1990, he has performed at The Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri.
What is your favorite memory of Jim Stafford? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via public domain.
Bobbie Gentry created great music in addition to her mysterious “Ode to Billie Joe” before her early retirement.
Roberta Lee Streeter, who later took the stage name Bobbie Gentry, was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi on July 27, 1944. Best known for the song “Ode to Billie Joe,” the singer-songwriter eventually became almost as mysterious as the song.
Bobbie Gentry released her first single, “Mississippi Delta,” in 1967. But it was the flip-side song, “Ode to Billie Joe” that became the hit. There are various reports that the four-minutes-plus song was originally written as a seven-minute song with extra lyrics, although others doubt that story.
Ode To Billie Joe, the album that featured the song, also became a hit. It replaced The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the number one position on the Billboard Albums Chart.
The Mysteries of “Ode to Billie Joe”
Listeners loved “Ode to Billie Joe” partly because it left so many questions unanswered. The song tells the story of two Mississippi teen lovers who share a secret, with the young man, Billie Joe MacAllister, committing suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
In the song, the young woman listens to her parents talk about Billie Joe. The parents do not know what the listeners understand about the young woman’s connection to the young boy.
Fans still debate what the girl and the boy earlier threw off the bridge. But Gentry has stated that the item is not the point of the song.
Gentry explained to Fred Bronson in an interview, “[T]he real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”
Below, Bobby Gentry performs “Ode to Billie Joe” on BBC Live in 1968.
The year “Ode to Billie Joe” was released, Gentry won three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. Rolling Stonetoday lists “Ode to Billie Joe” as the 47th greatest country song of all time.
Gentry’s Career After “Ode to Billie Joe”
After “Ode,” Gentry continued to write and record songs like “Fancy” (later covered by Reba McIntyre).
Gentry hosted a TV show on BBC-TV. Below is an episode of The Bobbie Gentry Show from 1968.
The 1970s was the era of variety shows, and Gentry appeared on several of them. For example, she appeared with The Smothers Brothers and on Dick Van Dyke’s 1976 show Van Dyke and Company. In 1974 she even hosted her own summer replacement CBS variety show, The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour.
Below, Gentry sings “Let it Be Me” with Glen Campbell on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour in 1969. During the making of the show, the two realized how well their voices blended. So, Campbell and Gentry ended up making an album together too.
Gentry’s song “Ode to Billy Joe,” though, continued to be her biggest hit and to have a life of its own. The song was eventually transformed into a film that provided its own answers to the questions asked in the song.
In 1978, Max Baer, Jr. directed Ode to Billy Joe, which starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor. Gentry re-recorded “Ode to Billie Joe” for the movie, which had changed the spelling of the main character’s first name to “Billy.” Below is the trailer.
Retirement
In 1978, Gentry decided to retire and married singer-comedian Jim Stafford. The marriage ended after about a year, but the retirement was more lasting. In addition to her work in music, her success with investments (such as purchasing a share of the Phoenix Suns NBA team in 1969) allowed her to exit the public stage. In the last several decades, Gentry has stayed out of the public eye and denied requests for interviews.
In a June 2016 Washington Post story, reporter Neely Tucker wrote of efforts to find Gentry. The reporter tracked down Gentry to a gated community about a two-hour drive from the location of the Tallahatchie Bridge, which had collapsed in 1972.
The reporter called the number of the house and asked for Gentry. The person who answered said that Gentry did not live there and hung up, although the reporter believed the person speaking was Gentry.
So we do not know much about Bobbie Gentry during the last several decades. But she is entitled to her privacy, just as we can be thankful she entertained us and gave us some great recordings, including one of the most mysterious songs of all time.
Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule (“I Kissed a Girl”) even took the mystery about Bobbie Gentry and turned it into a song. Her song “Where is Bobbie Gentry?” is, of course, in the style of “Ode to Billie Joe.”
Wherever Bobbie Gentry is now, we wish her a happy and peaceful birthday.
The changing attitudes toward marijuana, with states legalizing medical marijuana or legalizing it outright, reminded me of a 45 rpm record I had as a kid. I had never seen or smelled pot at that time, but I just liked a funny song called “Wildwood Weed.”
Roberta Lee Streeter, who later took the stage name Bobbie Gentry, was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi on July 27, 1944. Best known for the song “Ode to Billie Joe,” the singer-songwriter eventually became almost as mysterious as the song.
, the album that featured the song, also became a hit. It replaced The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the number one position on the Billboard Albums Chart.
