Bobbie Gentry – Ode to Billie Joe
Ode to Billie Joe is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry (b. 1942). It was released on August 21, 1967, following the single with the song of the same name. Tara Murtha (Rolling Stone):
Industry wisdom said “Ode” was too dark, too long, too different to get played on the radio.
It was a smash hit. With no special promotion, the song unexpectedly climbed up the charts past the Doors, Aretha Franklin and the Beatles, ultimately knocking “All You Need is Love” out of the Number One spot. By August, the mysterious tale of Billie Joe McAllister jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge was ubiquitous, the inescapable sound of the darkening days of the so-called Summer of Love.
The cover photo is by Ed Simpson. No designer is credited on the sleeve. The typeface used on the front cover is Palisade Graphic. Fonts In Use reader Andrew claims Palisade Graphic was created by Milton Glaser specifically for this album. I haven’t been able to confirm this yet. If you have any insight on this, please let us know in a comment.
1 Comment on “Bobbie Gentry – Ode to Billie Joe”
See also the comments in this thread: A very similar or identical face is shown in Alphabet Thesaurus (1960) as Cavanagh Palisade, suggesting it was designed by John Albert Cavanagh.