Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Bobbie Gentry Edition

Bobbie Gentry will always be known for “Ode To Billie Joe”, one of the great country pop songs of the ’60s. It still sounds so original today. But Gentry’s unique approach to country, which blended pop and even some R & B, was, for the most part, not commercially viable, but for her later smash, “Fancy”. Accordingly, her career was too short, even though she was a prototype for future genre defying country singers such as Roseanne Cash and Shelby Lynne. This is too bad, as Gentry’s music had a sophistication which has caused it to age very well. Please join me in paying tribute to Ms. Gentry by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.

1. The Who — See My Way (A Quick One): Because The Who bled a lot of money during their early smash up their instruments days, their management asked each band member to write at least one song for their second album, so they could all get songwriting royalties. This was Roger Daltrey’s contribution, which has a bit of a Buddy Holly structure. Not a bad first effort.
2. Hawksley Workman — Every Creepy Pusher (Before We Were Security Guards): Workman is so prolific that he compiles his outtakes and sells the CDs at gigs. This is from one of those collections, a fun Kurt Weill/Tom Waits type number.
3. The Nightcrawlers — Little Black Egg (Nuggets): This is a splendid jangly pop song that managed to make the cut for the all-time great ’60s garage rock compilation. Not a garage tune, but too good to be denied.
4. Tangiers — We’re So Breathless (Never Bring You Pleasure): This Canadian duo was around about the same time as The Strokes and Spoon, and they put their own spin on that specific niche of alternative rock. I’d put this album up with The Strokes’ debut and Spoon’s Girls Don’t Tell.
5. Jules Shear — Standing Still (Watch Dog): — Shear’s debut, after his band Jules and the Polar Bears broke up, holds up very well. Todd Rundgren provided sympathetic production, and Jules’ songs were all top notch. This one actually is kind of Todd-like, but with Shear’s off-kilter vocals adding a hang dog charm.
6. The Members — Handling The Big Jets (At The Chelsea Night Club/The Choice Is Yours): The Members mixed poppy punk with reggae and whatever else popped into their head at the moment. This is rather elaborate instrumental that starts off like ska meets surf rock and then really kicks into overdrive.
7. Richard X. Heyman — Local Paper (Living Room): One of the best songs on Heyman’s debut, a real powerpop cult classic. This is captures his ability to craft melodies that captured a real urgency, along with his ability to write lyrics that aren’t typical love songs. This is about getting a job with the local paper, and Heyman plays some great piano and creatively uses a typewriter as a percussion instrument.
8. Radar Eyes — Prairie Puppies (Radar Eyes): The new Radar Eyes album is a terrific psych-garage album. They show that the formula of a bouncy melody wrapped in fuzzy guitars still works quite well.
9. Scritti Politti — Sugar And Spice (Provision): While not nearly as big a hit as Cupid & Psyche ’85, Provision picks right up where that classic left off. Green Gartside perfected a creamy blend of R & B with electro-pop, with his breathy tenor vocals and smart lyrics. This is simply great pop music.
10. The Suburbs — Cows (In Combo): A forceful rock declaration of love for cows from this great Minneapolis band. This is deadpan silliness with a great riff.