I was flipping through records at thrift stores and found this….
I’m not a country music fan but thought it would be cool hear the title track again. I wound up playing the whole thing through 3 times and it is not country music. She does have a southern drawl and some song’s subject matter could be considered country but it’s not performed that way, at least I don’t think so. If I had to label it, I’d call it blues/jazz/folk/rock fusion.
Since I paid no attention to her during her heyday, except for hearing Ode to Billy Joe on the radio a zillion times, I did some reading online and it seems that song had had some cultural influence. There really was a Tallahatchie Bridge and it collapsed in 1972 but before that, the county it was in started fining people $100 for jumping off it – it was only a 20 foot drop. Supposedly she was asked what was thrown off the bridge in the song but has never said what it was. I always thought it was a dead baby but I have my morbid moments. Apparently a movie was made about it – I wonder if it will make it onto Netflix sometime?
I found the album surprisingly good especially since it came out in 1967. Also surprising was learning that it knocked The Beatles out of #1 place.
