The featured image is of Bobbie Gentry at the place where the action in Ode To Billie Joe took place: The Tallahatchie Bridge near Greenwood, MS. I’m not sure if it was the first song about suicide to be a number one hit but it would surprise me if it wasn’t.

Bobbie Gentry was only 25 years old when she wrote Ode To Billie Joe in 1965; a fact that amazes me given the maturity of the lyrics. It was a sensation when it came out and has been covered 230 times and counting. It’s a stone cold classic.

I give you a somber song for our grim times. The lyrics are depressingly relevant: Lack of empathy is one of Gentry’s themes.

We begin with the songwriter.

Jackie Wilson said that he’d record the song with Count Basie:

What’s not to love about the title of this Tammy Wynette album?

A funky version of the Gentry classic by Joseph Arrington Jr. DBA Joe Tex.

I hadn’t heard Sinead O’Connor’s cover of Ode To Billy Joe since she died in 2023. It made me verklempt.

Lucinda Williams. Say no more.

If you’re wondering what the strangest version of this week’s tune is, I give you The Residents:

What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without instrumental versions of the week’s tune? This time, a keyboard extravaganza with Booker T. & The MG’s followed by my 13th Ward neighbor Joe Krown. Last but never least, Oscar Peterson.

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?

That’s it for this week. Let’s drink to everyone who considered taking their own life and stopped before it was too late. It’s what Tammy and George would want. Never argue with them.