THE FABULOUS JOHNNY CASH

Johnny Cash's debut album for his new label Columbia was released in November 1958 and to celebrate this we look back at the recording, release and success of the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash.

A week after his last session for Sun Records, Johnny Cash was at the Owen Bradley Studios in Nashville cutting his first sides for his new label, Columbia. This first session produced six songs and a few weeks later on 8 August a further ten tracks were recorded during two sessions on that day. To enable them to have enough tracks for their first album and singles a further session was held five days later with nine more songs successfully recorded.

To expand the basic sound of the Tennessee Two Columbia brought in some additional musicians and on the first session Morris Palmer and Marvin Hughes, on drums and piano, were also present. An unknown chorus was around to add vocal support on some tracks and for the first time since A.W. ‘Red’ Kernoddle had made his one and only studio appearance back in 1955, a steel guitar was present. Don Helms played the instrument on just the one song, Suppertime. Drummer Murry M. ‘Buddy’ Harman joined them for the first August sessions and by the second had replaced Morris Palmer who, along with Marvin Hughes, did not appear on any of the songs recorded that day.

Two songs recorded during these sessions, What Do I Care and All Over Again were paired up and became Cash’s first single on his new label although they would not appear on the album. On the country charts What Do I Care spent fifteen weeks reaching #7 while the flipside spent nineteen weeks on the chart peaking three places higher at #4. Both sides made the pop chart reaching #52 and #38 respectively.

Cash's Sun Records had been issued in the UK on the London label and his new Columbia records would be released on the Philips label.

The UK pop weekly Disc reviewed his new single in their 15 November issue. "The deep brown voice of Johnny Cash turns up now on the Philips label after a long spell with London. And Philips should be pleased, because Johnny might have one of his biggest successes on this side of the water with this coupling. What Do I Care is a rich, steady country romancer that lopes along in company with a rhythm group backing. Both songs on this release were written by Johnny himself. And it may be that All Over Again will turn out to be the bigger attraction of the pair. Quicker than the other side with some chorus work behind Cash, it's catchy stuff."

Of the twenty-five tracks recorded over this short time twelve would make the final selection for Cash’s first Columbia album, The Fabulous Johnny Cash.

The album, which was an eclectic mix, opens with the first of five songs written, co- written or adapted by Cash, Run Softly Blue River, and there is no mistake that you are listening to a Johnny Cash album.

The other songs credited to Cash are Frankies Man Johnny, which he adapted from the old nineteenth century New Orleans ballad Frankie and Albert, I Still Miss Someone, written with his nephew Roy Cash, Jr., Don’t Take Your Guns To Town and Pickin’ Time.

Don’t Take Your Guns To Town with its story about a farm boy who, convinced that he was grown-up, failed to heed his mothers warnings and lost his life to a stranger who was quicker on the draw. It is the strongest song on the album and, as we will see, was a successful single.

I Still Miss Someone was a song that Cash would perform live throughout his career and re-record several times. It is a beautiful country ballad about lost love that Cash handles well.

With Pickin’ Time we return to a theme he covered on Country Boy a few years earlier, his rural upbringing. These were strong songs and it is clear to see why he refused to record any of his own material during his final few months with Sun Records, preferring to keep them for his new label.

One of the songs he tried at Sun but never completed a finished master is One More Ride and he returned to the song for his new album producing a similar sounding version.

Sam Phillips had not let him record gospel material during his time at Sun but with Columbia he was given more freedom and he covers two songs with religious overtones, That’s Enough and Suppertime which takes on a more religious meaning towards the end of the track. The remaining tracks, That's All Over, The Troubadour, I'd Rather Die Young and Shepherd Of My Heart all fitted in well. Cash and Columbia records were both satisfied with the debut album.

Released in November 1958 The Fabulous Johnny Cash became his first album chart success when, on 8 December 1958, it entered the US pop charts at #20. Having spent three weeks in the chart at the end of the year, reaching #19, it re-entered the charts in February 1959 and spent a further six weeks on the pop charts peaking at #21.

Billboard voted the album ‘Favourite C&W Album.’ Initial sales of the album approached 400,000. Released in time for the Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville it was there that Columbia Vice-President Bill Gallagher and producer Don Law presented Cash with his Gold award for All Over Again. 

It had been a succesful year for Cash with his debut album for Columbia far exceeding expectations, a gold award single and to cap it all at the end of the year he was voted ‘Favourite Country and Western Artist by Billboard magazine and for the second time Cash Box voted him ‘Most Programmed Male Country Vocalist.’

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It was common practice with record companies in the late fifties and early sixties to take an artist’s latest album and release the material on separate extended play releases. The twelve tracks on The Fabulous Johnny Cash were spread over three EPs, with each featuring a different cover shot from the same photo session.

In their 18 April 1959 review Disc, the UK pop weekly, did not agree with the title and in a review headed “Fabulous? Not On Your Life” they wrote, “The sleeve note hails Johnny Cash as ‘fabulous.’ I disagree. He is a good performer and I’ll admit that he is a lot better than most in his field of singing. But ‘fabulous’ — never. People are too free with flowing praise nowadays with the result that many adjectives have lost their meaning. ‘Fabulous’ is one of the most overworked of all. This is a good album and the Cash boy has a rich voice which should make him pretty popular. He sounds a little like a young Ernie Ford but lacks the richness of that artist’s voice.”

Speaking about the album in 2002 Cash said, “It was 1958 and I had a new album called The Fabulous Johnny Cash. Someone says ‘What’s the name of your new album?’ Try answering without a shred of ego. ‘It’s called The Fabulous Johnny Cash.’ Oh well. that was over forty years ago. Ancient history.”

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Don’t Take Your Guns To Town backed with I Still Miss Someone was the first single lifted off the album for release and in the UK Disc, who had been less than impressed with the album were more complimentary this time round. They wrote, "I Still Miss Someone is a typical Cash country song, and would be chosen as the prototype for anyone planning an impersonation of this dark, sorrowful-voiced westerner. Not as good as some of his recent recordings, but still worth a spin. Don't Take Your Guns To Town is a narrative song in true cowboy tradition. Johnny drawls about a young cowpoke who insisted on taking his guns to town despite his mother's pleas. Story continues in all the best cliches to it's doleful end."

In December Billboard reviewed the single, "Don't Take Your Guns To Town is a Westernish, folkish effort that Cash gives his usual fine reading. It's an offbeat side for the artist, but it's already doing well in some areas. Flip is also a fine approach on a melancholy weeper. Strong potential on both pop and c&w markets."

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The album wasn’t alone in achieving chart success. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town managed a twenty-week run during which time it held the top spot for six weeks during March and April 1959. It couldn’t repeat the success on the pop charts where it stalled at #32. I Still Miss Someone, despite being a strong record, failed to achieve any chart action.

Frankie’s Man Johnny was also lifted for release and was paired with a non-album track You Dreamer You. The a-side spent eleven weeks on the country charts reaching #6 while the flip peaked at #13. On the pop charts Frankie's Man Johnny spent seven weeks reaching only #57.

On their 1990 release The Man in Black 1954-1958 Bear Family Records devoted a complete CD to outtakes with multiple takes of eight of the tracks recorded at the 13 August session. Many are false starts or breakdowns and it is interesting to hear the songs coming together in the studio.

Songs included are Lead Me Father, That's Enough, I Still Miss Someone, One More Ride, Pickin' Time, Don't Take Your Guns To Town, I'd Rather Die Young, Shepherd Of My Heart and one song, Cold Shoulder, that did not find release until Bear Family included it on the 1978 album The Unissued Johnny Cash. 

In 2002, to celebrate Cash’s seventieth birthday, Sony reissued the album on CD adding an additional six tracks - Oh What A Dream, Mama’s Baby, Fools Hall Of Fame, I’ll Remember You, Cold Shoulder and Walkin’ The Blues two of which were previously unreleased and the remaining four previously unavailable in the USA. All six tracks were recorded during the aforementioned three sessions in July and August.

In the sleevenotes to this re-issue Cash had this to say about the album, “At the time it was, to me, the best collection of my work that I could put together. Songs I’d written while still in the Air Force were coming back.”

ELVIS - A LEGENDARY PERFORMER

Throughout Elvis Presley's long career his record company had never, intentionally, released any previously unreleased material. However, an alternate version of Old Shep had been issued in error on some early import pressings of his second album, Elvis, released in October 1956. A second mistake occurred in 1973 when, after releasing the studio recording of Stay Away, Joe in 1970 on the budget release Let's Be Friends, the movie version was included in error on the budget album Almost In Love. This was soon corrected on later pressings.

All this would change in 1974, long before the advent of the Follow That Dream label which has given fans a wealth of unreleased material over the past twenty-plus years.

In the mid-1970s RCA Records created a new series of albums with the generic title A Legendary Performer. Artists that were featured in the series included Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini, Bing Crosby, Jimmie Rodgers and Elvis Presley.

Although I haven't seen every release in the series I do believe that the four Elvis Presley albums were the only ones to include previously unreleased material. Elvis was also one of only two artists to have more than one volume released, the other being Glenn Miller who had three albums issued. 

The packaging, for the time, was impressive with a circular cut-out on the front through which the inner sleeve could be seen. Each album included a booklet with colour front, back, inside front and inside back covers with the remaining pages in black and white. The booklets featured a wealth of photos and memorabilia including session paperwork, tape boxes and much more.

It was Joan Deary who was responsible for the Elvis - A Legendary Performer series. She had been Steve Sholes secretary at RCA, and later was administrator of Elvis releases and had a good working relationship with The Colonel. However, a fall-out with Elvis' producer Felton Jarvis, over the track selection on the Elvis (Fool) album had caused a rift which would not be healed.

In 1973 Elvis and The Colonel had signed a new contract with RCA Records worth over $5 million by selling the rights to all his back-catalogue. They both needed money and this seemed a good option. However, in hindsight it was one of the worst managerial decisions ever made.

Following the sell-out to RCA Records the way was open for them to release Elvis' early recordings and they wasted no time. Deary compiled a new deluxe compilation to include a selection of old recordings and previously unreleased material, all owned by RCA under the new contract.

On it's release, the commercial failure of the Raised On Rock album would lead to more attempts by RCA to get rid of producer Felton Jarvis. They hadn't counted on Elvis' loyalty to Jarvis and when they approached him about the subject he told them in no uncertain terms that there would be no sacking.

As if RCA didn't have enough problems, further complications arose at the time when The Colonel found out that the forthcoming Joan Deary compilation would be released at the same time as Raised On Rock. He was furious and made attempts to stop the release of the album. All he achieved was delaying the album until January 1974.

While Joan Deary may not have been popular within the Elvis circle there can be no debate as to how successful the albums would become. The first release in the series would sell over 700,00 copies, outsell and peak higher than Elvis' current release, Raised On Rock, and the previous album, Elvis (Fool). The RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) would eventually award the album 'Gold' status. It would appear that by the mid-seventies Elvis' back-catalogue was more popular than his current recordings.

Future releases would also perform well with Volumes 2 and 3 both charting at 46 and 112 respectively with both gaining Gold awards from the RIAA. Volume 4 could not repeat the success and no further volumes were released.

Having looked back at the history of how the Legendary Performer series came about we will now look in detail at each of the four Elvis releases in the series.

In January 1974 RCA released Elvis - A Legendary Performer Volume 1, and I still remember to this day waiting for my mother to return from town with my copy that I had asked her to pick up for me.

'RCA Records proudly presents the Legendary Performer collection... a series of recordings by the world's finest musical artists. Glowing with energy that transcends time, these are performances which will recall fond memories for collectors, and bring the joy of new discovery to young audiences.'

Volume 1 featured fourteen tracks with five previously unreleased or hard to find along with two interview excerpts. The seven previously released tracks dated from the 1950s and early-1960s and included That's All Right, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, Peace In The Valley, A Fool Such As I and Can't Help Falling In Love.

The most interesting previously unreleased track was the version of I Love You Because recorded at Sun Records in 1954. When released by RCA on his debut album Elvis Presley the version of I Love You Because was a splice of takes 2 and 4 while here we get the complete take 2 including the spoken part.

Three previously unreleased live recordings from the 1968 TV Special 'sit-down shows' were included, Love Me, Trying To Get To You and Are You Lonesome Tonight?

The movie G. I. Blues and soundtrack album featured the song Tonight Is So Right For Love but here the listener was treated to an alternate version, Tonight's All Right For Love, previously unavailable in the UK and USA. Due to copyright issues the version featured in the movie and soundtrack album in the United States, Tonight Is So Right For Love, was replaced with Tonight's All Right For Love in the European version of the film and soundtrack.

The two interview excerpts were lifted from the hard-to-find Elvis Sails Extended Play, recorded on 22 September 1958 and originally released the following November. 

As we read earlier this release was well-received and sold better than Elvis' current product and would set the scene for future releases in the series.

Between 1974 and 1976 Elvis released three studio and one live album, Good Times, As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, Promised Land and Elvis Today, all a major improvement on his Raised On Rock album. Following the success of the first volume it seemed time for a second volume of the Legendary Performer series and this was released in 1976.

'For collectors everywhere, RCA Records proudly presents Elvis-A Legendary Performer-Volume 2... fascinating musical insights into the fabled Presley saga.'

Once again this release featured a mix of previously released and unreleased material. However, the listener was treated to more unreleased material on this second volume.

Of the fourteen tracks included, Blue Christmas, Jailhouse Rock, It's Now Or Never, Such A Night, How Great Thou Art and If I Can Dream were all previously released leaving a further eight tracks previously unavailable.

Two more live recordings from the 1968 TV Special 'sit down shows' were featured, Blue Suede Shoes and Baby What You Want Me To Do. Another track, Blue Hawaii, is listed as a live recording but was actually recorded after the taping of the Aloha From Hawaii special in 1973, once the audience had left the auditorium, so classing it as a 'live' recording is not totally accurate.

From his days at Sun Records comes Harbor Lights, recorded at the same July 1954 session as I Love You Because, That's All Right and Blue Moon Of Kentucky.

An alternate take of I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Elvis second RCA single originally released in 1956, is included. The original was a splice of takes 14 and 17 and it was originally thought that the version included here was the complete take 14. Further research has confirmed it is actually take 15.

A Cane And A High Starch Collar comes from the 1960 movie Flaming Star and although shown in the movie the song was never released at the time. It is making it's first appearance on the album along with a false start.

Although not mentioned on the sleeve there are two false starts preceding the song Such A Night, both previously unreleased.

Like Volume 1 there were two interviews. However, unlike the earlier release, where the interviews had been previously issued on a hard to find 1958 extended play release, these were both previously unavailable. One dated back to 1956 and was taped in Wichita Falls, Texas during one of Elvis' tours. The second dated from 25 March 1961, and was an excerpt from a press conference and presentation of an award to Elvis on the same day he played his charity concert at The Bloch Arena, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

'For collectors everywhere, RCA records presents another chapter in the career-and life-and above all, in the music of the man who became the greatest legend of the modern entertainment world... ELVIS-A LEGENDARY PERFORMER, VOLUME 3.'

The Legendary Performer albums had become a popular and profitable series for RCA Records and, as we saw earlier, Elvis was only one of two artists to have more than two volumes in the series released.

Elvis tragically passed away in August 1977 and there was a renewed interest in his music. In 1978 RCA issued A Legendary Performer Volume 3, which followed the successful pattern of previous releases.

This time the listener would be treated to eight previously unreleased tracks which sat alongside the previously released material, Hound Dog, Crying In The Chapel, Surrender and In The Ghetto.

Once again they turned to the 1968 TV Special but rather than including more live recordings they turned their attention to the staged sections of the show. Both Let Yourself Go and It Hurts Me were filmed for the Guitar Man/Road sequence but were not included in the original broadcast.

The only live recording that made it to the album was a February 1970 recording of Let It Be Me, originally recorded in French back in 1955 as Je t'appartiens and a 1960 hit for The Everly Brothers.

Elvis' movie career was well represented on this release with four previously unreleased/alternate tracks featured. Frankfort Special and Guadalajara came from G.I. Blues and Fun In Acapulco respectively. The former was a faster version of the song than the one that featured in the movie and on the soundtrack. The latter was an earlier take of the song that featured on the Fun In Acapulco soundtrack.

Like Cane And A High Starch Collar that was included on Volume 2 the song Britches was another intended for the film Flaming Star. Unlike Cane And A... this song never appeared in the movie and was never released at the time. It makes its first appearance on this compilation.

Danny, a song also recorded by Marty Wilde back in 1959, was recorded during the sessions for King Creole but never used. It was considered as the title song to the movie but King Creole, a better choice, was picked instead. 

The only studio track included was an alternate take of the 1960 hit Fame And Fortune, the b-side to his first post-army release Stuck On You.

Excerpts from an August 1956 interview with Elvis and The Colonel taped in Lakeland, Florida and intended for TV Guide, continued the theme of including interview material on the Legendary Performer releases. 

One difference between this volume and earlier releases was the fact that the actual album was a picture disc, possibly the first time in the history of Elvis releases.

It would be a few years before the final volume in the series would be released and in the intervening years RCA issued the 8-LP box set Elvis Aaron Presley (more often referred to as The Silver Box). The first serious attempt at a career overview it contained a wealth of unreleased material... concerts from his early years, movie outtakes, live recordings from the 1970s, rare singles and much more. 

'For collectors everywhere, RCA Records proudly presents ELVIS-A LEGENDARY PERFORMER-VOLUME 4... newly discovered performances by the man whose music swept the world and made his name both a household word and a synonym for superstar.'

Possibly based on the success of the Elvis Aaron Presley set, RCA released a fourth, and final, album in the Legendary Performer series in 1983.

Unlike the previous three volumes this last release featured all previously unreleased material, with one exception.

It was another mix of live recordings, studio outtakes and rare recordings this album offered a much better selection than previous releases and a number of highlights.

The first highlight comes from Elvis' Sun days and is an early version of When It Rains, It Really Pours, a song he would return to later in his career.

Both Mona Lisa and I'm Beginning To Forget You are 'home' recordings which were actually taped during Elvis' time in Germany in 1959.

The best track on the album, and a recording that was never known to exist, is an alternate version of One Night, actually recorded as One Night Of Sin and taped a month before the single version. With it's risque lyrics it is obvious why this version was overlooked at the time.

From the movies comes an alternate of Wooden Heart, from G.I. Blues, Plantation Rock, a song recorded but not featured on the Girls! Girls! Girls! soundtrack, a new version of Swing Down Sweet Chariot recorded specially for the film The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get In To It) and finally an unreleased duet from Viva Las Vegas, The Lady Loves Me, recorded with his co-star Ann Margaret. 

The 1968 TV Special had been mined for several tracks on previous releases and for this final album they turned to a live recording of Elvis' first record, That's All Right. Two live performances from the Madison Square Garden afternoon show also make an appearance, Reconsider Baby and I'll Remember You.

Yet another interview excerpt is include, this time from Tampa, Florida in 1956.

The only previously released track was the 'laughing version' of Are You Lonesome Tonight? which had been included on the Elvis Aaron Presley (Silver) box a few years earlier. 

It is unbelievable that this release offered the most unreleased material and yet was the only one of the four not to chart.

I bought all four volumes on the day of release and in the weeks that followed they were rarely off the turntable. I was fascinated by the amount of memorabilia included in the booklets and while recent releases offer much more there was something special about seeing the paperwork, session information, tape boxes, rare photographs and other items... it certainly made a change from the effort that RCA, The Colonel and Elvis put into their current product.... the never ending stream of live photos on studio albums, the poorly designed covers, especially on the back which often was just used to advertise other Elvis releases and the lack of information about the contents (studios, musicians etc etc).

Although they would not offer anything new I would love to see these four albums issued on the Follow That Dream label. While they couldn't recreate the original packaging, with the cutout on the sleeve, they could still use the original images and keep the same design. The booklets could also be reproduced, maybe in black and white as the originals.

THE GIRL FROM CHICKASAW COUNTY

With the release of the 2-CD retrospective The Girl From Chickasaw County I am taking a look back at the career of Bobbie Gentry and this new set.

Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter on 27th July 1942 on a small farm just outside Woodland in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. She grew up on her grandparents farm and in a 1973 interview she recalled that her grandmother noticed how much she liked music. She went on to say, "When I was still very young, I used to sit and listen to jazz music and blues music from New Orleans on an old battery-powered radio. Then I'd go over to the piano and try to pick out the tunes."

She lived with her father in Greenwood, Mississippi for a few years, during which time she learned to play the guitar and banjo. When she was 13 she moved to Palm Springs to live with her mother. It was around this time she changed her name after watching the film Ruby Gentry. In the film Ruby was a poor but beautiful girl from the backwoods who ended up marrying the town tycoon. She recalled, "I was intrigued with that movie and started using that name. I still like it."

In 1960 she graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles where she studied philosophy at UCLA before moving to the Conservatory of Music, taking classes in music theory, composition  and arranging.

To earn a living she modeled swimsuits and started performing at nightclubs in the Los Angeles area. It was there that she met Jody Reynolds who she gigged with occasionally. This led to her singing two duets with Reynolds, Stranger In The Mirror and Requiem For Love, issued as a single in 1966 it failed to create much interest.

All this time Gentry was writing her own songs and she recorded demos of twelve of her own compositions that would eventually become the basis for her first album. Her ambition was to write songs for other people. She had recorded a song called Ode To Billie Joe which she took to Capitol Records. She felt it was cheaper than hiring a professional. However, it was another of her compositions, Mississippi Delta, that gained her a recording contract.

Jimmie Haskell overdubbed a string arrangement onto Gentry's demo of Ode To Billie Joe and when Capitol Records heard it they had no doubts about it being the A-Side. Released on 10 July 1967 it hit the top of the Billboard Pop Singles Chart five weeks later and would also appear on the Adult Contemporary, Hot R&B and Hot Country Songs charts. In the UK it peaked at #13.

Ode To Billie Joe is one of my favourite songs from the 1960s and to cover the songs background and history would require an article of its own (maybe a future blog article). However, it is worth giving a brief history of the track here. Performed as a first-person narrative it tells the story of a rural Mississippi family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister. He was a local boy connected to the daughter (the narrator of the song). The song leaves the listener unsure of what really happened and what was actually thrown from the Tallahatchie Bridge. There has been much debate over the years but Gentry always said it wasn't important. The mystery is something that can never be resolved.

Her debut album, taking its title from the hit single, was a combination of blues, folk and jazz that continued her recollections of her homeland. The album knocked The Beatles Sgt Pepper album off the top spot and would go on to win three Grammy Awards ('Best New Artist', 'Best Female Pop Vocal' and 'Best Contemporary Song'). One reviewer wrote, "Bobbie Gentry is the most exciting thing to happen to popular music since the Beatles."

In 1968 Gentry released two more solo albums, The Delta Sweete and Local Gentry. The former was a concept album about her Mississippi Delta roots while the latter showed that her songwriting skills remained at a high.

The same year Gentry recorded an album with country superstar Glen Campbell. Three hit singles and a gold award proved how successful the partnership was. Unfortunately a second planned album never materialised. 

She was still writing her own songs and told Mid-South magazine, "I don't really have a great time doing it, but I have a need to write. I am driven to being industrious, and the finished product is well worth the effort."

In 1968 BBC 2 invited her to host her own show and she became the first female songwriter to front her own show on the channel. There were six 30-minute shows each year for three years - 1968, 1969 and 1970. 

Gentry's fourth solo album, released in 1969, found her moving away from her own compositions, the album only had two self-penned numbers, and choosing cover versions in an attempt to promote her as a blue-eyed soul singer. Touch 'Em With Love was recorded in Nashville and produced by Kelso Herston. Critically acclaimed at the time it became her most successful album in the UK no doubt helped by her version of I'll Never Fall In Love Again which, when released as a single, reached number one.

Fancy, her fifth solo release, issued in May 1970, was another album of mainly covers centered around the country-soul theme. The title track is one of her most accomplished story-songs - born poor white trash, groomed as a hooker by her mother and ends up in an elegant Georgia mansion. She spoke about the track in a 1974 interview with After Dark magazine, "Fancy is my strongest statement for women's lib, if you really listen to it." The song became her most successful single since Ode To Billie Joe and gained her a Grammy for 'Best Female Pop Vocal'.

May 1971 saw the release of what would become her last album, Patchwork. A diverse collection of short stories in song held together by a series of interludes. Covering pop, soul, folk, blues and gospel it was Gentry's first album to feature all her own self-written songs.

Following the release of her final album in 1971, Gentry reinvented herself as a live performer with lavish stage shows in many Las Vegas hotels including The Frontier, The Sahara, Caesar's Palace, The Sands and Aladdin. 

By the mid-1970s she reigned as the Queen of Las Vegas, breaking attendance records and performing more times than any other female performer on the Las Vegas Strip.

Unfortunately, as her recording career fell further behind her, she performed fewer of her own hits and concentrated on tributes to other artists, often covering the music of yesteryear with her homage to The Andrews Sisters. Following the death of Elvis Presley in August 1977 she started including a tribute to Elvis in her shows and, apparently, one such show was attended by the King himself.

Her last stage production in Las Vegas was at The Sahara in September 1980. With no fanfare, no talk of it being her farewell performance or any  announcement of her retirement, Bobbie Gentry disappeared from public view.

She made just two more guest appearances, in May 1981 on the NBC Special An All-Star Tribute To Mother's Day where she performed the Broadway tune Mama, A Rainbow, which she dedicated to her mother and her last public appearance the following year at the Country Music Awards.

Bobbie Gentry was 40-years old and since that last appearance she has not performed, recorded or been interviewed again.

Fortunately for fans of this talented singer her music would live on.

In 2018 Universal Music released the deluxe box set Bobbie Gentry - The Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters. Presented in a 10x10 slipcase the set featured all seven of Gentry's albums with each featuring bonus tracks (alternate versions, demos, undubbed versions, foreign recordings and live tracks). An eighth disc brought together twenty-six previously unreleased live recordings from her BBC Shows. The CDs were housed in two gatefold sleeves with complete track listings on the back.

There was also an 84-page, hard-backed book with previously unpublished photos, record sleeves, memorabilia and an informative essay written by Andrew Batt. Also included were eight postcards and a lyric sheet which included some of the original and unused lines from Ode To Billie Joe. The box cover featured a newly commissioned illustration by David Downton.

The set soon sold-out and is currently unavailable. It is unclear if more copies will be made available. I'm just grateful that I picked up my copy early as it is now selling on various sites for between £100 and £200!

Fortunately for those who missed the set, or who are looking for a cut-down retrospective of her career, Universal have just released The Girl from Chickasaw County - Highlights From The Capitol Masters.

A two-CD set that includes 46 tracks all lifted from the box set and covering Gentry's seven albums and the bonus Live At The BBC disc.

Opening with Ode To Billie Joe the set concentrates on many of her most well-known and popular songs - Mississippi Delta, Chickasaw County Girl, Oklahoma River Bottom Band, This Girl's In Love With You and Hushabye Mountain, the latter being one of four tracks remixed for this release. However, the set also includes many less well-known album tracks and a welcome addition is a few of the rare tracks that made their first appearance on the deluxe set.

A 36-page booklet includes liner-notes by Andrew Batt, track details and, like the box set, features some great photos and other memorabilia.

An excellent release and a great introduction to the talents of this singer-songwriter whose short recording career produced a wealth of classic recordings.

With thanks to Stuart Kirkham

STEVIE NICKS - BELLA DONNA

Released forty-one years ago, Bella Donna was Stevie Nicks debut solo album which found her stepping away from the chaos that was Fleetwood Mac and releasing a hit-laden album that proved she could also fly solo as well as being a major part of the group.

With three songwriters in Fleetwood Mac, Nicks was frustrated as she was a prolific songwriter and many of her songs were not even considered for inclusion in their latest album Tusk. Over the previous six years with the band she had amassed an amazing amount of unused material. In an interview she spoke about the problems, "When we'd do an album, they'd hear fifteen of my songs and pick the two that were my least favourite. Some of my favourite songs wouldn't get used."

Following the release of Tusk in 1979 and the epic world tour that followed, Nicks returned to her Pacific Palisades home she shared with her new boyfriend, producer Jimmy Iovine. It was there that the seeds of a new album were sown.

By her own admission she was in a terrible shape following the tour. "I was so tired and sung out. I was so 'Landslide-ed' out and so 'Rhiannon-ed' out that I thought if I had to do that set one more time I was going to go nuts." It seemed the time was right to pursue a solo career.

Iovine agreed to produce her solo project and planned on a different approach to the one that Fleetwood Mac followed on their recordings. His idea was to go for a more live sound. He had previously worked with John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Meat Loaf. However, it was his work with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers that grabbed Nicks attention. She told Iovine that she wanted a 'girl version' of Petty's sound.

In September, at her house, Nicks and her girlfriends, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, worked with Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, who Iovine had asked to act as musical director on the project.

They rehearsed for two months as Nicks recalled, "We were like Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash, living in this great house and making music. It was one of those real rock 'n' roll experiences that you can never forget."

Tench recalled the rehearsals, "It was song after great song. I think she had enough for her first three solo albums and beyond." He went on to talk about how the girls worked together, "Lori and Sharon were so instinctive and so intuitive. They were all so tuned in to each other. At the drop of a hat they'd break into a-cappella versions of old songs like Chapel Of Love. They loved each other and loved to harmonize. They stood behind me at the piano, and when I heard their three voices together it was just: 'Wow', goosebumps."

Sessions took place at Studio 55 in Los Angeles. Built in 1940 by Decca Records it was the studio where the classic Bing Crosby festive standard White Christmas was recorded.

Recording began in November 1980 and would continue through to Spring 1981.Produced by Jimmy Iovine, the sessions marked the start of Nicks trend of calling on her musician friends. There was Tom Petty and Don Henley, who contributed vocals on a few tracks, along with session musicians Waddy Wachtel, Davey Johnstone, Bob Glaub, Benmont Tench and Russ Kunkel. Additional support was provided by a number of players including Mike Campbell, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Dan Dugmore, Roy Bittan and Don Felder.

The recordings would also be the first to feature Nicks close friends and backing vocalists, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, both of whom had worked with Nicks during the rehearsals for the album and would record and tour with Nick's in the years to come.

Talking about the sessions, Tench recalled, "We recorded all the songs essentially live with the whole band cutting at the same time, and Stevie, Lori and Sharon singing with us on the floor. We captured a beautiful feel. The same mood that was in her house made it to the vocal booth."

Bella Donna was released on 27 July 1981 and would reach #1 on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. In the United Kingdom it peaked at #3 while in Australia it repeated the US success hitting the top spot. The album spent almost three years on the Billboard 200 between July 1981 and June 1984.

It took less than three months to reach platinum status by the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) and in 1990 was certified multi-platinum status for sales of over four million copies. 

For the albums cover photo Nicks turned to Herbert Worthington III who had taken the photos for Rumours. Taking a series of photos he managed to capture Nicks as a mystical woman in chiffon.

Talking about the images to Rolling Stone, Nicks said, "What I'm wearing is the exact opposite of my black outfit on Rumours. Over that it says: 'Come in from the darkness...', which is the dark side of anyone, the side that isn't optimistic, that isn't strong."

Bella Donna was a strong debut featuring some of Nicks best material and there wasn't a bad track on the album. 

The album opens with the title track, Bella Donna, a song she refused to give to Fleetwood Mac as she was saving it for herself. It meant so much to her that it became the title track of her debut solo album. As she told Rolling Stone in 1981, "Bella Donna is a term of endearment I use, and the title is about making a lot of decisions in my life, making change based on the turmoil in my soul. You get to a certain age where you want to slow down, be quieter. The title was basically a warning to myself and a question to others.

Co-written with Benmont Tench, Kind Of Woman actually had its roots back in 1973 during her time in Buckingham Nicks and around the same time she wrote Landslide. Apparently she wrote it while Lindsey Buckingham was touring with the Everly Brothers and how she imagined him meeting and getting involved with groupies while she was at home still doing her waitress job.

The only track on the album not written by Stevie Nicks was Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. Jimmy Iovine felt the album didn't have a hit single and through his work with Tom Petty asked him for a song she could include. At first she was annoyed about the thought of having somebody else's song on her album and she stormed out. She soon came back when she realised he was right. She apologised for being bitchy and knew that singing the song with Petty was something she couldn't turn down. Nicks knew how important the song was to the success of the album, "Had he not given me that song Bella Donna might not have been a hit. That song kicked Bella Donna right into the universe."

Think About It had been recorded during the sessions for Rumours but didn't make the final cut. That version was finally issued on the Rumours Deluxe Edition. It was written for Christine McVie when her marriage to John was falling apart.

With its country feel, After The Glitter Fades, dates back to the early-seventies and was written before she joined Fleetwood Mac and following her and Lindsey's move to Los Angeles. The lyrics referred to how bad it was going to be for them both in music and how hard the business was. However, they hadn't even made it that point, and she was still working as a waitress. It has been stated that Nicks wrote the song with Dolly Parton in mind.

The title Edge Of Seventeen was inspired by Tom Petty's wife Jane and something she said that Nicks misheard. She thought Petty's wife had said they had been together from the 'age of 17.'  The lyrics are a tribute to John Lennon, who was shot during the recording of the album, and homage to her Uncle Jonathan who passed away suddenly from cancer. Edge Of Seventeen is the song Nicks closes all her concerts with.

Telling the story about a woman getting involved with a man nobody thinks she should be with, How Still Is My Love, was one of Nicks favourite songs on the album. It could have been written about any of her lovers, Mick Fleetwood, Jimmy Iovine, Don Henley... no one really knows.

Leather And Lace is performed as a duet with Don Henley and is a song she wrote in 1976 at the request of country star Waylon Jennings for him and his wife Jessi Colter. At the time they were close to splitting up and they didn't record it so she kept it for herself. She wanted a fellow artist to perform the song with her. "I felt in my heart that either I had to do the song with Don, or Waylon had to do it with Jessi, or Waylon and I had to do it. Those were the only three possibilities.

Outside The Rain is a song that Nicks feels has a connection to Fleetwood Mac and is a bookend to Dreams. She has often said it was a song that the band would have liked to have recorded. In her solo concerts the song would often be performed alongside Dreams.

The album closes with The Highwaymen which is apparently about the Eagles, the male members of Fleetwood Mac and the masculine rock-stars of the seventies. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1981 she commented, "They are the Errol Flynns and the Tyronne Powers of our day. So as long as I have to live with them, I try to make them into the most wonderful bunch of guys I can possibly think up."

A few weeks before the albums release Stop Draggin' My Heart Around b/w Kind Of Woman was released peaking at #3.

A further three singles were issued between October 1981 and April 1982. Leather and Lace b/w Bella Donna (October 1981) reached #6, Edge Of Seventeen b/w Outside The Rain (February 1982) peaked at #11 and After The Glitter Fades b/w Think About It (April 1982) stalled at #32.

Stevie Nicks headed out on a short promotional tour opening with a show at The Summit Arena, Houston, Texas on 28 November 1981 followed by shows in Dallas (Texas), Boulder (Colorado), Oakland (California) and Tempe (Arizona). The tour closed with five-nights at the Wilshire Fox Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Backing Nicks on the tour were many of the musicians who had worked on the album... Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel, Roy Bittan, Benmont Tench and, of course, vocalists Sharon Celani and Lori Perry.

The final concert was recorded by HBO for a television special and would also be issued on VHS and Laser Disc as White Wing Dove - Stevie Nicks In Concert. Although the whole show was recorded only nine songs made it to the special and subsequent releases. Tracks included songs from Bella Donna - Outside The Rain (edited version), Stop Draggin' My Heart Around and Edge Of Seventeen along with Fleetwood Mac material - Rhiannon, Sara and Dreams.  One additional track, Leather and Lace, appeared on the I Can't Wait video which featured six of Nicks promo videos from the years 1981 to 1985.

The apparent reason for the short tour was the need for Nicks to return to Fleetwood Mac where, at the Chateau D'Herouville near Paris, they were recording basic tracks for their next album, Mirage. From my own research it appears the sessions in France were held in May-June 1981 and it is more likely Nicks rejoined Fleetwood Mac at The Record Plant in Los Angeles for the Mirage sessions at the end of the tour.

In November 2016, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the albums release, Rhino issued the 3-CD Bella Donna Deluxe Edition.

Featuring a remastered original album on CD-1 with eleven bonus tracks on CD-2 and a third disc containing fourteen live recordings from 1981, the package also included an informative 24-page booklet with notes by Craig McLean, lyrics to the original album, credits and several photos.

The second disc, Bonus Tracks, included Think About It (alternate version), Bella Donna (demo), Edge Of Seventeen (early take) along with several tracks that didn't make the album, Gold And Braid, If You Were My Love and The Dealer. Two tracks, Blue Lamp and Sleeping Angel, had appeared previously on the Heavy Metal soundtrack and Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack respectively.

The third disc, Live 1981, brought together the ten previously released on video live performances from the 1981 tour, including the restored full-length version of Outside The Rain, along with four previously unreleased performances of Angel, After The Glitter Fades, Bella Donna and How Still My Love.

Speaking to US Magazine about the album in 1981 she said, “It’s difficult to be a girl in a big rock’n’roll group for six years. You’re very protected and dependent. For so long you’re not allowed to make your own decisions, that suddenly you don’t want to any more. Doing my solo album was the only step I could take to show I still had control.”