Bobbie Gentry & Bing Crosby - Okolona River Bottom Band

[briteness]

They shoulda been at Woodstock.

[10xjava]

The more I listen to her the more I love her!

[winholler]

What an incredible talent and beautiful woman! Lucky to have seen her! MS State, 1968, w. acoustic guitar and piano player. M-I-doubleS-I-doubleS-I-double­PI.

[Shigeru409382]

Bing the sing King !!!

[cindygeenotes]

Bing was cool and a gifted crooner, but man he sands the funky edges off this really terrific Gentry composition. She manages to groove her way through the duet anyways. Classic TV footage from a couple of class acts.

[54spiritedwill54]

Love that song!

[MOSKII58]

Bobby Gentry was a true pioneer in country music, people think Shania Twain was the 1st to write her own songs and show her navel & cause a controversy, but as we see in some of Bobby's other videos she was 25yrs before Shania...

[Waynescott1]

Ole Bing pronounced Kosciusko and Biloxi wrong...typical Yankee! hehehehe

[mmc1955]

He said it the way we say it up here in Kosciusko County, IN. Of course, there are always a plethora of ways people say names.

[JayBBluejay]

@mmc1955 Kosciusko is named for Thaddeus Kosciuszko (the Indiana and Mississippi spellings leave out the Z), a man from Poland who helped the Colonists in the American Revolution. In Mississippi, it is pronounced KOS-SEE-ESS-KO.

[JayBBluejay]

@Waynescott1 Bing's hometown was Spokane, Washington, so you couldn't really blame him for saying Kosciusko and Biloxi wrong. Two of the greatest entertainers of all time.

[MayMay70]

Thanks a billion for Bobbie. I know she's still alive living in Sherman Oaks CA (according to last reports). I have never loved a singer as much as BG. I hope she is nothing but happy and maybe willing to do an interview or send out a acoustic set. We love you Ms G. xoj

[catholicpriest1]

I remember Bing hosting the Hollywood Palace more than anyone else.

[Bobb9999]

Bing's intro. suggested she composed the song. Sure enough, ASCAP shows her as sole writer.

She was a rarity among female top 40 female pop singers of the '60s and '70s. Very few did more than sing and look pretty, even "A list" superstars like Streisand. Bobby was one of the few with the gift of also being a talented writer. I'm 52, and never knew that till yesterday!

[1timysand]

Get with the program Bobb9999! Okolona is live. Bobbie had (maybe still does) a great voice live or in the studio. Soulful and sweet at the same time. She wrote most of her own material, including the two songs here, and played several insturments. In other words- she was a Musician.

[Bobb9999]

Those mikes are camouflage! They're obviously lip synching to a recording studio version.

All the YT Bobby clips I've seen so far are all lip synching. Okay, she looks and sounds great, but didn't she do any genuine performing on TV at all? Lip synching was a TV scourge in the '60s and '70s.

[danieldrownr]

Bob9999. While Morning Gloey is an obvious lip-synch. This is live. She even misses a que and is a second late in the delivery.Most of these clips are live. The Johnny Cash 'Fancy' performance is a live, throaty vocal set to the recorded music.

[Chrliesangelsman]

@Bobb9999: More of the videos featured on you tube of Bobbie performing, are LIVE. I don't think you have watched closely enough. She even misses a cue, and in her performace of Fancy on Johnny Cash, she changes her style of delivery and it is very apparent.

[Bobjb999]

@Chrliesangelsman I stand corrected. Maybe it's partly the audio & video don't always synch up perfectly when a video gets uploaded & formatted to YT, making it look clumsily lip synched when it's the original was perfectly live!

[GenericGene]

Bobby Gentry simply a great artist - Crosby simply a legend.

[killamonkey]

lol, love songs about bugs beeteles and rivers

[BrockMasters9]

I don't know why everyone's suprised. If anyone could make Bing cool it would be Bobbie. Funny how she's not showing of anything from the neck down but she's still sexier than any of today's pop tarts. They out to take a page.

[danieldrownr]

1967-78 Bobbie appeared on over 100 variety programs. Her last guest spot was on Johnny Carson, Dec. 24 1978. She also had 5 Ed Sullivans to her credit and three C.B.S specials. In the U.K her own variety show lasted 4 years on the B.B.C.

[blackmore4]

Am I hallucinating? I always had BG's "Okolona River Bottom Band" down as left-field swamp-funk and here's Bing Crosby harmonizing with her in front of a purple rinse audience. That everybody seems to be getting into it is further evidence of Bobbie Gentry's genius.

[themonaghans]

Bing and Bobbie's voices blend beautifully. Also, love the way they combined her song with his Missisippi Mud. Thanks for posting this.

[danieldrownr]

Oklahona River Bottom Band was a fair size hit for Bobbie #56 pop it had a respectable 300,000 unit sale.

[MauraES]

300,000? You're being very optimistic. A no. 56 hit on the chart in the 60s was unlikely to sell that much.

[danieldrownr]

Oklahona River Bottom Band was a picture sleave single that did sell 300,000 units. Bobbie's 1969 single 'Fancy' peaked at #31 but spent four solid months on the charts. Capitol Records claimed in a Oct.1970 add(the singles year anniversary) that Fancy had passed the million sales mark. Bobbie's 1976 re-record of O.T.B.J peaked at #56 pop too and Warner Brothers stated it sold over 250,000. ( Bobbie's #1 1967 O.T.B.J sold 3.5 million)

[Chrliesangelsman]

@danieldrownr: Very well said danieldrownr. I totally agree. As I stated to MauraES above, it was nothing in the 60's & 70's to hear songs in the Top 100 on the radio. They did not have the internet or MTV, therefore record sales were larger for songs that were in the top 100 back then.

[Chrliesangelsman]

@MauraES: Actually, 300,000 was NOT optimistic in the 60's & 70's for something in the Billboard Top 100. They did not have MTV or internet back then. It was very common to hear songs in the top 100 playing on the radio.

[12Vanirish34]

I never realised how cool Bobby was

[clo45]

Thank you so much for posting this. Hope to see more Bobbie footage from you!

[tallulah2]

I love the bit where Bobbie forgets to do the "la la's" and then suddenly comes in.

[prodigalarts]

to whomever posted these clips.....thank you so much. i am such a fan of bobbie's and any new material is appreciated.

[tallulah2]

Love that song! That La la la refrain sticks in your head---in a good way!