Bobbie Gentry - Apartment 21

[rpscot]

Loved Bobbie. Loved This Song. Ran out and bought the single the first time I heard it. Still have the single. I covet it. Wish I'd had the money as a kid to buy the LP. She did some awesome work.

[yonaguska4]

Very nice,  Bobby Gentry a brilliant songwriter.

[lclaughton]

You gentleman speak with great wisdom and first hand knowledge...Enjoy reading your comments. How accurate you are. This lady is a most gifted and tallented performer. With her direct hands on contribution to these songs makes her quite unique in itself. What a string of hits to show for it. .What a beautiful woman as well..Any quality female singer would do well to cover this tune!!

[MrFalconford]

maybe the money made them happy

[BwanaTube]

Do you have any info on sessions Gentry might have produced herself? 

[mugwump790]

Albeit involuntary...

[sigh57]

The best existentialist single ever.

[MrFalconford]

The reason this song was never huge as you say, is because Bobby was a country girl with morals and talent. America doesn't want that, they want tit's and ass, to be blunt. Just read the comments on some of these videos. Not just Bobby's, try other women of this era and you learn just how much people didn't get it. That's the way the bankers set the system up.

[Timwgtn]

Why was this song never huge? Perfect melody, wistful, yet gorgeous.

[BwanaTube]

In this case the perfect producer was Bobbie herself! By most reputable accounts she was the driving creative force behind these records, despite whatever producer credits may have appeared on these releases at the time.

[mugwump790]

Actually, it was Rick Hall...and no one produced Rick Hall sessions except Rick Hall. That's one very good reason why we paid special attention to this album. There were three Southern legends who fell into the "anything they do is worth checking out" category...Rick Hall, Chips Moman and Bill Lowery. Each has placed several records in my all time Top 100...records which, no matter how hard we pushed, never became huge hits. Each also scored many huge hits with more-mainstream product.

[danielrdrown]

@mugwump790 Yes, it was Rick Hall and that great Fame. Muscle Shoals sound that produced Bobbie's self penned cross-over hit, Fancy, but Bobbie is given a producers credit on two of the 'Fancy' session album cuts.The relative success of the album also enabled Bobbie to totally produce and write her next project, the ambitious 'PatchWork' which has been hailed as a masterpiece in some corners and is perhaps Bobbie's greatest acheivement in a recording studio.

[DrinkingStar]

It was 40 years ago today that I heard this song playing on radio. It was morning and I was getting ready to go to the church to get married. It is the only song I remember that day. I don't recall any songs that were played at our wedding or at the wedding reception. To this day, I still remember vividly this song and what I was doing as it was playing on the radio. Great video and song. Jewel's 'You were meant for me' is the closest song to capturing the sentiment of 'Apartment 21'

[mugwump790]

Excellent comment, thank you! My first (very vivid) memory of Apartment 21 was driving home from a radio transmitter just as the sun came up one Sunday about that same time of 1970. I'd been working all night, including a 150 mile drive to a fire-gutted transmitter across the state for an emergency parts scavenge to fix my transmitter. That station played the record and I listened. When I punched to another of my stations 50 miles away, they also played it. Got my first copy that day.

[sanjoe86]

@mugwump790 Isn't it amazing that someone can make such a difference in someone's life. I wish I had her talent. Cut another record Girl.

[Nanpiper]

she is perfect, country music is not sung this way anymore....but she completely disappeared...she won't come out and sing her old songs....one of the most beautiful women of all time...where is she? did she fall to drugs? get fat?...who knows.....she needs to reach out to her fans, she is a recluse now....why?

[warholboy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

[wollyjojo2]

Bobby G. How Cool is she. WOW love her.

[theseventhprotocol]

[Bobby]Roberta and Loretta Lynn are my southern dream girls ! Great voices and so cute and sexy.

[notbatman1000]

I've got all Bobbies albums! I fell in love with her when I was 13, the first time heard Ode. My favorite was when I saw her perform tiny weeny yellow poka dot bikini on Tv and she wore one! Boy was that a sight for a kid!

[sevenofninemusic]

Bobbie was amazing, she led the way for many. including rockers.

so freakin talented.

[MrJuballee]

A Beautiful Song,Period.She was a diamond.

[eckankar]

I still have the 45 of this single Bobbie sent me in the mail. I was a member of her fan club then. Brings back such golden memories.

[timmysand]

I was a member too. I used to wait in anticipation each month for mail from her fan club.

[UandMeKid]

The more of Bobbie's music I hear the more I love her! I never knew she was so successful but she should have been bigger.

[irishsetterarchie]

Bobbie Gentry will always be one of the most gifted and beautiful female artist of my generation.

[cwfoster]

Wow! I have loved this song ever since it was first released on the radio more than 40 years ago. I finally found it a few years ago on CD. Too bad it has been overlooked and forgotten for all these years. Bobbie's work was so good!

[umrecs]

Thanks! I wish "Fancy" was in print. The first time I heard Lily Allen's "Who'd Have Known" it totally reminded me of this song.

[1timysand]

Still love her voice- sexy and soulful, and her music.

[kw8063]

Bobbie lives in LA now and never sings.

[gazzer97]

thanks for uploading this , i lovd her whn i was young, so sexy and a great talent, u know what ever happened to her??

[dwayne122]

Bobbie has been overlooked for decades - it is nice to see her getting the acclaim and respect taht she deserves. I never really liked Joni Mitchell and her high high squeaky voice - but she did write some good music. The greatest singer songwriter (female) of all time is Melanie - and at 62 she is still going strong with a world tour and has never stopped sharing her craft with the world. One thing that bonds all of these "greats" together is the pure love of their craft,chart toppers or not

[written12]

Dwayne, I agree with everything you say here. Just one thing(I imagine you know what I'm about to say). Joni Mitchell really had a golden voice- it never was squeaky, though I can can appreciate that it could be very, very high. But check her out again. Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and middle period work has less of the high, high vocals. Anyway, thanks for mentioning Melanie.

[danieldrownr]

dwayne 122. Do you the re-issue of Melanie's Atlantic album, Photograph? I feel thats her best work. While I prefer Bobbie( and Joni )I adore Melanie too and it's a crime  they are not in the songwriters hall of fame.

[annarikjerosenthal]

awesome.

[Beatkpr]

a great tribute to Bobbie! Thanks for posting it.

[mugwump790]

My pleasure! Every now and then I come across one of these true lost classics that no one has honored yet.

Bobbie, as always, is breathtaking. Lyrics, music, looks, talent and choice of producers.

[bizhist]

Great old song that brings back memoirs of 1969. I have an old, scratchy 45 of this at home and thought I would never hear this again, but her it is. I am I right that this was her last top 100 hit before she droped out. P.S. the cigarette holder and slit skirt are just incredibly sexy and err 60s.

[danieldrownr]

There were two more hot 100 pop hit singles for Bobbie after this for the 1976 movie of Ode to Billie Joe- The new Warner Brothers re-record charted#65pop and Capitol sabotaged it re-releaseing the original which charted#56 pop. Together they sold about 350,000 singles.

[wb5oxq]

They just don't make women this good anymore!

[MassiveNyro]

an old favourite of mine from gentry and a nice description too. its funny how obscure bobbie gentry has become. but i think that it was her choice to concentrate more on his family life than career (she had all the money to do this :D) same thing happened to laura nyro. now look at joni mitchell, she is doing gigs like theres no tomorrow and ask anyone and they will name mitchell as their favourite female singer/snogwriter

[danieldrownr]

There has been a recent serious re-evaluation of Bobbie's work. All her albums are back in print after decades. She won a grammy hall of fame award in 1999. One of the first American female artists to have a major international career.

[oceanbound222]

First time I am hearing this song, and I love it so much. 5 stars !!

[danieldrownr]

This song is from the Rick Hall sessions from the ' Fancy' album. It was only released as a single charting #81 pop and top fifty on the adult contemporary charts.

[mugwump790]

Please add &fmt=18  to your address line if this doesn't play in HQ...