Bobbie Gentry had a huge hit in 1967 with "Ode to Billie Joe," the haunting single that introduced her strong, sultry voice and flair for combining Southern Gothic drama with details so vivid that it feels like listeners are living her stories with her. She expanded on the world she built with that song on 1968's full-length The Delta Sweete, but unlike "Ode to Billie Joe," it was not a huge hit; its pioneering lk-pop didn't even crack the top 100 of Billboard's Top LPs chart

The Delta Sweete Revisited is the first Mercury Rev album since 1993 not to center around Donahue’s endearingly odd voice. That’s the correct decision for Gentry’s material, given both its feminist spirit and the caliber of talent on display here. The album’s guestlist includes relative newcomers like Phoebe Bridgers, whose understated voice struggles to be heard amid one of Mercury Rev’s more syrupy arrangements, and veterans like Lucinda Williams, whose decision to cover Ode To Billie Joe is somewhat bewildering, given both its already-high profile and the fact that it did not appear on The Delta Sweete. Norah Jones helps transform the swampy Okolona River Bottom Band into a majestic orchestral overture, but the swagger and nimble groove of Gentry’s original is sorely missed.

Longtime fans Mercury Rev stay true to that experimentation, recruiting a cast of guest vocalists including Lucinda Williams, Hope Sandoval, and Phoebe Bridgers to help bring new ideas and atmospheres to the songs. Opener Okolona River Bottom Band sets the tone, transformed from swamp-side R&B into orchestral pop simmering with strings, tension, and Norah Jones’ yearning voice. Here, they focus on a lost gem of country-rock: The 1968 follow-up to her chart-topping US debut, Ode to Billie Joe, Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete was a relative misfire in commercial terms. Thirteen years and a handful of albums later, the singer-songwriter vanished into a reclusive existence, adding new mystique to the music she left behind.

Working with a full album originally recorded by Bobbie Gentry is another matter entirely. While they wisely left the wispy voice of frontman Jonathan Donahue behind and instead called upon an array of female singers that span multiple generations and styles, the sound that Gentry cultivated - a tight, lustrous braid that wound together the various strains of Southern music - was mostly eschewed and replaced with the band’s usual plush dream pop. The Good: Some songs survived the transition better than others.

Bobbie Gentry's the Delta Sweete Revisited. Summary: Phoebe Bridgers, Vashti Bunyan, Rachel Goswell, Norah Jones, Marissa Nadler, Beth Orton, Margo Price, Laetitia Sadier, Hope Sandoval, Kaela Sinclair, Susanne Sundfør, Carice van Houten, and Lucinda Williams provide vocals to the indie rock band's reimagining of Bobbie Gentry’s 1968 album.

LISTEN TO Mercury Rev NEW ALBUM TITLED Bobbie Gentry’s the Delta Sweete Revisited FREE ZIP, MP3, AND TRACKLIST. Mercury Rev – Bobbie Gentry’s the Delta Sweete Revisited album download, Talented Rock Band Mercury Rev finally drops their much anticipated studio album titled Bobbie Gentry’s the Delta Sweete Revisited. The album contains 12 hot tracks with some collaborations. Tracklist Of Bobbie Gentry’s the Delta Sweete Revisited by Mercury Rev. 01. Okolona River Bottom Band (feat.

So if nothing else, The Delta Sweete Revisited offers an unexpected change of direction. Out go Jonathan Donahue’s distinctive vocals, to be replaced by 13 female singers – including such big names as Norah Jones, Beth Orton and Lucinda Williams – each of whom tackle a song from Bobbie Gentry’s 1968 cult country-blues classic

How does Mercury Rev’s album-length interpretation of Bobbie Gentry’s ‘The Delta Sweete’ stack up against the 1968 original? Published on. February 15, 2019. There are 13 vocal guests over Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited’s 12 tracks. This makes sense, because Gentry continually plays with character and perspective on the album. The opener, ‘Okolona River Bottom Band’, in Gentry’s original vision, embodies The Delta Sweete’s paradoxical nature: it is both energetic and languid. On their new version, Mercury Rev and vocalist Norah Jones err towards the leisurely end of Gentry’s mood, laying the overall foundations for The Delta Sweete Revisited. But while Gentry can certainly be mellow, her songs also whoop and soar

Initially, Mercury Rev's updated version of Gentry's second album, The Delta Sweete - which began to take shape in 2015 - was a labor of love the band thought would go no further than a cassette recording made for friends. Then Donahue played it for Simon Raymonde, the head of the band's British label, Bella Union. He said, 'My God, I want to put this out!' And that was the beginning of understanding that maybe we were onto something a lot deeper than we suspected

Album: Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete Revisited. Artist: Mercury Rev. Label: Bella Union. Some 51 years ago, give or take a day or three, Bobbie Gentry released The Delta Sweete (those swinging sixties!), a concept album about growing up dirt poor in the Mississippi Delta. She was then a hot ticket having scored a huge hit in 1967 with Ode to Billie Joe, a vivid story-song that continues to generate debate as to its meaning. But her ambivalent nod to her past fell on mostly deaf ears; the album barely made a ripple. Mercury Rev: validate and celebrate Bobbie Gentry’s artistic bravery 51 years on. There are other issues. The singers, ranging from Norah Jones to Beth Orton, with honourable mentions for Hope Sandoval, Margo Price, Susanne Sundfor and Phoebe Bridgers, all put in a decent shift.