When her parents divorced shortly after her birth, her mother moved to California, leaving Gentry to be raised on a farm by her paternal grandparents.

In the film, Ruby (played by Jennifer Jones) was a poor but beautiful girl from the backwoods, who ended up marrying the town tycoon.

After graduating from high school, Gentry moved to Los Angeles to enter UCLA as a philosophy major.

She worked as a fashion model, and on June 29, 1962, United Press International circulated a wire photo of Gentry that included Cheryl Crane, daughter of Lana Turner.

Her sole ambition originally was to write songs to sell to other artists, telling The Washington Post that she only sang on the recording of "Ode to Billie Joe" that she took to Capitol because it was cheaper than hiring someone to sing it.

The day after the string session, Capitol's A&R team decided to make "Ode to Billie Joe" the A-side.

Following the single's success, the producers quickly assembled the rest of the album from the 12 demos Gentry had recorded, completing overdubs in a matter of days.

The result was a unique combination of blues, folk, and jazz elements that rounded out Gentry's recollections of her home, coming across more as a concept album than a hastily assembled collection of songs.

[14] In February 1968, Gentry took part in the Italian Song Festival in Sanremo competition, as one of two performers of "La Siepe" by Vito Pallavicini and Massara.

Capitol released the song concurrently as a single, backed by another Italian tune also recorded by Gentry, "La Città è Grande" by Pallavicini and De Ponti.

Most of its sound comes from Gentry, who played almost every instrument on its tracks, including piano, guitar, banjo, bass, and vibes.

Although the album failed to match the success of its predecessor, only reaching number 132 on the Billboard 200, critics have called it one of the unacclaimed masterpieces of the 1960s.

It was also certified Gold by the RIAA and earned Gentry and Campbell the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year.

In 1968, Gentry was invited to host her own variety show on BBC Two in the UK, making her the first female songwriter to front a series on the channel.

It featured musicians from the Mississippi countryside, as well as guests such as Donovan, the Hollies, Glen Campbell, James Taylor, Randy Newman, Elton John, Alan Price, Billy Preston, and Pan's People.

Dorfman told author Tara Murtha, "After a few episodes, she was pretty much co-directing the show because she had such great ideas.

"Fancy", released as the album's first single, became Gentry's biggest hit since "Ode to Billie Joe", peaking within the top 40 in the US, Canada, and Australia.

I agree wholeheartedly with that movement and all the serious issues that [it stands] for—equality, equal pay, day care centers, and abortion rights," she explained to After Dark magazine in 1974.

It has been described as a collection of short stories in song, ranging from country and pop to blues, stitched together with cinematic interludes to form a cohesive whole.

A major restructuring at Capitol took place as parent company EMI tried to seize back control and rekindle the label's dwindling profits.

With none of the executive board left that had known and worked with her, negotiations stalled over the renewal terms of Gentry's contract, and this failure to reach an agreement with Capitol created a stalemate.

In 1974, she hosted a summer replacement variety show on CBS called The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour.

In 1975, Gentry wrote and performed "Another Place, Another Time" for writer-director Max Baer, Jr.'s film Macon County Line.

In 1976, Baer directed the feature film Ode to Billy Joe, based on Gentry's hit song and starring Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor.

In the movie, the mystery of the title character's suicide is revealed as a part of the conflict between his love for Bobbie Lee Hartley and a drunken homosexual experience.

"Steal Away" - a remake of the 1964 Jimmy Hughes hit which had inaugurated FAME Studios' hit streak - had as its B-side: the Patti Dahlstrom composition "He Did Me Wrong, But He Did It Right": these tracks plus three additional tracks from Gentry's 1977 recording sessions: "Slow Cookin'" (written by Abby Marable), "Sweet Country" (written by Gentry), and "Thunder in the Afternoon" (written by Mac Davis, Rita Grimm and Yvonne Norman), would be released on the 1992 European compilation album Ode to Billie Joe.

During the television special she performed "Mama, a Rainbow" from the musical Minnie's Boys for her mother who was seated in the audience.

[8] Beth Orton recorded a song titled "Bobby Gentry" featured on her The Other Side of Daybreak album.