Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the
pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead
wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep
with the record.
— Paul, Vinyl Curator
Bobbie Gentry
Ode To Billie Joe
1967 · Capitol Records T-2830 · Mono · US (Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville) · LP · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Capitol Records |
|---|
| Catalogue number | T-2830 |
|---|
| Year | 1967 |
|---|
| Mono / Stereo | Mono |
|---|
| Country | US (Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville) |
|---|
| Format | LP |
|---|
| Speed | 33 1/3 RPM |
|---|
| Genre | Pop/Country - Blue-Eyed Soul |
|---|
| Producer | Kelly Gordon |
|---|
| Composer | Bobbie Gentry (all tracks except "Niki Hoeky," written by Pat Vegas) |
|---|
| Conductor | Jimmie Haskell |
|---|
| Musicians | Bobbie Gentry (vocals, guitar); studio session musicians uncredited on the jacket and labels |
|---|
Matrix / Runout
Side A: T1 2830 G5#2 O 0
Side B: T2 2830 G5 0
Condition
- Cover
- EX
- Vinyl
- NM
Variant chronology
1967 - US mono, Scranton pressing (Capitol T-2830)
1967 - US mono, Jacksonville pressing (Capitol T-2830) <- this copy
1967 - US stereo (Capitol ST-2830)
2023 - Vinyl Me Please mono reissue
2018 - Record Store Day Black Friday reissue
This Pressing
1967 US mono first-year pressing - Capitol black rainbow label, Jacksonville plant stamp in the runout.
The Album
Bobbie Gentry arrived at Capitol Records in early 1967 with a spare guitar-and-vocal demo tape that included a hypnotic story-song called "Ode to Billie Joe" alongside "Mississippi Delta," the track that actually won her the contract. Producer Kelly Gordon rushed the single into release and, needing a fuller arrangement, called in Jimmie Haskell to write and record a string chart at the tail end of another artist's session, giving the song its now-iconic orchestral hush. The single's mysterious narrative of a Southern family's supper-table indifference to a young man's suicide became a sensation, and Capitol quickly built an entire album around it, filling out the LP with additional Gentry originals recorded in only a few days. The record topped the American charts, displacing the Beatles'
Tracklist
Side 1
1. Mississippi Delta
2. I Saw An Angel Die
3. Chickasaw County Child
4. Sunday Best
5. Niki Hoeky
Side 2
1. Papa, Woncha Let Me Go To Town With You
2. Bugs
3. Hurry, Tuesday Child
4. Lazy Willie
5. Ode To Billie Joe
The Label
The label is Capitol's black rainbow/colorband design with the oval Capitol logo at the top - a flat label, not a deep-groove pressing. The catalogue number reads "T 2830" on the jacket and "T-2830" on the labels, identifying this as the mono edition of the debut LP rather than the stereo "ST-2830" companion pressing. The runout carries a "0" stamp, the mark Capitol used at its Jacksonville, Florida pressing plant, placing this specific mono pressing among the several US plants (Scranton and Jacksonville among them) that struck the title in its first year on the market.
Fidelity
This mono mix was cut and pressed in the first year of release at one of Capitol's US plants, without a mastering engineer credited on the jacket or labels. Collectors generally regard the original 1967 mono and stereo Capitol pressings as the most authentic listen to Jimmie Haskell's string arrangement and Gentry's vocal, with later reissues - including the 2018 Record Store Day 12-inch and the 2023 mono vinyl remaster - offering cleaner surfaces but a different tonal balance. Within the original US pressings, plant-to-plant differences (Scranton versus Jacksonville) are considered minor and mostly a matter of collector preference rather than an audible fidelity hierarchy.
Notes
This is the mono edition of Capitol's 1967 debut LP, catalogue T-2830, on the black rainbow/colorband label with the Capitol logo at top. The runout carries a "0" stamp identifying Capitol's Jacksonville pressing plant, one of several US plants used for the title in its first pressing year. The back cover's altered track titles ("An Angel Died," "Papa, Won't You Take Me To Town With You," "Hurry Tuesday Child") and mismatched running order against the labels are characteristic of this early jacket printing.
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