A: Bobbie Gentry recorded and released “Ode to Billie Joe” in July 1967 as the B-side to her first single, “Mississippi Delta.” Soon after the record’s release, however, radio stations ...

Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billy Joe” inspired a drama of the same name in 1976. The screenplay followed the basic facts in the song’s narrative, which details the events of a Mississippi man ...