# Today marks the anniversary of Billy Jo Mcalester jumping off the Tallahassee Bridge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996 "2020-06-03T15:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/21 "2020-06-03T23:10:46Z")
**Moderator Note** Two threads on the same topic (one originally in MPSIMS) have been merged. Posts are ordered by time posted and not by original thread, which may cause some confusion. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/22 "2020-06-03T23:16:16Z")
^ Nah, I just really like biscuits. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/23 "2020-06-04T00:52:13Z")
So give us the Straight Dope: Why did Billy Joe jump off the bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/24 "2020-06-04T01:04:27Z")
It was a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/25 "2020-06-04T01:58:51Z")
Bobbie Gentry, who wrote and sang the song, has never revealed what he threw off the bridge and why he jumped from it: > **[Bobbie Gentry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_Gentry)** > > Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. > Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Southern Gothic narrative "Ode to Billie Joe". The track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was third in the Billboard year-end chart of 1967, earning Gentry Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance i... > **[Ode to Billie Joe (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe)** > > "Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped Billboard's Pop singles chart. It also appeared in the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, and in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list. > The song takes the form of a first-person narrative performed over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strin... ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/26 "2020-06-04T02:05:51Z")
Bobby Gentry, who wrote and sang the song, has never revealed what he threw off the bridge and why the jumped from it: > **[Ode to Billie Joe (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe)** > > "Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped Billboard's Pop singles chart. It also appeared in the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, and in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list. > The song takes the form of a first-person narrative performed over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strin... ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/27 "2020-06-04T02:07:01Z")
Sorry about the duplication. I’m getting really slow response today. What’s going on? ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/28 "2020-06-04T02:21:43Z")
They’re chopping cotton and baling hay? _In June??_ And Papa hasn’t got his plowing finished? _In June??_ The real mystery is where did all that food on the table come from? This family can’t farm for shit! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/29 "2020-06-04T02:40:58Z")
**Labdad** , that’s the best laff I’ve had in a month; thanx! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/30 "2020-06-04T02:56:36Z")
They’re chopping cotton and baling hay? _In June??_ And Papa hasn’t got his plowing finished? _In June??_ The real mystery is where did all that food on the table come from? This family can’t farm for shit! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/31 "2020-06-04T12:02:10Z")
I’ll never forget how quickly and completely it grabbed everyone’s attention. It was an amazing achievement: a (nearly) solo recording–music, lyrics, vocals, and guitar–all by an unknown 23-year-old woman from Mississippi. I remember my mother didn’t believe me for years that Gentry was white, because her Delta accent was so authentic. (Mom finally conceded when we were in a record store, and I showed her an album cover). It was rare then for mainstream recordings to feature voices like Gentry’s. Even country singers were trying to sound like city folk. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Bobby Gentry, who wrote and sang the song, has never revealed what he threw off the bridge and why the jumped from it: > > [Ode to Billie Joe (song) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe) Gentry was married to country singer and comedian Jim Stafford. After they had divorced, he was on a talk show where they asked him about Gentry. Stafford explained that they were no longer married–“She wouldn’t tell me what they were throwing off that damn bridge!” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/32 "2020-06-04T12:44:06Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’ll never forget how quickly and completely it grabbed everyone’s attention. It was an amazing achievement: a (nearly) solo recording–music, lyrics, vocals, and guitar–all by an unknown 23-year-old woman from Mississippi… And a dynamite sweetening track written by one of Hollywood’s top composers, Jimmie Haskell, played by the Sid Sharp strings. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/33 "2020-06-04T13:07:11Z")
Little Sister don’t miss with a gun. What? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/34 "2020-06-04T13:59:32Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Bobby Gentry, who wrote and sang the song, has never revealed what he threw off the bridge and why the jumped from it: > > [Ode to Billie Joe (song) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe) Because the song isn’t about Billie Joe’s suicide. It’s about the family’s reaction – and obliviousness – to what is clearly a shocking tragedy to the young girl who’s telling the story. Gentry called it “a study in unconscious cruelty”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/35 "2020-06-04T15:35:35Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And a dynamite sweetening track written by one of Hollywood’s top composers, Jimmie Haskell, played by the Sid Sharp strings. FANTASTIC string arrangement! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/36 "2020-06-04T16:15:42Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > FANTASTIC string arrangement! You betcha! Note how Haskell doesn’t feel obligated to fill EVERY second with strings; he doesn’t use the entire section always; he uses unison spreading to harmony for interest; and he likes sweeps which work very well with professional string players. I had the good fortune to work with Mr. Haskell only once – for a Cashman & West album, 3 songs. I received his pencil-scratch charts late at night and had to prepare ink versions for a 9AM session. I remember asking him if the sweeps, which he did not detail – should be written as individual notes. He told me to just draw a line from the lowest note to the highest, indicate how many steps there were, whether it was chromatic or diatonic, and the string players would figure it out on the fly, perfectly. They did – Sid Sharp was an awesome concertmaster. Here’s one of the songs we did that day; note all the characteristics I mentioned are here (including some violin harmonics!): [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k7eyMFlx2uc/hqdefault.jpg "CASHMAN & WEST - "Songman" (1972)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7eyMFlx2uc) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/37 "2020-06-04T17:36:09Z")
Really cool, **Musicat**. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/38 "2020-06-04T17:38:53Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > They’re chopping cotton and baling hay? _In June??_ > And Papa hasn’t got his plowing finished? _In June??_ > > The real mystery is where did all that food on the table come from? This family can’t farm for shit! Well the planting and harvesting seasons can be alot longer in the south. I never understood what “chopping cotton” meant? By this era they had stopped manually picking cotton anyways and used machines. I assumed it was cutting out weeds??? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996/39 "2020-06-04T17:44:33Z")
As for the food; black eyed peas, biscuits (assuming made from basic biscuit flour, water, and lard), and maybe greens are really darn cheap. Often found growing wild. Many people I knew growing up also had well over half their meat from hunting and fishing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-marks-the-anniversary-of-billy-jo-mcalester-jumping-off-the-tallahassee-bridge/854996.md?page=1)