That was a great song, great performance by Bobbie.
It had absolutely nothing to do with anything real, but I think that was part of the attraction. The story pulls you in. The ending is strongly implied, but has never become fully clear. Many cities have their own legacy of mysteries.
This came out the same summer when Sargent Pepper did. 1967
This came out in the year of the Detroit Riots, my hometown.
Brilliantly written and performed.
I always thought it was about a baby that got tossed off a bridge. Billy Joe killed herself in despair and the girl that was with her has a sudden loss of appetite upon hearing the news. I didn't live back then when it came out. I was born in 1971 but I have listened to that song countless times.
I was in Whittier, Calif. at that time, The summer was hotter than normal and the air was full of smog. In those days, weather reports on the radio included reports on eye irritation, for example: "the high temperature in Downtown LA today will be 92 degrees with moderate to heavy eye irritation."
The Beatles' "Dr. Pepper" came out around Memorial Day, but radio stations were already playing promos of the disc for several days beforehand. "Ode to Billy Joe" started hitting the airwaves a few weeks later. My favorite station at the time, KWIZ at 1480 kcs out of Santa Ana played mostly Oldies, but "Billy Joe" was one of the few Newies that made it onto the playlist.
1967-68 we lived at Keesler AFB Biloxi MS. There was a lot of excitement over the local, in person appearance of Bobby Gentry, and many tickets were sold.
I can’t remember whether it was shortly before or after the appearance, but it was revealed that the Bobby Gentry advertised was a man. Outrage ensued.