Early years
Gentry spent her childhood living with her father in Greenwood, Mississippi, where she attended elementary school and began teaching herself to play the guitar, the bass guitar, and the banjo. In her early teens, she moved to Palm Springs, California, to live with her mother, Ruby Bullington Streeter, graduating from Palm Springs High School in 1962. It was during this time that the teenage Roberta settled on the stage name "Bobbie Gentry," and began performing at local country clubs, encouraged by no less a Palm Springs celebrity than Bob Hope.
After a short career as a Las Vegas showgirl, Gentry moved to Los Angeles, attended UCLA (where she was a philosophy major) and worked clerical jobs while occasionally performing in local nightclubs. She later transferred to the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music to hone her composition and performing skills.
Rise to fame
In 1967, Gentry recorded a demo and submitted it to Capitol Records executive Kelly Gordon, who quickly signed her to a recording contract and produced her first album. A 45 rpm "single" of two of her songs—"Mississippi Delta" and "Ode to Billie Joe"—was the first issue from this first effort, and even though "Mississippi Delta" was chosen for the "A" side, radio stations were quickly enamored with the quirky tale of Billie Joe McAllister and the mystery of his fate, as hauntingly performed and recorded on the "B" side. Bobbie Gentry had a monster hit on her hands, and Capitol Records had its newest superstar. Gentry went on to win three Grammy Awards that year, including "Best Vocal Performance by a Female", and "Best New Artist."
Gentry's follow-up albums, The Delta Sweete and Local Gentry, both produced by Gordon, were issued in 1968. Though critically acclaimed, neither album garnered the kinds of sales figures that were realized with Gentry's debut effort. The year 1968 also saw the release of an album of duets that paired Gentry with fellow Capitol alumnus Glen Campbell. Gentry and Campbell's harmonies resulted in a gold record and three hit singles, including a cover of the Everly Brothers hit "All I Have to Do Is Dream", which rose to No. 6 on the country charts in the winter of 1969.
Gentry toured briefly with Campbell and performed on a number of U.S. television programs and specials in the late 1960s. Her other notable singles include Doug Kershaw's composition "Louisiana Man" as well as a mellow version of a Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". The latter went to No. 1 in Great Britain in 1970, a year after Dionne Warwick had a hit with it in the United States. 1970 also saw the release of another U.S. hit with the self-penned "Fancy," which rose to No. 26 on the Country chart and 31 on the Pop chart. (This enduring tale would later be covered with major success by Reba McEntire in 1991.)
Gentry would go on to record three more albums, while having earlier albums reissued under different titles. These last three albums, Touch 'Em with Love, Fancy, and the ambitious and highly regarded Patchwork, which consisted of all original material, were greeted enthusiastically by critics but, with the exception of the aforementioned title track to Fancy, failed to resonate with the public (though Gentry did generate a significant fan base in the United Kingdom).
Undaunted by declining record sales, Gentry sought other outlets for her creativity. She continued to write and perform, touring Europe and headlining a Las Vegas review in which she produced, choreographed, and wrote and arranged the music. In 1974, Gentry hosted a short-lived summer replacement variety show, The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour on CBS. The show, which served as her own version of Campbell's hit series The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, also on CBS, was not picked up for a full season. That same year, Gentry wrote and performed "Another Place, Another Time" for writer-director (and Beverly Hillbillies actor) Max Baer, Jr.'s film, Macon County Line. Baer would go on to direct a feature film take on Ode To Billy Joe, starring Robbie Benson, in which the mystery of Billie Joe's suicide is revealed as a part of the conflict between his love for Bobbie Lee Hartley and his emerging homosexuality.
By the middle 1970s, Gentry's sellability had waned significantly, and Capitol did not renew her contract. After some behind-the-scenes work in television production failed to hold her interests, Gentry decided to retire from show business. Her last public appearance as a performer was on Christmas night 1978, as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She has deliberately remained out of the limelight ever since.
Personal life
She was married twice. The first, to casino magnate William F. Harrah in 1969, when she was 27 and he was 58, lasted only three months, a victim of her fame. The second, to novelty singer-songwriter Jim Stafford, ended in 1979, after only eleven months of marriage and the birth of a son, Tyler. The details of Gentry's personal life after her retirement are little known, but it is generally believed that she has settled into a happy life, and enjoys being a private citizen, unhindered by the scrutiny that fame brings. As of January 2003, she was living in Los Angeles County, California.
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Bobbie Gentry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I feel blue in the night
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away
I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away
I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream...
The lyrics of Bobbie Gentry's "All I Have to Do Is Dream" express the desire of the singer for her loved one, and the way in which she feels incomplete without them. The first verse of the song conveys how the singer yearns to be with the person she loves and finds solace in dreaming of them. The line "when I want you in my arms, when I want you and all your charms" indicates the physical and emotional attraction she feels towards the person, and how they complete her.
The second verse of the song expresses the singer's loneliness without their partner, and how they turn to dreaming to be close to them. The line "when I feel blue in the night and I need you to hold me tight" conveys how she feels empty without the person's presence and longs for them to be with her. The singer believes that all she has to do is dream of her partner, and she can fill the void and feel complete again.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream" and emphasizes how the singer turns to dreaming to be with her loved one, and how it makes her feel better. The last verse of the song expresses the intensity of the singer's feelings towards her partner, and how she cannot imagine living without them.
Overall, the song conveys the powerful emotions of love, desire, and longing, and how dreams can offer solace and comfort in times of loneliness.
Line by Line Meaning
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Expressing the desire to dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I desire to have you close to me
When I want you and all your charms
When I desire to have you and all the attributes that I find charming
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Indicating how easy it is to have or possess you
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Expressing the desire to dream, dream, dream
When I feel blue in the night
When I feel sad or unhappy in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
And I require your embrace to provide comfort
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
I can make you mine and enjoy the pleasures of kissing you
Anytime night or day
At any time whether it's night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
The only problem is, wow
I'm dreamin' my life away
I'm living my life in a dreamlike state
I need you so that I could die
I need you so much that I would die for you
I love you so and that is why
I love you so intensely, hence the reason
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Expressing the desire to dream, dream, dream
Lyrics © HOUSE OF BRYANT PUBLICATIONS, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Boudleaux Bryant
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@judyhorn1571
That was my husband and my song. He died in 2017 but when i want to see him all i have to do is dream of him. We was married 47 years when he died and i still love him with al my heart. We will meet again in Heaven. Love Judy
@frankhornby6873
Judy Horn .....lovely....he is always there Judy.....(just close your eyes, and dream)...✌🏻
@northlincsfox243
I’m so sorry to learn of your dear husband’s passing. My condolences.
@frankhornby6873
Me and Mary, my wife....danced to this song way back in 1970 ..our wedding dance...I was 21 ...Mary was 19yrs old.....I still love that girl so much......Frank xx
@joesantos3211
you are a lucky man
@marknewton6984
Keep dancin'!
@davidklein7962
Cherish her memories Frank
@williamwilson3156
Tapped a young girl on the shoulder and danced tge last dance with her to this song. Then her husband appeared and beat me up. Ended up in hospital for 6 weeks. Happy memories!
@mikenicholas588
Tapped a young girl on the shoulder and smooched to the last dance of the night, we're still together after 47 years.Love this song!
@sunryse111
Amazing story - and congratulations!