A Detroit, Michigan … Read Full Bio ↴Carla Cook is a Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist.
A Detroit, Michigan native, music seized hold of Cook at an early age. As a student at Cass Technical High School she played string bass in the school orchestra, studied piano and voice on weekends, and sang in her church’s choir. An elder brother introduced her to jazz, Cook chose voice as her instrument of choice, and she became a disciple of jazz icon Eddie Jefferson, founder of a singing technique called ‘vocalese’ where a singer sings lyrics to a famous instrumental solo. During this time she and close friend Regina Carter formed dreams of becoming jazz musicians; Cook as a singer, and Carter as a violinist. At Carter’s urging she applied to and was accepted by Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. While at Northeastern she remained in close contact with Carter (who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music and met Cyrus Chestnut, a jazz pianist studying at nearby Berklee School of Music. After graduating from Northeastern in 1985 Cook remained in Boston preparing herself for a career singing jazz in New York. In February of 1990 she moved to New York and supported herself as a school teacher and book seller during the day, and singing at night. After five years she traveled to Europe and from 1993-1994 Cook served as a guest vocal and ensemble instructor at the Jazzschule in Basel, Switzerland, and Jazz and Rock Schule in Freiburg, Germany. She returned to New York two years later and her work included singing with Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra and George Gee’s Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra. In 1998 she signed with MaxJazz, a fledgling music label, and that year she released her first CD, ‘It’s All About Love’, to great acclaim, including a best jazz vocal Grammy nomination. Her second CD, ‘Dem Bones’ (a tribute to all the trombone players she’d worked with in the Lionel Hampton and George Gee groups), released in 2001, was also a success, and received a glowing review from Down Beat magazine, the leading jazz publication. In 2002 she released her CD ‘Simply Natural’, which was inspired by her love for the beauty found in nature.
Cook performs globally both with her own groups, most notably 'the Carla Cook Quintet', and as a guest soloist with artists including Eric Reed and old friends Regina Carter and Cyrus Chestnut (both of whom have become young luminaries in the jazz world). Her eclectic venues include the digital realm as she is featured as a character in the Sony Playstation game, ‘Parappa the Rapper II’, and she has said that it is a dream of hers to appear with her favorite characters on Sesame Street.
Ode To Billie Joe
Carla Cook Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was a bailin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked out to the house to eat
And mama hollered of the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
Then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe Macallister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
There's five more acres in the lower forty that I've got to plow"
And Mama said, "It was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe Mac Allister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
Mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
Said, he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said, he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge
A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last spring
Now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Carla Cook's song "Ode to Billie Joe" is a tale of melancholy that explores complex themes of love, loss, and mystery. The song begins on a lazy summer day in the Mississippi Delta, where the singer is out working in the fields with her brother when they receive news that Billie Joe Macallister has jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. The family react with apathy and move on to discussing their daily routines. The singer's mother also mentions that Brother Taylor saw a girl that looked just like her up on Choctaw Ridge with Billie Joe, an underlying mystery that adds to the song's intrigue. The song ends with the singer reflecting on the passage of time, the loss of her father, and her own contemplative visits to Choctaw Ridge to drop flowers into the Tallahatchie River.
At its core, "Ode to Billie Joe" remains one of the most open-ended and mysterious songs to have ever become a hit. Many musicians and writers have prosed numerous theories about why Billie Joe jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge, ranging from curious observations to intense speculation. However, Bobbie Gentry, the song's writer, has refused to explain the meaning of the song or the mysterious event. Nonetheless, there are several theories as to what the song's story means or whether there is any broader commentary in it. Some suggest that the song is about the quiet desperation of a small town community, while others believe it is a thinly veiled critique of Southern morality.
Line by Line Meaning
It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day
The singer describes a typical lazy day in the Delta region on a summer day in June.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was a bailin' hay
The singer and her brother were working in the fields in the sweltering heat, with her chopping cotton and her brother baling hay.
And at dinner time we stopped and walked out to the house to eat
It was time for lunch, so they took a break from work to go back to the house for a meal.
And mama hollered of the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
The mother reminds her children to wipe their feet before coming inside so they don't track dirt into the house.
Then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge Today Billie Joe Macallister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
The mother shares the shocking news that Billie Joe Macallister has committed suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please There's five more acres in the lower forty that I've got to plow"
The father dismisses Billie Joe's suicide and focuses on the work that still needs to be done on the farm.
And Mama said, "It was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge And now Billy Joe Mac Allister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
Despite her husband's dismissiveness, the mother laments the tragedy and comments on the ominous nature of Choctaw Ridge, where nothing good ever seems to happen.
Mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite? I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today" Said, he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way He said, he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The mother notices her daughter's lack of appetite and mentions a visit from a local preacher who may have seen her daughter on Choctaw Ridge with Billy Joe.
A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last spring Now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The family has gone through changes since Billy Joe's death, with the brother getting married and Papa dying of a virus. The artist spends her time on Choctaw Ridge, possibly to think about what happened with Billy Joe.
Contributed by Annabelle B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.