Video: Laura Pursell Releases Cover of 'Ode to Billy Joe'

Nashville singer/songwriter LAURA PURSELL today (July 10) releases the video and single of her interpretation of the classic Bobby Gentry song “Ode To Billy Joe.” This marks the second single from her current album SHOOTING STAR on Netcom Music (September 2023). 

On July 10, “Ode to Billy Joe” will celebrate the 57-year anniversary of the song’s release in 1967. It was written and recorded by BOBBIE GENTRY, and five weeks after its release, topped Billboard’s Pop Singles chart and appeared in the top 10 charts of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, as well as in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list. The song was the title track on Gentry’s 1967 Capitol Records debut album and nominated for eight Grammy Awards and appeared on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Greatest Country Songs lists. In 2023, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

“Ode To Billy Joe” was one of the songs recorded on what LAURA refers to as the “LA Sessions.” On the evening of March 16, 2020, when she and her band (consisting of drummer Chris Ross, bassist Jeff Takaguchi, and pianist Rick Hils) were told to fold up and leave the stage of a Burbank, CA venue they had a performing residence at, the city of Los Angeles was shutting down at midnight due to a Covid-19 pandemic mandate. Laura shares, “Not being able to perform live or leave LA and to keep myself and the band from going bonkers, we created our own little creative bubble and started looking for hidden gems to cover and possibly record. ‘Ode To Billy Joe’ has always been one of my favorite songs. So, I’m really excited to celebrate the anniversary of its release and am thrilled to have added this song to my latest album ‘Shooting Star.” The video was premiered July 8 at  Americana Highways.

During that time of the LA lockdown, LAURA and her band began to meet daily in her living room at the Studio City, CA home she was living in at that time, to rehearse and keep their chops up, work on new tunes, and figure out the road ahead. Laura and her band recorded a collection of songs at producer and guitarist Kenny Meriedeth’s Deep End Music Studios in Burbank, setting their focus on material from the Americana, country and roots rock idioms.  LAURA shares, “Recording this collection of songs kept us all somewhat sane and energized.”

Halfway through recording the material, the Nashville native’s beloved father Bill Pursell—a respected Nashville pianist, composer, and orchestrator/arranger—passed away from Covid-19.  The LA sessions and what would eventually become the album SHOOTING STAR was shelved indefinitely, and LAURA drove back to Nashville to mourn the loss of her father and musical mentor, and to settle his estate and solidify his musical legacy. In the fall of 2021, LAURA picked up where she and the band had left off, heading back to So. California to finish recording the LA sessions. Out of dozens of recorded tracks, 10 songs were chosen for inclusion for what is now her latest album SHOOTING STAR, an ode to loss and memory. Listen to the album HERE. The first single and title track from SHOOTING STAR was written by Bob Dylan and appeared on his 1989 album ‘OH MERCY.’ Watch the video filmed in downtown Nashville HERE.

Recently, Pursell was invited on the SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW Podcast by the show’s host Rik Anthony who says: “In the heart of Nashville, amidst the echoes of country music legends, stands a luminary in her own right. Laura Pursell was born into country music royalty as the daughter of a pioneer in the creation of the iconic ‘Nashville Sound.’ Pursell's journey is steeped in heritage and talent.” Listen HERE.

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