Bobbie Gentry's BBC2 series, 1968

[Andy Miller]

I'd be very grateful if somebody could illuminate this for me. Does anyone know any details of Ms Gentry's BBC2 series? Guests, what she sang etc.?

Oh, and does it still exist, or is it in circulation? I know it was shipped all over the world, so I'm vaguely optimistic.

Thanks very much in advance if you can point me in the right direction.

[Laurence Piper]

Bobbie Gentry: 13/7/68 - 17/8/68. 6 programmes. Progs 4 and 5 exist on colour tape (featuring The Hollies and Long John Baldry respectively, plus Pan's People in all). The other shows' guests were (in order) The Alan Price Set, Don Partridge, Donovan and Glen Campbell.

Two shows from her 1971 series "Gentry" also survive.

[Andy Miller]

Thank you very much Laurence, that's really helpful.

Cheers
Andy

[William Martin]

and thats more early pans people in colour that pre-dates "the price of fame" from the end of 69

the bbc should realy do some dvd/videos of these early colour shows colour me pop etc if only to show people that not all 60s TV was murky B/W TR

[Laurence Piper]

I quite agree! There's a lot more good untapped '60s pop footage too. That Hollies performance is interesting as it's probably the only surviving PAL colour VT of them with Graham Nash (only a few months before he left), given that their Colour Me Pop is missing...

[William Martin]

what song would that be "listen to me?" or "sorry suzanne"?
I think the bbc should certainly seriously consider using these programs if only for totp2 or even show them one one of their very many digital channels they will need transferring and cleaning up anyway TR lasts longer than VT anyway so do the VT first

[Ian West]

William said:

I think the bbc should certainly seriously consider using these programs if only for totp2 or even show them one one of their very many digital channels they will need transferring and cleaning up anyway TR lasts longer than VT anyway so do the VT first

Couldn't agree more about the TOTP2 suggestion. Considering how little genuine TOTP stuff survives from the late 60s / early 70s, they could add a huge quantity of extra material this way. I suppose they think that showing material that is obviously not sourced from TOTP might be seen as short-changing viewers, but I'm sure the reality is that even casual viewers have noticed by now that we get the same clips time and time again from this period.

To be fair they do show stuff from "In Concert" occasionally, but there's so much more they could use if they dug around a bit.

[William Martin]

yes I agree, there is so little 1960s totp that it would be legitimate to show clips from other shows until more turns up from the show itself or even a transmission of a complete 1960s show, the early 1968 show would be a good one.

[Laurence Piper]

The Hollies don't sing any hits on the show, just album tracks - sorry about that!

Well, TOTP2 has been using non-TOTP-originated material for years anyway, so the precedent has been firmly established. I think it is just a case of them being genuinely unaware of some of the goodies available to use from their own archive!

There's plenty more '60s / early '70s stuff like The Hollies appearance as well (some is hit-orientated) . Some has probably not been seen since original TX. All of it is prime material for TOTP2 use...

[William Martin]

with all the shiny new digital channels there could be room for a "sounds of the sixties-in colour" type thingy
did you see the Radio 4 questions questions only 1 more day to post your reply

[Laurence Piper]

I never understood why there wasn't a second series of Sounds Of The Sixties - there is clearly enough material for it.

[William Martin]

perhaps they wanted to keep it for totp2 then forgot they had it
the sounds of the 70s wasn't as successfull ratings wise so perhaps they avoided such shows