DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (13)

By: Amanda Martinez
February 8, 2023

One in a series of 25 enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, on the topic of favorite Country singles from the Sixties (1964–1973). Series edited by Josh Glenn. BONUS: Check out the DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM playlist on Spotify.

BOBBIE GENTRY | “FANCY” | 1969

Bobbie Gentry’s self-penned “Fancy” was produced by Rick Hall and recorded at FAME in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1969. Reba McEntire later had a big hit with it when she recorded it in 1990.

There are so many things I love about this song, but what stands out most for me are the ways that it shies away from certain norms typically seen in country music. While country songs often romanticize poverty, the picture here is bleak and desperate. Fancy’s mother wants better things for her daughter and has resorted to the unthinkable: she advises Fancy to go to the city and sell herself. Traditionally in country music the city has always been a place where morals go to die, and for women the city looked particularly grim: it was a gateway to a life shame found in dingy bars, prostitution, and general failure (see songs like Bobby Bare’s “Streets of Baltimore” or George Jones & Tammy Wynette’s “Southern California”). But in “Fancy” we get a sort of weird success story, where she enters the city, and yes, finds prostitution, but she also overcomes poverty and lives a comfortable life that she’s proud of.

This song was released at the height of the Women’s Liberation movement, and most of country’s biggest female names — Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette — vehemently denied any association with the movement. But Bobbie Gentry didn’t deny her support for feminism, saying: “‘Fancy’ is my strongest statement for Women’s Lib, if you really listen to it. I agree wholeheartedly with the movement and all the serious issues that they stand for — equality, equal pay, day care centers, and abortion rights” (After Dark Magazine, 1974).

If country music can be seen as a battle of “rural” vs “urban” values, we see here how Bobbie Gentry and “Fancy” defied the standard definition of country music as a subculture which always clings to the sentimentality of rural life.

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DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn | David Cantwell on Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s WE FOUND IT | Lucy Sante on Johnny & June Carter Cash’s JACKSON | Mimi Lipson on George Jones’s WALK THROUGH THIS WORLD WITH ME | Steacy Easton on Olivia Newton-John’s LET ME BE THERE | Annie Zaleski on Tammy Wynette’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E | Carl Wilson on Tom T. Hall’s THAT’S HOW I GOT TO MEMPHIS | Josh Glenn on Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen’s BACK TO TENNESSEE | Elizabeth Nelson on Skeeter Davis’s I DIDN’T CRY TODAY | Carlo Rotella on Buck Owens’ TOGETHER AGAIN | Lynn Peril on Roger Miller’s THE MOON IS HIGH | Erik Davis on Kris Kristofferson’s SUNDAY MORNIN’ COMIN’ DOWN | Francesca Royster on Linda Martell’s BAD CASE OF THE BLUES | Amanda Martinez on Bobbie Gentry’s FANCY | Erin Osmon on John Prine’s PARADISE | Douglas Wolk on The Byrds’ DRUG STORE TRUCK DRIVIN’ MAN | David Warner on Willie Nelson’s WHISKEY RIVER | Will Groff on Tanya Tucker’s DELTA DAWN | Natalie Weiner on Dolly Parton’s IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS (WHEN TIMES WERE BAD) | Charlie Mitchell on Stonewall Jackson’s I WASHED MY HANDS IN MUDDY WATER | Nadine Hubbs on Dolly Parton’s COAT OF MANY COLORS | Jada Watson on Loretta Lynn’s DON’T COME HOME A DRINKIN’ (WITH LOVIN’ ON YOUR MIND) | Adam McGovern on Johnny Cash’s THE MAN IN BLACK | Stephen Thomas Erlewine on Dick Curless’s A TOMBSTONE EVERY MILE | Alan Scherstuhl on Waylon Jennings’s GOOD HEARTED WOMAN | Alex Brook Lynn on Bobby Bare’s THE WINNER. PLUS: Peter Doyle on Jerry Reed’s GUITAR MAN | Brian Berger on Charley Pride’s IS ANYBODY GOING TO SAN ANTONE.

MORE ENTHUSIASM at HILOBROW

DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (13)

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