Mercury Rev announce tribute to Bobbie Gentry ahead of 20th anniversary Deserter’s Songs show

Mercury Rev have announced Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete Revisited, a star-studded LP recorded in homage to the great singer and songwriter, Bobbie Gentry. The Mississippi native made a handful of remarkable records during the late sixties and early seventies, but today lives in complete privacy. Joining Mercury Rev on the album are artist and former Brighter Sound residency leader Beth Orton, up-and-coming artist Phoebe Bridgers and Americana Music Association award-winner Margo Price, who features on the newly-released version of Sermon. Price describes Gentry’s songs as, ‘well crafted, literary masterpieces.’

The announcement comes in the run up to Mercury Rev’s special 20th anniversary acoustic show at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, celebrating the album that Pitchfork called an ‘orchestral rock landmark’ in their 2011 review – Deserter’s Songs. It’s a work that greatly contrasted from their previous studio albums and left its mark on many a listener. The events that preceded its creation were unusual to say the least, but we shan’t detract from the band’s telling of those stories by divulging them now. They will perform the songs in the ‘whisper and strum’ style they wrote them in, revealing extra layers of humanity to the material, beyond what’s apparent from the studio recording.

Find out more about Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete Revisited via Bella Union.