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Ode to Billy Joe was a hit song in 1967 by Bobbie Gentry, a singer from Chickasaw County, Mississippi.
Said to be based on a true story, the song recounts the night of June 3, 1953, when Billy Joe McAllister committed suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge on Choctaw Ridge. The song is noteworthy for the mystery surrounding his reasons for jumping off the bridge, which Ms. Gentry has never revealed.
The questions raised by the song were answered in a 1976 Warner Bros. movie starring Robby Benson, which was produced by Max Baer, Jr. (best-known as Jethro on TV's The Beverly Hillbillies).
A book also came out at about the same time as the movie.
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