A sublime album from the great
Bobbie Gentry – and maybe her strongest full-length set recorded during the classic Capitol years! The title's "sweete" is a hillbilly play on the word "suite" – and the album definitely works as an extended suite of tracks – almost a concept album, and one that mixes lots of
Bobbie's own tunes with a few well-chosen covers – all set to larger arrangements that feature strings from Jimmie Haskell and horns directed by Shorty Rogers – all while
Gentry leads the combo at the core! Later Capitol albums had
Gentry doing a lot of covers, and maybe losing her identity a bit – but this set is more of an expansion on the mode she brought to the "Billie Joe" single – with tracks that include "Reunion", "Mornin Glory", "Sermon", "Penduli Pendulum", "Jessye Lisabeth", "Courtyard", "Okolona River Bottom Band", and "Refractions". 2LP version features a brand new stereo mix from the original tapes – plus bonus tracks that include demos of "Mornin Glory", "Sermon", "Jessye Lisabeth", "Louisiana Man", "Refractions", "The Way I Do", and "Feelin Good" – plus an instrumental of "Okolona River Bottom Band", and an alternate take of "Mississippi Delta".