Music Friday: Young Bobbie Gentry Wears Faux Ruby Ring in 'Chickasaw County Child'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Bobbie Gentry's autobiographical "Chickasaw County Child" tells the story of the four-time Grammy winner's unlikely rise to fame despite her hardscrabble upbringing in rural Mississippi.

In the song, Gentry's mom assures the young girl that she's gonna be somebody someday. There's nothing in the world can hold her back because she's got style. The pretty girl radiates confidence and proudly wears her favorite accessory, a faux ruby ring.

Gentry sings, "Sportin' her checkered feedsack dress / A ruby ring from a Cracker Jack box / Shufflin' on down that gravel road / Barefooted and chunkin' rocks."

Later in the song, we learn that her mom's assessment was right on the mark, as the young woman — supplied with a tin can of blackstrap sorghum molasses and a Farmers' Almanac — heads to California to pursue her dreams.

The song opens a window into the life of Gentry, who was actually raised — not by her mother — but by her paternal grandparents in a home without electricity or plumbing. Gentry's parents were divorced shortly after she was born, and her mom had moved to California. Legend has it that her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano so the youngster could study music. Later, Gentry lived with her dad in Greenwood, MS, and learned to play the guitar and banjo.

At age 13, Gentry reunited with her mom in California. For a short time, they performed as a duo. Gentry attended UCLA as a philosophy major and supported herself by performing at nightclubs and country clubs. Later, she transferred to the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, where she took classes in composition, music theory and arranging. In 1967, at the age of 25, Gentry recorded a demo of "Ode to Billie Joe," which she took to Capitol Records. The song would top the charts and become an international hit.

Released in 1967 as the third track of Gentry's debut studio album, Ode to Billie Joe, "Chickasaw County Child" became the signature song for the artist who would continue to celebrate her Mississippi heritage.

Trivia: When the album Ode to Billie Joe peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Top LP's chart, the album it displaced for the top position was the Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Please check out the audio track of Gentry singing "Chickasaw County Child." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Chickasaw County Child"
Written by and performed by Bobbie Gentry.

Just outside of Delta country
Where the bitter weeds growin' wild
Born seven miles outside o' Woodland
Was a Chickasaw County child

An' Poppa done brung us some peppermint candy
Momma fixed a custard pie
Bought her a store-bought doll from Jackson
She's an apple of everyone's eye

Chickasaw County child
Is gonna be okay
Chickasaw County child
You gonna be somebody someday

Sportin' her checkered feedsack dress
A ruby ring from a Cracker Jack box
Shufflin' on down that gravel road
Barefooted and chunkin' rocks

Momma said "Look-a here, Dumplin'
You'll go far 'cause you got style"
Ain't nothin' in this world gonna hold her back
Her pretty Chickasaw County child

Chickasaw County child
Is gonna be okay
Chickasaw County child
You gonna be somebody someday

Leavin' the county a week from Monday
Ain't got much to pack
A tin can of blackstrap sorghum molasses
And a Farmers' Almanac

Momma done made her a brand new dress
Made of blue polka dotted silk
Two postcards from California
An' a gallon of buttermilk

Chickasaw County child
Is gonna be okay
Chickasaw County child
You gonna be somebody someday

You gonna be somebody someday
You gonna be somebody someday
You gonna be somebody someday

Credit: Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

14.83-Carat 'Spirit of the Rose' Diamond Could Yield $38MM at Sotheby's Geneva

"The Spirit of the Rose" — a 14.83-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond that's so special it has its own website — is expected to fetch up to $38 million when it hits the auction block at Sotheby's Geneva on November 11.

Sourced in 2017 at Alrosa’s Ebelyakh deposit in Yakutia, Russia, the oval-shaped sparkler was cut from a rough stone that weighed 27.85 carats and remains the largest pink diamond ever mined in Russia. The smooth-surfaced alluvial stone measured 22.47 mm x 15.69 mm x 10.9 mm.

The rough diamond was named “Nijinsky” after the famed Russian ballet dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky. In keeping with the dance theme, Alrosa chose the name “The Spirit of the Rose” for the finished stone to honor the famous 1911 ballet of the same name. In French, it was called “Le Spectre de la Rose,” and its primary dancers were Tamara Karsavina and Nijinsky.

The Gemological Institute of America graded The Spirit of the Rose as internally flawless with excellent polish and very good symmetry. It’s the largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever graded by the GIA. Sotheby's has set the pre-sale estimate at $23 million to $38 million.

If it performs as expected, The Spirit of the Rose will join an elite group of high-profile pink diamonds, including the 59.60-carat “CTF Pink Star” ($71.2 million), the 18.96-carat "Winston Pink Legacy” ($50.3 million), the 14.93-carat “Pink Promise” ($32.4 million), the 15.38-carat “Unique Pink” ($31.5 million) and the 16.08-carat “Sweet Josephine” ($28.5 million).

“A large fancy vivid purple-pink, internally flawless, with perfect visual characteristics such as this one, enters the market, literally, once in a generation,” Eden Rachminov, chairman of the Fancy Color Research Foundation, told diamondworld.net in August 2019 after examining the gem. “The stone has the most desirable pink undertone dispersed perfectly, and looks much bigger in relation to its actual weight.”

“In the world of colored diamonds, pink diamonds are some of the most treasured, especially at larger sizes,” John King, GIA chief quality officer, said in a video that appears on a special website created for The Spirit of the Rose. “It’s unusual to see pink diamonds in the market over one carat today. Weighing more than 14 carats is exceptional. The color is an amazing specimen. Being also internally flawless makes it truly a unique stone.”

The Spirit of the Rose is currently on exhibit in Hong Kong, after which it will head to Singapore and Taipei before returning to Geneva ahead of the November 11 main event.

Already the world’s biggest diamond producer in terms of sheer output, Russian mining company Alrosa is looking to become a major player in the category of gem-quality colored diamonds. Alrosa’s push is coming at a time when Rio Tinto’s Argyle Mine in Western Australia — the world’s primary source for pink, red and blue diamonds — is scheduled to close.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.

UA Staffer Finds Missing Diamond at Top of 101,000-Seat Bryant-Denny Stadium

University of Alabama staffer Victoria Giattina defied all odds last week by locating a missing diamond in the cavernous confines of the 101,800-seat Bryant–Denny Stadium. Even more amazing is the fact that the assistant director of event management and external operations completed her impossible assignment in less than 30 minutes.

The drama unfolded after last week's contest between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas A&M. While the unnamed fan was celebrating her favorite team's 52-24 victory, her engagement diamond had come dislodged from its setting.

It wasn't until she arrived home that she realized the diamond was gone. She searched her house and her car with no success. Her next strategy was to call the University of Alabama GameDay number to report the loss.

On Monday morning, UA GameDay staffers contacted Red Leonard, the University of Alabama's assistant athletics director, event management. He, in turn, called Giattina at 7 a.m. with the assignment of checking the section where the woman had been seated.

It turns out that the fan had been in Section U4 NN, Row 29. In Bryant–Denny Stadium, that seat assignment put her one row from the very top of the seventh-largest college stadium in the US. (The largest is Ann Arbor's Michigan Stadium with a capacity of 107,601.)

“It was pretty high up there,” Giattina told AL.com. “I just started from Row 1 of that section, and I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to do what I hope someone would do for me. I know that’s so valuable. I just started looking row by row, and I was huffing and puffing up there. Once I got to (row) 29, I didn’t see it.”

Giattina was about to give up the search when she remembered what her boss had told her — “Be sure to look behind (the seat) in case she was cheering.”

”I got to the top row, and I looked down. I couldn’t believe it. It was just lying there,” she told AL.com.

High at the top of the stadium Giattina took photos of her discovery, which she forwarded to Leonard.

“I was like, ‘You are never going to believe this. I found it,’” Giattina said.

The photo was then tweeted by Jeff Purinton, the University of Alabama's deputy director of athletics. Purinton wrote, "This was on a message board but not anywhere else so wanted to post. One of our fans lost the diamond from an engagement ring at the @AlabamaFTBL game Sat, called our event management team and @VictoriaLeighG went to the top of Bryant-Denny and found the diamond and returned it!”

It had taken Giattina less than 30 minutes to locate the ring.

Later on Monday, the university's athletic department delivered the exciting news to the diamond's owner.

“They are so excited in having it back,” Giattina told AL.com.

Credits: Diamond images via Twitter/Jeff Purinton. Bryant-Denny Stadium photo by Lahti213 / CC BY-SA. Screen capture of stadium seating chart.