Review
by Nicholas James |
 |
This is a very much deserved detailed look
at the group's first two years on a major
record label. This superb box set is without
question the definitive study of this
creative group beginning its rapid rise to
success and superstardom. It is difficult to
see how this package could have been
bettered and Warner is to be congratulated.
It comprises six CDs - the three studio
albums they released during this period (Bee
Gees' 1st, Horizontal and Idea) and three
bonus CDs with demos, non-album B-sides and
unreleased tracks from the same recording
sessions.
By the time of Maurice Gibb's death, when
the career of the Bee Gees was so
unexpectedly brought to a close, the
brothers were producing an album every four
years. It seems unthinkable now that they
would produce three albums in less than two
years!
Bee Gees' 1st is an incredible inaugural big
label album. I have already reviewed it in
detail here,
but listening to it alongside the bonus CD
gives it a whole new lease of life. Heavily
influenced by the Beatles, the Beach Boys
and Stax R&B, the album is surprisingly
confident for three guys who were only in
their late teens/early twenties. Stand-out
tracks are the haunting 'Holiday', the
fast-paced rocker 'In My Own Time', the
psychedelic 'Every Christian Lionhearted Man
Will Show You', the soulful standard 'To
Love Somebody', the Beach Boys influenced
'Please Read Me' and the Robin Gibb
tour-de-force 'Close Another Door'. The
timeless 'New York Mining Disaster 1941',
the Bee Gees' first UK hit single, is also
on this album.
But what of the extras? For my money, some
of the earlier demos of tracks featured on
the album are rawer and more passionate than
the 'official' versions. 'Turn of the
Century' and 'New York Mining Disaster 1941'
both stand out. Previously unreleased tracks
include the classic 'Gilbert Green' and the
less impressive (but never less than
interesting) 'House of Lords', 'I've Got To
Learn' and 'All Around My Clock'. Completely
bizarre is 'Mr Waller's Wailing Wall', with
the Bee Gees as you have never heard them
before! An early version of 'Harry Braff',
which would be featured in a different
recording on their next album also stands
out.
Horizontal was the Bee Gees' second album,
and it is much less Beatles influenced. I
reviewed it in more detail
here. In
this album the brothers begin to go in a
direction of their own, mixing commercial
pop ballads, such as 'Massachusetts' and
'Birdie Told Me', with experimental tracks
with playful titles and enigmatic lyrics.
'Lemons Never Forget' and 'The Earnest of
Being George' both fall into this latter
category and are much harsher, more
aggressively sung and played tracks than
were found on their first album.
Listening to the unreleased tracks on the
bonus CD, it seems that the group had moved
forward significantly from the earlier
recording sessions. 'Ring My Bell' is an
up-tempo '60s piece and 'Mrs Gillespie's
Refrigerator' would not have been out of
place on the final album. 'Deeply, Deeply
Me' is a real departure in style and sound
for the Bee Gees, with its (albeit slightly
tongue-in-cheek) Indian influences. 'Sinking
Ships', a B-side that was previously
available on the
Tales
from the Brothers Gibb box set, is
simply majestic, with its themes of death
and despair that would run through most of
the Bee Gees' early works. 'Barker of the
UFO', Barry's eccentric ode to his UFO
interest, and the melodic (if slightly
Wombles-sounding!) 'Sir Geoffrey Saved the
World' are further B-sides that didn't
feature on any album but are most definitely
good tracks. As with the previous album,
alternative versions of tracks featured on
the main disc are definitely worth a listen.
In particular, a more conventional version
of Robin's post traumatic stress-induced
'Really and Sincerely' and a rockier and
popier early version of 'Swan Song' (which
would eventually feature on the following
album) are stand-out tracks. Three Christmas
songs (two written by the brothers) finish
the album of nicely.
Finally comes the equally self-confident
Idea album, which sees the Bee Gees become
more musically confident, if slightly less
whimsical. It is reviewed in more detail as
a stand-alone album
here. This album is pure pop, but
with the brothers experimenting with
different sounds. 'Let There Be Love', 'When
The Swallows Fly' and 'Swan Song' are great
catchy pop ballads, whereas 'Idea' sees the
Bee Gees in rockier mood, with a strong
guitar riff by Vince Melouney. Real
stand-out tracks are Barry's gentle 'Kilburn
Towers' and Robin's wonderful self-pitying
masterpiece, 'I Started a Joke'.
The bonus CD follows a similar format to the
first two, and is just as definitive.
Unreleased tracks include the fantastic
'Chocolate Symphony' and the stark 'Bridges
Crossing Rivers'. 'Gena's Theme' is an
unusual instrumental piece and 'Completely
Unoriginal' is a studio warm-up that I am
sure was never intended to officially see
the light of day, but sheds a little light
on the Bee Gees' in-studio banter. The
single version of 'I've Gotta Get A Message
To You' has a different mix, with excellent
opening bass from Maurice, and the other
alternative mixes of songs on the album are
worth a listen, but perhaps not so engaging
as those on the first two albums. 'Jumbo',
which Barry says in the accompanying notes
was written as if being sung to a child, is
still a great song, which apparently was
released against the advice of manager
Robert Stigwood. The big ballad 'The Singer
Sang His Song' was Jumbo's B-side, and would
undoubtedly have made a much more successful
A-side, being a truly great Bee Gees song.
Two final oddities on this album are the two
songs the Bee Gees wrote and recorded as
Coca-Cola adverts, 'Another Cold And Windy
Day' and 'Sitting In The Meadow'.
All three albums come with booklets which
feature lengthy essays on each album,
supported by brand new interviews with Barry
and Robin, who provide contemporary comment
on these early tracks, which makes for very
interesting reading.
This box set is a worthy successor to 1990's
Tales From The Brothers Gibb,
dealing with this period much more
comprehensively and definitively. It can
only be hoped that the 'box set' treatment
can be given to all the studio albums so
that the true heart of the Bee Gees can be
revealed further.
Why Buy The Studio Albums 1967-1968?
This is the definitive collection of Bee
Gees music from their first two years on a
major label, one of their most creative
periods. |
