BCB 130 - The Bee Gees

[toomanyhatz]

One thing about the Bee Gees that I find rarely gets discussed- they didn't "sell out" in time for the disco era- they always had an eye on the charts. Hence Beatlish stuff in the 60s, grand 'epics' country rock and CSN harmonies in the early 70s, white soul in the mid-70s, then disco.

Thank god they had Robin, then- there was no way that voice wasn't going to make them sound eccentric even when they were trying to be totally commercial.

[Snarfyguy]

Does that guy Quaco still post here? He went to the Hollywood Bowl show, I believe.

Fuck - I was trying to hold it together the whole way. When the video of Robin came on to sing the bridge to "I Started a Joke", I gave up trying.

I feel that!

I didn't even last through the B.G. clip above.

[KeithPratt]

What a handsome bastard.

[Sneelock]

I think I'm more a Robin fan than a Bee Gees fan. some of those singles were just epic, you know? I can still clear a room breaking into "Holiday".

I remember holding a copy of "Main Course" in my hand and nearly spending my hard earned dollars on it. I had a friend who had warmed me to "odessa". I'm glad I took a pass - it got PLENTY of airplay.

I have a lot of good will for the gibbs, they were a potent Beatles methadone when I needed one. (Lonely Days). Still, it's very hard for me to shake the critical mass of their seventies success. that music, while well done and catchy as hell, it really wore out it's welcome YEARS before it would drop off my radar.

I saw some cable show where they were singing those hits and people were eating it up and it did choke me up a bit. I'm glad the Gibbs made good I just can't stand to hear most of their most popular stuff. We'll always have "I started a joke"

[Phenomenal Cat]

Their first (not counting the Aussie releases) and one of their best.



Dig Maurice's Rickenbacker!

[Belle Lettre]

Fantastic OP. I never paid much attention to them in my teenage years as it would have been dreadfully unhip. There's a lot to learn..

[Phenomenal Cat]

1974 - On the cusp of superstardom. Unbelievable.



I should add that Side One of Mr. Natural is fantastic. NP.

[Snarfyguy]

I think I have the complete run on LP up through Spirits having flown, but I don't think I've listened to any of the post-Odessa, pre-Main Course records more than once each.

I really should do something about that.

Should I just plow through them chronologically or is there a better way to approach that period? Are there any that I just shouldn't bother with?

[Phenomenal Cat]

I think I have the complete run on LP up through Spirits having flown, but I don't think I've listened to any of the post-Odessa, pre-Main Course records more than once each.

I really should do something about that.

Should I just plow through them chronologically or is there a better way to approach that period? Are there any that I just shouldn't bother with?

The Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set does a pretty good job or wrapping up the soggy period, but should you want full albums with few soggy spots, I'd start with Two Years On and Trafalgar. They bridge the gap between 60s Bee Gees and their uncertain early-70s period pretty well. Then on to Mr. Natural, where they begin to turn things around.

[Snarfyguy]

I think I have the complete run on LP up through Spirits having flown, but I don't think I've listened to any of the post-Odessa, pre-Main Course records more than once each.

I really should do something about that.

Should I just plow through them chronologically or is there a better way to approach that period? Are there any that I just shouldn't bother with?

The Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set does a pretty good job or wrapping up the soggy period, but should you want full albums with few soggy spots, I'd start with Two Years On and Trafalgar. They bridge the gap between 60s Bee Gees and their uncertain early-70s period pretty well. Then on to Mr. Natural, where they begin to turn things around.

No, I have all those records. I'm just not familiar with them.

I'll give your recommendations a spin and see about proceeding from there, thanks!

[Phenomenal Cat]

Definitely start with Two Years On. It's the first post-Odessa record with all three brothers. Trafalgar is great, but you may want to skip "Lion in Winter" (which is comical, to put it nicely) and go straight for "Walking Back to Waterloo" which is tremendous.

[Quaco]

I think Cucumber Castle is underrated. It's mostly pretty dreary (the Gibbs' default position), but there are a couple great songs in there. The opener, "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else", is a stone classic and one of my very top Bee Gees songs. "Sweetheart" and "Don't Forget to Remember" have great C&W/schlager melodies that you'll find yourself liking against your better judgement.

['skope]

I think Cucumber Castle is underrated. It's mostly pretty dreary (the Gibbs' default position), but there are a couple great songs in there. The opener, "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else", is a stone classic and one of my very top Bee Gees songs. "Sweetheart" and "Don't Forget to Remember" have great C&W/schlager melodies that you'll find yourself liking against your better judgement.

it is. please DON'T forget 'then you left me' and 'my thing', both top-notch.

[toomanyhatz]

I've always loved "The Lord." Trendy Jesus-rock (maybe) send-up it may be, but the sound on that thing! It's huge!

And "If I Only Had My Mind On Something Else" is indeed gorgeous- typical Bee Gees teen psychodrama. It's easy to forget they were still kids, pretty much.

[Phenomenal Cat]

I've always loved "The Lord." Trendy Jesus-rock (maybe) send-up it may be, but the sound on that thing! It's huge!

And "If I Only Had My Mind On Something Else" is indeed gorgeous- typical Bee Gees teen psychodrama. It's easy to forget they were still kids, pretty much.

Someone posted "The Lord" here not too long ago and I was digging it. I still don't own Cucumber Castle.

[Snarfyguy]

I've always loved "The Lord." Trendy Jesus-rock (maybe) send-up it may be, but the sound on that thing! It's huge!

And "If I Only Had My Mind On Something Else" is indeed gorgeous- typical Bee Gees teen psychodrama. It's easy to forget they were still kids, pretty much.

Someone posted "The Lord" here not too long ago and I was digging it. I still don't own Cucumber Castle.

I think that was me. Great track!

[Quaco]

And "If I Only Had My Mind On Something Else" is indeed gorgeous- typical Bee Gees teen psychodrama. It's easy to forget they were still kids, pretty much.

Let's listen to it now!

[toomanyhatz]

They've been promising a proper reissue of Cucumber Castle for a while now, haven't they? Supposedly there's a whole album's worth of outtakes too, so it'd be perfect for the 'double disc' treatment (though there might not be a mono mix).

['skope]

The Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set does a pretty good job or wrapping up the soggy period, but should you want full albums with few soggy spots, I'd start with Two Years On and Trafalgar.

trafalgar is still an album i've yet to fully embrace, but 'how can you mend a broken heart?' is another classic.

[Phenomenal Cat]

They've been promising a proper reissue of Cucumber Castle for a while now, haven't they? Supposedly there's a whole album's worth of outtakes too, so it'd be perfect for the 'double disc' treatment (though there might not be a mono mix).

I really hope so. The Bee Gees, like The Beach Boys, seem to have tons of unreleased material in the can. Several albums worth, I hear.