Ed's Bee Gees Appreciation Thread Part 2: 1975-Present

Probably that's why they went back to normal voices on Living Eyes, realising that Spirits pushed falsetto over the top.

P.S. STILL, HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE G IN GIBB?

 

I am not a native English speaker, but it is definitely "g" as in "give" or "guilty".

Favorite mispronunciations in German radio/TV:
"Kylie My-noggie"
"Kim Basin-dsher"
"Lambor-dshini"
"Seen Connery"

 

And now we come to BEE GEES GREATEST, a comp that confines itself to music from MAIN COURSE through SPIRITS...in other words, their 'disco era' pretty much perfectly defined!

Lp versions were used when there was a difference between the 45 & Lp. And while probably most fans had most of this stuff, a few non-Lp goodies were added, including the B-side "Rest Your Love On Me"(#39 C&W, their only country charter), the unissued version of "Our Love"(a hit for bro Andy), and another B-side, their version of "If I Can't Have You." Other than that, pretty obvious collection, and a summation that, at the time, no one knew would never have to be updated, sums it all up, as their disco days were over...as well as the huge successes this comp is filled with.









Disc 1:

1. Jive Talkin'
2. Night Fever
3. Tragedy
4. You Should Be Dancing
5. Stayin' Alive
6. How Deep Is Your Love
7. Love So Right
8. Too Much Heaven
9. (Our Love)Don't Throw It All Away
10. Fanny(Be Tender With My Love)

Disc 2:

1. If I Can't Have You
2. You Stepped Into My Life
3. Love Me
4. More Than A Woman
5. Rest Your Love On Me
6. Nights On Broadway
7. Spirits (Having Flown)
8. Love You Inside Out
9. Wind Of Change
10. Children Of The World

 

Hey Ed!!!

Love this thread. Can we continue? Would love to hear your take on the albums to come!!

Thanks.

 

Yeah, Ed - I can't wait for Living Eyes!

 

I notice that no one here has mentioned the "One Night Only" DVD. I just saw it about a week ago, quite cool althought these guys have aged awfully.

Any comments on it?

 

Yea...post us a picture of yourself when you're pushing 60!

 

That's because we're going through the reviews chronologically. One Night Only will appear, given time.

 

I will, but you might have passed away by then.

 

Indeed it will!

Give me time, kids...just got back from vacation, and I'm gonna have to cram to get back into the swing of things...and as I've another coming up near the end of May, I'd better get to work!

All I can is..patience!

 

And here we go....LIVING EYES was the group's first '80s effort, before the various solo albusm and eventually 'comeback'(such as it was).

This tends to be an underrated album, seeing as the public and critics apparently felt the boys had peaked commercially and, some would argue, artistically(though I wasn't among that crowd). Several exceptional cuts here, and overall quite a pleasing listen, but by no means as ambitious as some of their previous work was. Seemed like they were kind of relaxing a bit, attempting to adjust to the '80s, perhaps. I still like it, but fans have varied opinions as to its merits.

1. Living eyes
2. He's a liar
3. Paradise
4. Don't fall in love with me
5. Soldiers
6. I still love you
7. Wildflower
8. Nothing could be good
9. Cryin' every day
10. Be who you are

 

I think Living Eyes is BY FAR the most underrated album in the Bee Gees catalogue. The first side is as good an album side as they ever released. The second side isn't as good overall, but "Be Who You Are" is a terrific big ballad.

I think several things contributed to the commercial failure of this album:

1) Public was getting tired of the Bee Gees after the overload of the previous two albums
2) Robert Stigwood/RSO was not strongly behind the album after the messy and ugly fights between him and the Bee Gees prior to the albums (delayed) release
3) RSO was having cash flow problems (unbelievable!)

Kwad

 

Amen!! Notice how the opening instrumental passage in "Be Who You Are" reprises melodies from several of the album's songs.

I had suffered complete and total "Bee Gee burnout" by 1982. SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN's helium-filled histrionics and the disco era in general had left me cold and disillusioned. I was living in the Pasadena CA area at the time and once while visiting a little ma-n-pa record store, the owner (an expatriot Russian, apropos of nothing) asked me if I had heard the latest Bee Gees record. He was so convinced I would like it he actually GAVE me his LP promo to listen to.

Needless to say, it was like "coming home" to the kinder, gentler days of TRAFALGAR and "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN." Ballads galore, a couple of muscular singles (title track and "He's a Liar" [what IS this song about, anyway?]), only a smattering of falsetto ("Soldiers"), even Maurice singing lead ("Wildflower"). Some of their loveliest melodies ever, an album I play at least once a month to this day.

Of course, the album sank like a stone. The Bee Gees would rise again but this album has always been under the radar, made even more invisible by being out of print on CD for over 10 years. This is an album that deserves to be heard!

 

I had to dig out my copy of the RSO 45 of "Living Eyes" to see if it was as good as I remembered it being ... and it is ... In retrospect, perhaps this should have been the leadoff single from the LP rather than "He's a Liar," which, though an admirable change of pace from the falsetto-dominated late 1970s, even caught this die-hard Bee Gees fan as a bit harsh... I did like the LP, which I bought shortly after it was released, and immediately I thought that "Living Eyes" should be the next single (which it was)... and I was shocked not to hear it blaring from every Top 40 station in America when it was.

For whatever reason, the title song of the LP didn't even make it to the Tales box, the first US single A-side missing from the box.

The other thing about Living Eyes is that it was released in the wake of Barry Gibb's successful production of Barbra Streisand's Guilty album (her best LP IMO), and it sounds as if most of the best songs Barry Gibb wrote in that period ended up on Babs' record. That said, it would have been absurd for the Bee Gees to have sung "Woman in Love"!

 

Perfect example of the disco backlash!

 

And of course now, 25 years later, Barbra and Barry are to reprise their collaboration on the GUILTY album and release a new album together in September. Cant wait to see what this album will bring, as I also thought this was one of Babs' finest albums. Hopefully, the upcoming 25th Anniversary of GUILTY will also see it remastered and re-released.

Steve

 

I think the backlash theory has some merit..but also, too, the title track was the strongest candidate for the first 45, but it wasn't chosen right away, a tactical mistake, IMO....

STONEY END is my fave Babs album, but for what it is, GUILTY is very strong, if you're not into all her albums devoted mostly to show tunes and sundry treacle like "People." Like Mariah Carey, Streisand was a dynamic, talented singer(and well still be), but too often so predictable. That's Ok if you're a huge fan, but for everyone else, same ol' same ol'....

 

Id have to say that STONEY END is my absolute favourite Babs album also. Lots of great songs - and even a couple of definitive versions of those songs imho. Not into all of her stuff - cant cope with THAT many showtunes Still... shes got a great voice, and has recorded some damn fine music. And the GUILTY album certainly falls in that category for me.

Steve

 

I've only recently bought Living Eyes, largely based on the comments from this forum. I'm still absorbing my LP (I've never seen a CD of this!) but the first thing that struck me was the absense of wall-to-wall falsetto.

Living Eyes reached #41 on the US charts, quite a decline from the #1 position of Spirits Having Flown some two and a half years back. Even in strong Bee Gees countries such as Germany, where Bee Gees albums regularly reached the top ten, Living Eyes crawled to a mere 37. The single He's A Liar reached #30 in the US, while the album's title track reached #45. Both did poorly (68 and 58) in Germany.

In the book The Bee Gees - Tales of the Brothers Gibb, the Bee Gees talk about how they couldn't even get arrested in the USA throughout most of the 1980s, so strong was the backlash from the disco era. US radio stations usually wouldn't even look at any Bee Gees records!

 

Living Eyes is a beautiful,mature record (the last classic Bee Gees album) that I used to like even in my headbanging highschool years. The title track is still THE best Bee Gees song in my book while the LP is easily among 5 best Bee Gees records of all time IMHO, along with the 1st, Odessa, Main Course and Spirits. By the way I really, really love the whole early 80's period with Guilty, Living Eyes, Staying Alive, Heartbreaker and Now Voyager showing Barry's songwriting and production talents at their peak.
And of course this new japanese CD is highly recommended - in fact it's the only one that sounds better then Dennis Drake TALES boxset.

 

It is jarring, isn't it? And we have to remember that the group waited two years to issue their next album, which not only defied expectations but, as noted by Tim, perhaps the wrong song was chosen as the lead 45(seems to obvious now; didn't give it a thought back then).

Very true...but IIRC, after all the success Robert Stigwood and the group had had together, the former wasn't very pleased with the album(correct me if I'm wrong), and he was also phasing down RSO, for reasons that remain elusive to me beyond the fact that listener tastes were shifting and his company had nothing to offer.

Well, maybe so(but factor in the shift of style LIVING EYES represented). Yet listen to so much of '80s commercial pop and you will hear, more often than not, echoes of disco, and a little Bee Gees-styled disco/rock, too.

It has to be pointed out, also, that the group became a tad directionless, what with various solo projects, production work, and soundtracks(STAYING ALIVE). Individually, the three brothers were not doing badly, given that 'disco backlash' theory...but together, they weren't doing much, the solo work was good, on the main, and after the rocket they'd rode from 1976-79, a cooling off was inevitable.

But more on that soon enough....

 

Interesting goings on in Gibbland these days. Apparently Streisand originally approached Robin Gibb at a party and asked if HE and Barry were interested in writing and producing a Guilty follow-up. Barry responded positively but then proceeded to exclude Robin on the project. He was upset that Robin re-recorded some Gibb compositions for his last solo project (Magnet) without consulting him. Robin Gibb also was organizing a tribute concert and album for his late brother Maurice to take place in 2005 until Barry said he wouldn't endorse the idea. The elder Gibb is also reportedly upset that Robin continues to perform Bee Gees songs in concert that originally featured Barry Gibb lead vocals. Never the best of buddies, the brothers are no longer on speaking terms. The elder Gibb continues to work at the updated Middle Ear in Miami having bought out Maurice and Robin's interest in the studio. Bad news for those hoping for a Barry/Robin project in the future.

 

That's truly bad. However I can understand Barry's dissatisfaction with Robin performing his tunes on stage. Robin played Kremlin last month and I must say his versions of Barry' stuff were lame overall.