Bee Gees single by single thread

That low vibrato is effed up and ruins the song, which itself is a bit generic and reminds me of Bacharach more than The Beatles. Weird.

Or sitting on top a washing machine in the spin cycle.

"I Want Home" on the other hand is pretty good. Their melodies are still a bit clunky, but the production and arrangement on this one are almost good enough to overcome that.

 

On the subject of early Bee Gees songs that weren´t relased as singles, one of my favourites is the sweet "SECONDHAND PEOPLE", with its cheap rhyme of "people"/"steeple". The reason I bring it up is not that I think it would have been a great single, though I do feel that way, but to mention that this song was released on a compilation disc called "GOLD" in the late 80s or early 90s. (I think it was the former.) On this version, the song had a string backing dubbed onto it, or remixed into it. It sounded better to these ears back then - I haven´t plyed it for years.

Does anyone know anything about this mix/version of the song?

 

There were a couple of European CDs of their Australian material that someone thought would be a good idea to add some additional instrumentation (electric guitar, keyboards and s**t). I have one of them and it is possible the one you have is from those as well.

 

Thank you for sharing this. I can´t remember whether any of the other tracks had "augmentations", but the one done to "SECOND-HAND PEOPLE" is quite tastefully done.

 

Where would rock & roll be without cheesy lyrics?

 

Where indeed... I don´t normally mind, and I don´t expect well-written lyrics from the Bee Gees, but this one sort of sticks out. The song is still great, one of their finest early songs, IMO.

 

I absolutely love "Cherry Red" - I always thought that was the A-side.

There's enough material out there for an all-original follow-up LP to "Monday's Rain (Spicks And Specks)" and I love "All The King's Horses". Despite what this video says, it's obviously Robin on lead vocal.

 

03/63 The Battle Of The Blue And The Grey/The Three Kisses Of Love
07/63 Timber/Take Hold Of That Star
03/64 Peace Of Mind/Don't Say Goodbye
08/64 Claustrophobia/Could It Be
10/64 Turn Around Look At Me/Theme From The Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters
03/65 Everyday I Have To Cry/You Wouldn't Know
09/65 Wine And Women/Follow The Wind
11/65 I Was A Lover A Leader Of Men/And The Children Laughing
03/66 I Want Home/Cherry Red
06/66 Monday's Rain/All Of My Life
09/66 Spicks And Specks/I Am The World

 

I don't recall ever hearing this one before. Very cool!

 

1963 Judy Stone - It Takes A Lot (To Make Me Cry) w/ Bee Gees background vocals

 

It's the first time I've heard it as it originally sounded. This is the legitimately released version, with Ronnie Burns' voice overdubbed on to it:

 

If I may state the obvious..."Paper Roses" minus the chorus.

 

Next up their first hit single...

Spicks and Specks (1966)

Released: September 1966 (Australia), February 1967 (UK)
B-side: I Am the World
Charts: #5 (Australia), #1 (New Zealand), #2 (Netherlands), #28 (Germany), #56 (Japan)

 

"Spicks and Specks" is dated to early July by the memory of Geoff Grant (Geoffrey Streeter) who played the trumpet. Grant recalls working three nights in a row on four songs including this track, "I Am the World", "All by Myself", and "The Storm". There were no charts; Barry sang what he wanted live, and Grant copied it. Some of the artists whose disks came out in August recall hearing "Spicks and Specks" being worked on or completed, further confirming that early July is the approximate date of the song's recording. "Spicks and Specks" was a ballad around a strong piano beat, Barry writing off a riff by Maurice in a way that would later get a joint writer credit.

The 1967 cover of the single features four-piece Bee Gees including the brothers with the band's new member, Colin Petersen.

source: Spicks and Specks (song) - Wikipedia

 

The single entered the Sydney charts at the end of September and stayed in the top forty for nineteen weeks, peaking at number 3. It appeared on the Go-Set National Top 40 for sixteen weeks, where it reached number 4 early in November.

Success at last: but by the middle of October the Bee Gees were dead set on returning to England. It did finally convince Nat and Festival to release an LP, and it must have helped convince Polydor (England) to sign the group. This was the first Bee Gees single released in England.

sources:
Spicks and Specks (song) - Wikipedia
Gibb Songs : 1966

 

Fantastic song. Very simple, yet very memorable. I think this is when they really started to hit their stride.

I Am the World and All By Myself are two great Robin and Maurice led songs, respectively. Again, a wonderful demonstration of where the brothers were moving towards as a band and as individual singers/songwriters.

Another thing I found interesting about I Am the World is that Robin must have liked it enough that he included on 2010's Mythology compilation and even re-recorded it for what became his posthumous 2014 solo album, 50 St. Catherine's Drive.

 

I don't really care for this one, even if it's a hit. A couple of those earlier singles that have cropped up here were better, although the tunes were perhaps not quite as coherent.

 

"This is where I come in" to (mis)quote a later Bee Gees song

Spicks and Specks was the first time the Bee Gees were seen in the New Zealand charts (the New Zealand Hit Parade, published by The Listener magazine. It was a top 20 in those days).

Spicks and Specks entered the charts in April 1967 and hit #1 for two weeks the next month. It was the first of many chart entries for the Bee Gees in the late 1960s and early 1970s - they were a popular band in New Zealand.

It's never been a song of theirs that I thought highly of. It's pleasant enough, of course, in a plodding way, but nothing to suggest the excellence about to be unleashed.

 

When you're trying to get established, you take any work you can get. Bee Gees sang background vocals on these early singles.

07/63 Judy Stone - It Takes A Lot (To Make Me Cry) (A-side)
11/63 Johnny Devlin - Stomp The Tumbarumba (A-side)
12/63 Johnny Hannan - Beach Ball/You Gotta Have Love
03/64 Johnny Hannan - You Make Me Happy/Hokey Pokey Stomp
06/64 Johnny Devlin - Blue Suede Shoes/Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On
08/66 Anne Shelton - I Miss You (B-side)
08/66 MPD Ltd - Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder/I Am What I Am
09/66 Vince Maloney - I Need Your Lovin' Tonight/Mystery Train
10/66 Ray Brown And the Whispers - Too Late To Come Home (B-side)
12/66 Vyt - Why Do I Cry (B-side)
12/66 Marty Rhone - She Is Mine/Village Tapestry

 

I like Spicks and Specks but the definitive version for me is that by Status Quo:

 

"Spics And Specs" was the first of two hit songs by the group, based on Pachelbel's Canon chords. The second one was "Holiday."

I've always found it amusing the way they added all that echo on to the chorus of "I Am The World." It's as if Robin suddenly decided to step into a giant sized gymnasium to belt out the song's title.

 

Early singles written by Barry...

05/63 Col Joye - (Underneath The) Starlight Of Love (B-side)
08/63 Lonnie Lee - I'd Like To Leave If I May (B-side)
10/63 Tony Brady - Let's Stomp Australia Way/Lucky Me
11/63 Noeleen Batley - Surfer Boy (B-side)
02/64 Jimmy Little - One Road (A-side)
06/64 Reg Lindsay - Scared Of Losing You (B-side)
06/64 Del Juliana - Never Like This (A-side)
10/64 Bryan Davies - I Just Don't Like To Be Alone/Love And Money
02/65 Bryan Davies - Watch What You Say (A-side)
03/65 Noeleen Batley - Baby I'm Losing You (A-side)
04/65 Trevor Gordon - Little Miss Rhythm And Blues/Here I Am
04/65 Bryan Davies - I Should Have Stayed In Bed (A-side)
06/65 Tony Brady - I Will Love You (A-side)
06/65 Michelle Rae - I Wanna Tell The World/Everybody's Talkin'
06/65 Jenny Bradley - Who's Been Writing On The Wall Again/Chubby
08/65 Jimmy Boyd - That's What I'll Give To You (A-side)
10/65 Dennis And the Delawares - Bad Girl/They Say
10/65 Noeleen Batley - Watching The Hours Go By (B-side)
12/65 Lynne Fletcher - You Do Your Loving With Me (A-side)
05/66 the Richard Wright Group - Neither Rich Nor Poor (B-side)
08/66 Sandy Summer - A Girl Needs Love (B-side)
10/66 April Byron - A Long Time Ago (B-side)

 

Early singles co-written by Maurice with producer Nat Kipner

08/66 Bip Addison - Hey/Young Man's Fancy
08/66 Sandy Summer - Messin' Round (A-side)
08/66 Anne Shelton - Talk To Me (A-side)
09/66 the Mystics - Don't You Go I Need Your Love (A-side)
10/66 April Byron - He's A Thief (A-side)

 

Specs is the first I can really latch onto, from here on it gets quite brill.
I have the first album (us) on Muntz 4 track cartridge. mono on lp

 

I Am The World is a lost gem,one has to keep in mind that Barry was 19 when writing Spicks And Specks and Robin was only 16 when composing the B side.