True that up until 75, they were known primarily for ballads, but it's one thing I think they did the best. Barry had an almost effeminate singing style which worked so well on these songs, and Robin's leads were amazingly haunting, with his unusual vibrato that was completely unique in the music business, and still is. The only person, I could ever possibly compare robin to is perhaps Roy Orbison. Of all their earlier hits, "I Started A Joke" is the one I felt most deserved a number one spot. so captivating in it's melody and obtuse lyrics, Robin went to his grave never telling us what it meant. Only that he heard the melody in an aircraft engine.
I associate the Bee Gees with the Disco era, they seem out of place in '71 (yes I know they formed in the 60's bust still)
And this is what always mystified me. I think it's because the Saturday Night Fever period was SO monstrous, maybe it overshadowed? But I don't understand why so many people had amnesia, for God's sake.... they had THIRTEEN top 40 hits before their first disco era hit, "Jive Talkin". My first memories of radio were right at the cusp of their transition to disco, and I loved all their song I had previously heard... so to me, the Disco era stuff sounded out of place, with maybe the exception of "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)".
You've Got A Friend I'm not sure exactly who qualifies under the definition 'singer/songwriter'. I envision a 'singer-songwriter' (70s version) as someone who writes his/her own songs, is a single artist with a backing band (as opposed to a group), and is generally low key/mellow. The songs are often (but not always) about the singer or his/her life experiences. You have to be careful to be specific, because a more general description could include everyone from Bob Dylan to James Brown to 70's John Lennon. But I think we can agree that Lennon circa Plastic Ono Band would not be considered a singer/songwriter (too rock), even if his songs are largely about himself at that time (I have a hard time imagining a mellow singer like James Taylor ripping off a version of Well Well Well from that album, for instance). Below: Plastic Ono Band's cover seems to promise a bucolic sixties experience. Don't be fooled! But what about Jackson Browne? Phoebe Snow? Neil Diamond? Carole King? Harry Chapin? Jim Croce? Don McLean? I think you could make a case that any one of those people are singers/songwriters. Throw in Kris Kristofferson or even Paul Simon? Yeah, it gets confusing. I'm not sure who makes the cut around the edges, but one thing I do know. Whatever a singer/songwriter is or was, James Taylor was one. In some ways, he's the prototype when I think of that term. And yet: many of his biggest hits were covers, including his sole #1, You've Got A Friend. So maybe even he is not the prime example? Who knows...? But as for Taylor, I have to admit I'm not a fan. He's got a nice voice and can play guitar well, and you can tell he knows how to write a song. But most of his stuff absolutely puts me to sleep, sorry to say, including You've Got a Friend. I don't know tons of his songs, but I do somewhat like Fire and Rain and, my personal favorite of his, Carolina on My Mind (although my favorite version of this one is by Melanie -- another singer/songwriter?). Fire and Rain has interesting lyrics. No one has mentioned that the Flying Machine lying in pieces on the ground from that song is a reference to an old band of his. For a brief moment, I thought that might mean he had been in the group who did 'Smile a Little Smile For Me Rosemary', but no, that was a different Flying Machine. When that group broke up (in pieces on the ground figuratively, not literally), he was at loose ends, and so came to England for a while, where he happened into the orbit of the Beatles. They liked him and signed him to Apple, where he released one album and provided the first line for George Harrison's most successful song (Something In the Way She Moves was the inspirational track by Taylor). Taylor was also on hand when Lennon recorded Revolution, and somewhere on YouTube is a clip of Taylor talking about those times and his experiences with the Fab Four. Here is Taylor, pre-hair loss, doing Something in the Way She Moves for a film produced by Apple, 1968. The other nice connection Taylor made in the UK was Peter Asher, formerly the Austin-Powers-clone half of Peter and Gordon. Asher was working for Apple, his group having disbanded, when he discovered and signed Taylor. Asher would become a force in seventies music, not only as a producer for Taylor but also as the manager for Linda Ronstadt and a producer for several other notable California Rock Sound acts like Bonnie Raitt and Andrew Gold. One other interesting aspect of Taylor's career was briefly touched on here: he and Dennis Wilson co-starred in the unusual cult movie Two Lane Blacktop. They play a pair of car afficianados who race a mysterious man across country. Very existential and odd from what I've heard (I've never seen it, though). Based on what little I have seen of it, it is a fairly out of left field move for Taylor to be in a movie like this. His character is taciturn and not very like the image he usually projects. It shows that he and Wilson might have had an interesting alternate career in cinema had they chosen to pursue it. Below: Wilson and Taylor in Two Lane Blacktop. In every photo I've seen of Taylor from this movie he has the exact same expression.
For me they were one of the dominant groups of the late 60s, when I was in 7th grade songs like "I Started A Joke" and "Holiday" got massive airplay (I was a captive audience on the school bus in the morning and afternoon each day). Many of their songs then had a weird and melancholy edge that I associate with that era.
I like "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" a whole lot. I heard this one a lot through the '70s as well. I clearly remember their late '70s successes. It was a while before I figured out it was the same band. My favorite songs from them are: Run To Me (1972) (which another poster also mentioned) and (not joking) "This Is Where I Came In" (2000)
It really sounds that way, too. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - it's a catchy song that certainly deserved to become the hit it was - but it does come across as having just been dashed off very quickly.
To Love Somebody is my example of the quintessential early Bee Gees style. Emotional, dramatic, beautiful. Words, though is my go to song. It still gives me goosebumps when Barry sings with that halting quaver not to mention the haunting and gorgeous orchestrations their records often featured.
While we are on the subject of the Bee Gees I should post a song that is my contender for my all time favorite of theirs...just listened again and got the usual goose bumps!
I love this one but my favorite is probably “To Love Somebody.” It seems they went from straight-forward ballads to a more RnB/soul phase and then disco. When I first heard “Love So Right” I thought it was the Manhattans.
And did you know that "Words" was originally written for Cliff Richard, but he didn't get around to recording it before the Bee Gees released theirs and became a huge hit.
BTW... if you get the time to check it out, the Bee Gees 1968 German TV special "Idea" is an AMAZING piece of work, one of the most bizarre, psychadelic music specials ever made. And kind of scary, too... with guest Julie Driscoll and those CREEPY pop art paintings behind Robin during "I Started A Joke".
I love that song ... That one too! When the Swallows Fly off the same LP (Idea) is great too, and the album opener Let There Be Love ... Something I will never ever ever ever ever do! But that might be because I was there in 1967 and enjoyed all those late '60s classic albums. FWIW I do like Main Course - just not much after it.
My point of entry was SNF and Children of the World. I was a kid and the whole RSO juggernaut seemed to consume every purchase I made with my allowance. Eventually I purchased Main Course and realized they had more to offer than disco, as good as they were at that. Fanny (be Tender...) just floored me and later I realized they had a whole other career in the 60’s/early 70’s. In addition to their stellar work under their own name, their strength of song writing showed with other artist’s versions of their tunes. I love Al Green’s HCYMABH.
The version of "This Wheel's On Fire" that starts around 7:35 in that video is one of the greatest cultural artifacts of the '60s.
FYI to all the younger Bee Gees fans chiming in about Main Course, Fever, etc. You'll get a whole lot of chances to wax poetic when the time comes. Lots and lots. I just hope you give their non disco songs a good listen to appreciate where they came from. Their career actually dates back to the late 50s, early 60s as this video attests to. Interesting to note how much bigger Barry is to the twins and their apparently genetic dental work! For anyone interested, there are lots of such videos documenting their progression through the 60s so look them up on youtube if you're so inclined
I was just the right age to love to hate disco as a teenager, but I've come to like their disco hits since then. I've always loved their '60s work, though. I had the Best Of on Atco (in that very attractive shade of yellow) in high school and loved most of the songs on it, though listening to them all in one sitting could get to be tedious. "Spicks and Specks" was my favorite, and I think still is.
From 1966 to 1969, Columbia's Pitman, NJ plant was one of the many Atlantic/Atco used to press their 45's. This is relevant because most of the Bee Gees' early hits (excepting "Words" and "Jumbo") were pressed by them, along with the other plants in question. Because of limits on how many pics can be put in a post, I'll focus on 1967 on this one, then the next year afterwards. (It should be noted that on the first of these, the "Dennvs" misspelling for arranger Phil Dennys was on all pressings, not just Columbia's.) The CP of "Massachusetts" has to be the rarest of all; I only saw two such pressings - and now have both.
Now for the 1968 CP's of the Bee Gees' product . . . The last was extremely rare with that rim print; most copies from CP have the newer rim print that took hold on Atlantic and Atco product in the latter half of 1968, coinciding with changes in their LP label designs.
