Remembering The Brothers Gibb. . Yes The Bee Gees..

George Martin was raving about that song in a documentry. It is, imo, the perfect pop single and the guy who works on Billboard's charts made the same opinion in an interview. You don't hear that very often! Funny that none of the brothers pick Tragedy when pressed what their favorites were. Everything about it...tempo, vocal performance, arrangement, music, even the opening gives you the chills. Side one of that album is about as perfect as an album can get, imo. The last track of that album, Spirits Having Flown, isn't far behind Tragedy as a perfect song. And it wasn't even issued as a single in the US, though I suppose it really is more of an album track. The last 90 seconds of that song, the instrumental leading you out of the song, is just amazing if you just sit back and listen to all the multi tracking. That album is said to be Barry's album, and he set out to make it perfect. Is it? It is as good as they ever got imo. I do prefer Main Course by a small margin, taken as an album, because to me there isn't a single filler song on Main Course. To me there are two songs on side two of Spirits that are kinda questionable compared to the quality of all five songs on side one, so perfect? Not quite....but very close and more than good enough for me. I play their catalog more consistently than any other group. They have really left quite a legacy. They never put out a single bad album starting with Mr. Natural. Some were better than others, of course, but all have enough good material to justify owning them.

 

Cucumber Castle, the album, the end.

 

Debatable for sure. They don't consider any of their material to be disco, and hated the term applied to their music. It's hard to argue that You Should Be Dancing isn't a superb disco song. One could argue that Tragedy is a great rock song (kinda pushing it...but one could), disco song or just a great pop song. Maybe that is why it was so incredibly successful. I don't think they really set put to produce songs that would fit into a genre. Seems they just went to the studio and jammed until they hit on something, and they have said as much. The Saturday Night Fever songs were labeled disco because they were put into a movie....those songs were not intended to be "disco" songs. Anyway, I think the three of them writing together in the studio was likely why they were far better as a trio than they ever were doing their own, sometimes odd, solo projects. Look at the variety of music they did. Play Main Course and you are treated to a wide array of styles, but somehow they all come together as an album. If you only hear their hits, you would really not understand them as a group.

 

Not one of those songs are from the period they are best known for. Really shows how good they continued to be after the huge days of 75-79. I think Alone is their number 3 or 4 album for me, which maybe doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement but when you consider how many albums they have put out, it is quite a compliment. Nice to see a list containing newer material!

 

So nice to see that! I agree...a beautiful song.

 

Hundreds of songs, and five or less that are, maybe, disco but could also be shoehorned into another genre as well. I couldn't agree more.

 

One of their more soulful songs that doesn't get played much these days is Love So Right.

 

I think the Bee Gees are alright but at my workplace a few years back my Jamacian workmate said in his distinct accent ," Mi can't stand dem. Dey soun like som likle babies damm cryin!!! "

A good observation LOL.

 

How different we all are....big Bee Gees fan here, but Tragedy is the one song of theirs that has me reaching for the 'off button' when it comes on the radio. Barry's falsetto vocal on this one is as painful to my ears as the sound of fingernails scraping a blackboard.

 

I love the Bee Gees but this made me laugh!

 

I also adore the story about how the start of Jive Talkin' was inspired. It's what you love to imagine goes on inside the head of a musician at all times!

 

I watched a documentary made around 1994, and Robin picked "Tragedy" as his favourite. And he more or less made the same statement you did - that it was a perfect car song, with a great rhythm track and strong melody lines.

 

A sample from Robins 2014 solo LPS last amazing amazing stuff.

Days of Wine and Roses a truly epic song amazing stuff it's amazing he could actually come out with material this good at this point of his career it's incredible

 

Thanks. Trust me my mate Michael said that in front of a load of people & we all cracked up!

 

Their detractors go straight for the disco era as being reason enough to exclude them from being among the greats, which is stupid.
If anything, that they could turn their talents so effortlessly to disco and craft the songs that they did only adds to their legacy.
As I get older, the more I marvel at song-craft, and the Bee Gees never cease to give me that wow factor.

 

Brilliantly sophisticated, melodic songwriting with flawless performance and, after some of their earliest recordings, first-class production. They were supremely talented and still vastly underrated.

 

Oh god, I love this track so much.

 

....Except for one nitpick.

Barry says "The Lord says the STOUL sticks around." Not once. Twice. DO ANOTHER TAKE, MAN! XD

 

Well, you can believe what you wanna, but I know what I'm gonna do...

 

I don't even think "disco" when I hear You Should Be Dancing. To my ears it sounds like amphetamine funk. Does that make me a weirdo? Oh well.
Night Fever is the only track of theirs that makes me think "disco".

I'm with you regarding Main Course. What a beaut of an album.

 

@Cloudbuster
I don't think of You Should Be Dancing as a disco song either. It stands good up against any dance music since. Doesn't sound dated to me at all.

 

A record can be good and timeless and still be disco. I think "Dancing" was all the above.

 

I think you should be dancing got a lot of people to move. People that normally wouldn't dance when they heard that song in a club or something at that time in 1976 they got up and danced. I remember George Martin saying that when he heard a Bee Gees tune during the Disco days it actually would get you to get up and dance

 

Like don't stop to you get enough got people up and dancing so did you should be dancing. For all we know you should be dancing influenced don't stop to You Get Enough just sayin...

 

Yeah! Get up and dance! Some songs just propel a person. The beat just shouts it! How can you sit still.