Bee Gees single by single thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by cut to the chase, Jul 15, 2018.

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  1. tages

    tages Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Thank you so much for starting this thread!!

    I hope we can slow the pace a bit and let the songs sink in before moving to the next - it would be great to make this last!
     
  2. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    I love 'Claustrophobia'!
    One of my favourite's of the earlier material, it's catchy and has a melody that seems to stick in my mind.
    My favourite part of it more than the song itself, is the electric guitar and the drenched tape echo and
    the multi head repeats. Very Hank Marvin/Shadows'ish'.
    A lot of people try to recreate that 'sound' with pedals, but nothing sounds like the real thing.
     
  3. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    Claustrophobia is terrific. 'Nuff said!

    I'm not sure if I've heard Peace of Mind before (probably have, since I have several of those early tracks releases). It's pretty good too. A nice warmup for Claustrophobia if nothing else ....
     
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  4. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    In publishing, an article that is set apart from the main narrative of a book or article, yet still contains interesting information, in the opinion of the author or editor, is called a "sidebar." During this thread, I'm going to present sidebars every so often.

    Sidebar 1: The failed Australian Invasion and the Bee Gees' first U.S. release, sort of

    In 1964, many U.S. labels tried to get in on the British Invasion. Atlantic, best known for its R&B and jazz releases, opted to partake, too, but from a different direction: It licensed a couple singles by the Shadows (Cliff Richard's group) and several singles of ska music, both from England and Jamaica. One of these, "Jamaican Ska" by the Ska Kings (better known as Bryon Lee and the Dragonaires), reached #98 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    Atlantic also looked toward another Commonwealth country, Australia, as a possible source of a new "invasion." Atlantic already had a deal with Festival Records to release its records there, so when the opportunity to go in the other direction came along, Atlantic took a chance. It licensed the single "Beach Ball"/"You Gotta Have Love" by Jimmy Hannan, an Australian game-show host, the A-side of which had reached #2 in the country in February 1964 on the RG label, one of Festival's many sub-labels.

    "Beach Ball" was a cover of a song first recorded by the City Surfers on Capitol 5002 and released in late June 1963. That record has its own interesting history; it was co-written by Frank Gari and Jim McGuinn, the future member of The Byrds, and supposedly features Gari on piano, McGuinn on guitar, and Bobby Darin on drums with all three imitating the Beach Boys vocally.

    Hannan recorded "Beach Ball" and "You Gotta Have Love" as his debut single in November 1963. As part of the recording session, the young Bee Gees did backing vocals on both sides of the single -- uncredited, of course.

    Atlantic released the single with the catalog number 45-2247, probably in late July 1964. (Billboard mentioned the record in passing in its August 8, 1964 edition.) It failed to chart, and Atlantic didn't try again.

    The importance of this 45 -- the first time a record involving the Bee Gees was released in the United States, a full three years before "New York Mining Disaster 1941" -- went unnoticed for at least three decades. Even today, it isn't always recognized because of the lack of a Bee Gees credit. (In an odd coincidence, "Mining Disaster" and all Bee Gees records through the end of 1972 were issued on Atco, a subsidiary of Atlantic.)

    At one time, it was believed that "Beach Ball" never advanced beyond the white-label promo stage. Stock copies do exist (I was fortunate enough to find one a few years ago on eBay; as of the time I write this, it's my avatar), but known promos outnumber them at least 10 to 1.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2018
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  5. cut to the chase

    cut to the chase Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
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  6. cut to the chase

    cut to the chase Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    From Gibb Songs : 1964

    "Despite all the Barry Gibb songs available, someone at Festival decided that to get any hits, the Bee Gees needed to record songs by other writers. For both these numbers the lead vocal is all three brothers singing closely together. ‘Turn Around, Look at Me’ has an overblown arrangement with orchestra and Hollywood chorus, all probably recorded before the brothers were invited in to dub vocals. Neither song appears to have even Barry’s guitar.

    Both these songs are American. ‘Turn Around, Look at Me’ was written in 1961 by Jerry Capehart, and recorded by Glen Campbell, who claims to be co-writer; it was later a US hit in 1967 for the Vogues. Capehart is known as the writer of numerous country-rock hits with Eddie Cochran including ‘Summertime Blues’.

    The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters was an American television show (Sep 1963-Mar 1964) being shown in Australia, starring a young Kurt Russell and featuring the Osmond Brothers, who also sang the title song. The music is by Leigh Harline, best known for ‘When You Wish upon a Star’."
     
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  7. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :D For the record, I have freaked a lot of people out by asking them, "Hey, how'd you like to hear a rare forgotten-about single that Mick Jagger released when he was 17 years old back in 1961?" Then I slip a pair of headphones on to them and crank this up. They look puzzled upon hearing it. While it's obviously an entirely different style of music, there is something about the phrasing in Barry's voice, particularly in the bridge, that is vaguely familiar:

     
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  8. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: Something else that needs to be kept in mind...From 1963-1966, the amount of give-away tunes that the group composed for other acts that they never recorded themselves, is astronomical. This double CD set contains only about a third(!) of them:

     
  9. cut to the chase

    cut to the chase Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    I like all versions of 'Turn Around, Look at Me', but I think that the Vogues did a slightly better job than Glen Campbell and the Bee Gees:

     
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  10. ferdinandhudson

    ferdinandhudson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Skåne
    This has always been a 1-CD release, never a double. I did pick up quite a few of Festival's CD releases that featured one or more of songs they wrote and/or contributed on vocally/instrumentally so, basically, I already have a volume 2. Hopefully we'll get a follow-up to it in the not too distant future.
     
  11. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    After this single, the Bee Gees were 5-for-5 -- five singles, five flops.

    The 45 was released with the label credit "Barry Gibb and the Bee-Gees," the first of four Leedon singles to have this credit. Festival was probably relying on Barry's growing reputation as a songwriter for others to help sell their records. Alas, the change of label billing didn't work, either.

    The Bee Gees' version of "Turn Around, Look at Me" was based on this version by the Lettermen, which got to #105 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 in June 1962.



    The Lettermen's A-side, "Where Is Julie," got to #42 in the Hot 100.

    The original 45 called the B-side "Theme from Jaimie McPheeters," which is also how the song credit appears on most, if not all, reissues on LP and CD.
     
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  12. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: Apparently Neshui Ertegun also managed to do some wheeling and dealing with Brian Epstein:

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Atco also got four of the eight "Beatles with Tony Sheridan" tracks in 1964, including the one track with a Beatle singing lead ("Ain't She Sweet" with John Lennon).
     
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  14. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: I'm not sure if this is a legitimate release or not, but I believe it is a follow-up to "Assault The Vaults." Click on the images for more info:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Here is the track listing:

    1. That's what I'll give to you - Jimmy Boyd
    2. Let's stomp Australia way - Bryan Davis
    3. Bad girl - Lonnie Lee and Leemen
    4. Neither rivh nor poor - Richard Wright group
    5. I will love you - Tony Brady
    6. In your world - Lori Balmer
    7. Beachball - Jimmy Hannon & The Bee Gees
    8. You gotta have love - Jimmy Hannon & The Bee Gees
    9. I miss you - Anne Shelton
    10. Lucky me - Tony Brady
    11. Little miss rythm and blues - Judge Wayne
    12. Here I am - Judge Wayne
    13. Back to the people - Billie Lawrie & Maurice Gibb
    14. Treacle brown - Lori Balmer
    15. Four faces west - Lori Balmer
    16. Maypole Mews - David Garrick
    17. Square cup - Max Gregor Orchestra
    18. You - Sound of Modification
    19. Chrystal Bay - Steve Hodson
    20. Touch and understand love - Myrna March
    21. Freedom - Billie Lawrie
    22. Scared of losing you
    23. I'd like to leave if I may - Lonnie Lee
    24. They'll never know - Wayne Newton
    25. Too late to come home - Ray Brown & The Whispers & The Bee Gees
    26. Your love will save the world - Percy Sledge
    27. All our christmases - The Majority
    28. Mrs. Gillespie's refrigerator - The Sands
     
  15. siveld

    siveld Forum Resident

    This looks awesome! I would love to get my hands on a copy of this!
     
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  16. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    It looks very dodgy!
    Who Cares, I'm not the Police though....
    I continually scrounge in that field lol!
     
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  17. ferdinandhudson

    ferdinandhudson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Skåne
    I know the individuals who compiled Assault the Vaults and there is no follow-up to it. The one above is an all-out bootleg, nothing legit about it whatsoever. The link for those lead to beegees.dk who is a notorious bootlegger, the majority of that website is built on marketing Bee Gees boots! He has even stuck non-Australian covers from after 1966 on it as well!
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2018
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  18. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: Click HERE to view a supposedly complete chronological listing of every song every member of the group ever composed individually and collectively.
     
  19. cut to the chase

    cut to the chase Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    The next single is a cover version - again. It didn't chart in Australia.

    Every Day I Have to Cry (1965)

    Released: March 1965
    B-side: You Wouldn't Know
     
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  20. cut to the chase

    cut to the chase Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    'Every Day I Have to Cry', also known as 'Every Day I Have to Cry Some', is a song written by Arthur Alexander and first recorded by Steve Alaimo in 1962. Although the song has been recorded by many musicians over the years, Alexander did not record his own version until 1975. His version went to #45 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. None of the other versions made it into the Top 40 on the US chart.



    The Bee Gees covered "Every Day I Have to Cry" as teenage recording artists in Australia. This version was recorded at Festival Studios on February 1965 and marked two important firsts for the group - Robin Gibb's debut lead vocal and Maurice Gibb playing organ - the first of many times he would contribute keyboards to the group's recordings.

    'You Wouldn't Know' was written by Barry Gibb and recorded in February 1965 around the same time as "Every Day I Have to Cry". The version of this song on Brilliant from Birth (1998) is faded 7 seconds early at 1:59 and you can hear Robin Gibb shouting and laughing on the fadeout. It was the first song on which Maurice Gibb is credited playing organ.

    The song starts with a guitar strumming, the riff and an organ and then Barry starts to sing the line Come a bit close to me, let me be kissed, Come on and give to me what I have missed, I love you women, I know that I'll get you somehow. And then Robin and Maurice sing harmony on the chorus: You wouldn't know if I hadn't told you so, You wouldn't know if I hadn't told you so, oh.

    source: Wikipedia
     
  21. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    The model for the Bee Gees' version was this version by Steve Alaimo:



    Alaimo holds the interesting yet dubious distinction of having the most Hot 100 hits without ever making the Top 40 (9). "Every Day I Have to Cry" was his biggest hit, with a #46 peak. Five more Alaimo sides made the Bubbling Under chart.

    Unless one counts "Oh Darling," credited to Robin Gibb (1978), I think this was the last Bee Gees A-side to feature a song not written by some combination of the Brothers Gibb. I guess after two straight commercial duds with remakes, and with other artists having hits with Barry's songs, Leedon saw that covers weren't the way to go with the Bee Gees after all.

    The 45 was again credited to "Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees" (no hyphen this time).

    It's a workmanlike cover; the best part is near the end, when the Robin Gibb quaver ("Oh-oh no-o-o!") comes in. That vocal effect was a sign of things to come.

    When I finally got my copy of Brilliant From Birth, I played it over and over again and created three CD-Rs of material from it. I did a "Singles A and B" compilation; one with both Australian albums on it; and one I called Lost in Australia, which included all the odds and sods from the collection. (I tried to interest Sundazed in the latter compilation, because none of those tracks had ever been released in the United States; if memory serves, they still haven't. Bob Irwin at Sundazed loved it, but Festival wanted more money to license its Bee Gees tracks than any U.S. label was willing to pay.) I bring this up because, with as much time as I spent with the Australian recordings, I had to refresh my memory on "You Wouldn't Know." I guess that tells me what I needed to know. Like its A-side, it's workmanlike, but not especially memorable.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2018
  22. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    me too. exactly.
     
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  23. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Geez, everybody cut this song. Surprised nobody had a decent hit with it. Dusty's version is the best I've heard.

     
  24. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I've always thought the B-52's "Love Shack" was inspired by this tune.
     
  25. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: I've always liked "You Wouldn't Know." I consider it to be the last of their overtly Merseybeat influenced singles, although they would continue to compose songs in this vein for others, like "Coalman." Lyrically, it gives a tip of the hat to their fellow Mancunian Freddie Garrity, with it's "...Well I'm Telling You Now" refrain. It's a little strange that although they were all still minors, they had already began using the word "woman" instead of "girl" to refer to the object of their affections.
     
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