The BEE GEES: Why no remix of their "Odessa" double album?*

Forget about remix.

How about "I Wish the Bee Gees catalog was in print".

We can start there.

 

@Steve Hoffman had planned a DCC comp at one point - man I wish that could still happen....

 

Yea, I have to say it was tough hunting it all down ....

 

Not fully the answer to your request, but several tracks were remixed for the "Tales From The Brothers Gibb" boxset.

From Wikipedia:
"Several tracks received new stereo mixes prepared by Bill Inglot especially for this set. "World", "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "Words" are notable for the improved stereo mixes found on Tales. "Tomorrow Tomorrow" received its first stereo mix (the Best of Bee Gees 1986 CD featured the song in mono while the original 1969 Best of Bee Gees LP did not include the track), while many of the B-sides such as "Sinking Ships", "Barker of the UFO" and "The Singer Sang His Song" were mixed in stereo for the first time.[3]

 

A little background...Barry wanted this to be their Sgt. Peppers. It was and is their greatest achievement...IMHO.

Odessa is the sixth studio album by the Bee Gees, originally released on 30 March 1969. Regarded as the most significant of the group's Sixties albums, it was released as a double vinyl record, initially in an opulent red flocked cover with gold lettering. An ambitious project, originally intended as a concept album on the loss of a fictional ship in 1899, it created tension and disagreements in the band regarding the album's direction; finally, a dispute over which song to release as a single led to Robin Gibb temporarily leaving the group.[4][5] The album was not well received by the public or the music press on release, and led to a decline in the group's fortunes until their disco period in the mid 1970s.

Released in March 1969 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US, it was the group's fourth album released internationally, their sixth overall, and their only double album of original music. Odessa would be the final album for the band's original incarnation, and this was the last album to include guitarist Vince Melouney. The album contains "First of May", "Lamplight", "Marley Purt Drive" and "Melody Fair".

The album was reissued as a single-disc in September 1976 when interest was revived in the Bee Gees career, since then the album has gained increasing critical acclaim; it was reissued again in January 2009 as a deluxe 3 disc set, and is included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]

The originally intended name for the album was An American Opera. This later became Masterpeace and finally Odessa.[7]
Colin recalls about the country influence on Odessa. "It was my idea that we do that sort of thing, and Maurice is the one who will take more time out to listen to what I have to say, although within the group, the okay has to come from Barry". Their manager Robert Stigwood says, "Barry is the Bee Gees coordinator, I used the word advisedly, as there is no leader of the group as such. He has a tremendous feel for soul music a la his composing work for The Marbles, but he is also a fantastic solo singer in his own right".[8]

Prior to release, there were disagreements over which song was to be released as a single, when the Robin-led "Lamplight" lost out to "First of May," a Barry solo vocal. This ultimately led to Robin Gibb leaving the group in early 1969,[10] though he would rejoin the group in August 1970. The split was a result of months of animosity, which concurred to the album's final mix. As Barry explained:


“ Everything got out of hand and we didn't know which way we were heading. We'd never really finished the album. It was our own production and we were very proud of it, but it all turned out different. It marked a period of breaking up and we weren't talking to each other, so we weren't in the studio together half the time and weren't as friendly toward each other. The recording took three or four months which was a long time in those days. Bee Gees 1st was done in a month. It would be nice to re-master the album once and as a bonus maybe do a live version of some of the songs.[7] ”


The last performances of the group including Robin were in early 1969, when they performed "First of May" (they also performed "I Started a Joke") on The Tom Jones Show (21 February[11]) and Top of the Pops (6 March[12]). Robin left the band on 15 March[7] and made his decision public on 19 March.[13] Robin told Mojo magazine in 2003 about his departure from the band after the release of Odessa, saying "We had egos".[14]

Maurice later described the album as 'heavy'. "People thought it was an in-depth album", he recalled, "like, 'What do they mean by those lyrics?' and 'What's this all about?' There's all sorts of different areas on it. It went up and down in places, but a lot of people regard it as our Sgt. Pepper. To us, I don't think it was the best album we made, but the main title 'Odessa' I loved". Barry responded to Maurice saying, "I guess I have strong personal feelings about it because it was a time when the group was splitting up".[8]

In July 1969, "Marley Purt Drive" was released as a single, backed with "Melody Fair" only in South Africa.[15] -wiki

 

Again, this is interesting...too bad it never happened, the live recording that is:

As Barry explained:

“Everything got out of hand and we didn't know which way we were heading. We'd never really finished the album. It was our own production and we were very proud of it, but it all turned out different. It marked a period of breaking up and we weren't talking to each other, so we weren't in the studio together half the time and weren't as friendly toward each other. The recording took three or four months which was a long time in those days. Bee Gees 1st was done in a month. It would be nice to re-master the album [Odessa]once and as a bonus maybe do a live version of some of the songs.[7] " -wiki

 

Cheers mate.
I never realised that album was the catalyst for the split

 

I didn't discover Odessa until the early 2000's when I found a NM vinyl original, although I had had "Idea" since it came out. What an amazing discovery. It still amazes with those first opening notes, every time I listen. I have always been about the 60's Bee Gees, never the 70's and beyond. But then the idea of disco has always been a turn-off (even if I believe that the BeeGees did disco best).

 

You should check out To Whom It May Concern from 1972, not quite as epic as this album, but also very diverse stylistically.

 

Man that would of been something!
It'll never happen, but Shane over at Intervention doing a complete run of the catalog (sacd/lp)
And Wilson doing the 5.1 mixes for the Mark's of the forum
I don't want Giles anywhere near these

 

Wiki's source was probably Joseph Brennan's Bee Gees site. 1968 page (with details about recording Odessa): Gibb Songs : 1968

 

There is even a thread on here with Steve's planned track list of 30 songs (career spanning) but I think they had a hard time tracking down all the master tapes.

 

Who owns the rights now?
Good possibility the reason why nothing's really been done.
One of those few cases where the old compact disc mastering's are more expensive/tougher to find than tracking down the lp's.

 

The Bee Gees/their estates.

 

I'm going to spin mono version of Odessa this afternoon!

 

The Odessa box set from 2009 does sound better than the original CD release from 1985 but I don't think the box was remixed. As stated above, none of the albums have ever been remixed, only selected tracks for compilations such as the excellent sounding Tales from The Brothers Gibb from 1990 and The Record from 2001, which was brick-walled in the process.

 

I haven't heard the old German mastering, US should contain the same. It was remastered in the 90's including 'With All Nations' which was left off earlier manufactures.

 

My original US velvet cover Odessa has lovely sound. My US original copy of their first albums needs serious help.

 

Andrew Sandoval, who oversaw the 3 CD/2 LP reissue, told a fascinating and rather depressing story about it on Twitter/Facebook. I took the liberty of copying-and-pasting — if such things are improper I apologize.

"This record is one of my life-changing, all-time favorite albums. But I can say that producing this reissue was filled with turmoil. In 2005, Rhino made a 10-year-deal with the Bee Gees to reissue their entire catalog (including their earliest recordings from Australia).

The main feature of the deal was that the band would be paid a certain advance every year for ten years, recoupable against the sales of one of the greatest catalogs in pop music history. I still remember my great delight when Jimmy Edwards brought me in to do what was some of the best work of my career with one of my favorite artists.

The tapes arrived in large crates and seeing all the wonderful analog reels from IBC and beyond indeed felt like all my Christmases came at once. The first reissue would be a box set of the Bee Gees' first 3 UK albums in mono & stereo with bonus tracks that I was lucky enough to mix.

The sales of that set in 2006 and a reissue of Greatest in 2007 were respectable, but Rhino had not anticipated the downward trend in physical sales and had unrealistic expectations of what the catalog might generate. I had prepared this lavish reissue of Odessa in 2007 and it sat for two years as acrimony over the deal developed.

To sit in a room with financial people and have them discuss the dire consequences of not coming up with enough sales was something I never thought of when I took that bus ride in 1989. It was uncomfortable, unpleasant and nearly unbearable. My very existence on their payroll had become a burden to the company I had cherished since childhood.

Requests like, "Hey, when you come back from lunch, I need to hear all of your 100 thousand unit ideas," were not uncommon. Truth be told, there were no 100 thousand unit type titles in the catalog business at that point. We'd hit a major dead end.

I never gave up on issuing Odessa in its 3CD splendor, with a flocked cover and all of the goodies I had uncovered. I reasoned that if people discovered this album, it would mean as much to them as Forever Changes or Village Green Preservation Society. Maybe the Bee Gees themselves would help this ice melt?

Well, no. And it was questioned why people would want 3 CDs of this music at $30, when they could have a single CD for $12 without all of the extraneous crap I had felt necessary to include. It was my strongly held belief that the price point would not stand between people and their purchase of the CD.

Eventually, it was approved that Odessa would be issued after 2 years of waiting and liner notes were needed. Unfortunately, the band were not in favor of me writing the notes. They didn't necessarily want someone else to do them. Why not stick it out with nothing added? I begged, I lobbied, I tried to stay professional. Robin Hurley kindly brokered a compromise.

I could write the notes and finish the project but the Bee Gees wouldn't contribute to my work. "Tell Andrew to pretend we're dead," said the eldest Gibb. "Write it from that perspective." It was an interesting idea, but there was so much I wanted to know about this enigmatic set of recordings.

Started during a US Tour in 1968 at Atlantic Studios, the earliest session reels were black with smoke damage from a famous fire. The band itself had combusted upon release and spent almost 2 years apart.

That may have been the reason they didn't want to talk about it. The first week of sales were solid, but after that my dreams fizzled. By the end of 2009, I found myself working out my final days at Rhino. My job had been "impacted" as it was explained to me over the phone.

In November, I visited the set of Dancing With The Stars where Barry and Robin were guests. I brought my copy of Odessa for them to sign. I wanted to express to them that this was still a personal favorite of mine and I was grateful for the opportunity they had given me.

"Barry, I just wondered if you would sign my copy of Odessa, it is one of my favorite albums. It means so much to me." Barry looked at me and I think he could sense my sincerity. "People say that about this album, but all I remember are the bad times around it."

And that was the lesson: sometimes your favorite music is a burden to the artist. It reminds them of painful times and sometimes your passion remains in isolation and cannot be distributed to others. Still there is a magic to this music. From the shimmer of "Melody Fair" to the bleak "You'll Never See My Face Again."

 

Wow! Thanks for sharing (or copy and pasting!)

 

Well, the Bee Gees recorded on four-track, but they did take advantage of bounce-downs like the Beatles did with Sgt. Pepper. If those tapes still exist, a remix of an album like "Bee Gees 1st" ( in the right hands, I might add ) could sound very good.

Considering above it was mentioned that many of these tapes were lost or trashed, I doubt these exist anymore, making a remix likely pointless/impossible.

The Beatles archive and what is available is the exception, not the rule.

 

Well now at least we know what happened to the Rhino reissue program. What a shame, since Sandoval did a great job with the first four.

Doesn't bode well for future DE releases either.

 

This set does not need a remix. The reissue from a few years back, both LP and Cd. were very true to the sound of the sixties. It stands proudly next to the best of British psychedelia, overlooked, but never less than awesome.

 

Yes, there are audio editing errors in the final version, I’m at work now, but I’ll see if I can listen tonight to point out some of the moments.

 

I was too late to get the box set and have only ever streamed this version. Wish I’d gotten that box set!