Idea | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by the Bee Gees | ||||
Released | August 1968 | |||
Recorded | 13 December 1967 – 25 June 1968 | |||
Studio | IBC (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:22 | |||
Label | Polydor Atco (United States) | |||
Producer | Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees | |||
The Bee Gees chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Idea | ||||
|
Idea is the fifth album by the Bee Gees. Released in August 1968, the album sold over a million copies worldwide. The album was issued in both mono and stereo pressings in the UK. [1] [2] The artwork on the Polydor release designed by Wolfgang Heilemann featured a "beehive" neon lightbulb with a group photo in its base, while the North American ATCO release designed by Klaus Voormann featured a composite head made from each band member. [3] It was their third internationally released album – the first two albums being released only in the Australian market.
"I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke" were both released as singles in North America. In the UK, "Message" was released only as a single and "I Started a Joke" was only an album track, though another album track, "Kitty Can", was featured on the B-side of "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". The LP's opening track, "Let There Be Love", in a limited release as a single in early 1970, reached the Top 20 in the Netherlands.
The North American ATCO LP and the South African Polydor LP replaced "Such a Shame" with "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". [4] Both songs were included when the album was released on CD in 1989. [5]
Idea, released in August 1968, was the Bee Gees' third international album. "We were in friction at that point," says Barry. "We weren't getting on, and that was it. I think it was a mixture of the group not getting along very well and egos. Ego, I think, is the key word for this group. It's not unlike any other group in that everybody wants to be the one that gets the attention. Unfortunately, I think that happens a lot. Certainly it happened to us." [6]
Many of the songs on the album's second side reflect a yearning for escape ("When the Swallows Fly," "I've Decided to Join the Air Force," "Swan Song") while Vince Melouney's "Such a Shame" was, by his own admission, about how it was a shame that the group was disintegrating. [6]
"In the Summer of His Years" was Robin's requiem for the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein who had died in August 1967. "I've Decided to Join the Air Force" was written specially for the occasion when the Bee Gees played at the Royal Albert Hall earlier in 1968 with the musicians of the Royal Air Force backing them. [7]
Barry Gibb performed "Kilburn Towers" on his Mythology tour of 2013-14 while "Swan Song" made a surprise appearance on the first disc of the 2010 Mythology compilation.
The band recorded its previous album Horizontal between July and December 1967. The last song recorded was "Swan Song," but this was not released until 1968 on Idea. "Words" was released as a single in place of "Swan Song." [8]
The band started recording Idea in January 1968 after a Christmas holiday in Australia, and a few weeks after the Horizontal sessions. The songs recorded were "Chocolate Symphony", "The Singer Sang His Song", "Down to Earth", "I Can Lift a Mountain", ("Gena's Theme" was finished in June,) "Jumbo" was released as a non-album single, "Bridges Crossing Rivers", and "She Is Russia". The February songs are "In the Summer of His Years" and "I've Decided to Join the Air Force". By March, Barry, Maurice, and Colin participated on the track "By the Light of the Burning Candle" by The Marbles, a newly formed band at that time made up of members Graham Bonnet and Trevor Gordon. Between June and July in 1968, they recorded "Kitty Can", "I.O.I.O.", "Let There Be Love", "Stepping Out", and "No Name". In June, Robin recorded "The Band Will Meet Mr. Justice", "The People's Public Joke", "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry", "The Girl to Share Each Day", "Come Some Halloween or Christmas Day", "My Love Life Expired", and "Heaven in My Hand", a mono tape of seven songs which was credited only to him. In the same month, they recorded "Completely Unoriginal", "Kilburn Towers", the Vince Melouney composition "Such a Shame", "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry", "When the Swallows Fly", "Idea", "Come Some Christmas Eve or Halloween", "Maypole News", "Men of Men", and "I Started a Joke". [9]
The other songs recorded around 1968 included "Sitting in the Meadow" and "Another Cold and Windy Day," both recorded for Coca-Cola,[ citation needed ] "In the Middle of Grass," "Let Your Heart Out," and "The Square Cup". "Everything That Came From Mother Goose" was written by Colin Petersen and Maurice Gibb, and Petersen mentioned this song in an interview in September 1968. In July, "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" was recorded in the same session as "I Laugh in Your Face" (released on Odessa , 1969) following the completion of the album, but was only included on the US version. [9]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Rolling Stone | (neutral) [11] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [12] |
This album features "Such a Shame", the only non-Gibb Bee Gees song included on any of their studio albums, written and co-sung by lead guitarist Vince Melouney. The song was included on the British version of the album but deleted from the American issue, which instead included their recent hit "I've Gotta Get a Message to You", not on the UK LP. When the album was issued on CD in the 1980s, both tracks were included. "I Started a Joke" was not issued as a single in the UK, but it reached No. 6 in America. The UK sleeve had a lightbulb on a dark blue ground. In 2006, Reprise Records reissued Idea (using the European cover) with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs, non-album tracks, and alternate mixes. After the release of Idea, the band went to Brussels for the TV special Idea in September, and European tour in October and November.
Jared Johnson, writing in the Atlanta Constitution, opined that Idea was 'a vast improvement' over the Bee Gees' previous LP, 'though they still haven't reached their full potential.' [13] Mike Newsome, writing in the Lancaster Telegraph said that the album was 'packed with original Bee Gees ideas, imagination and inventiveness.' [14] Wayne Harada in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser said that the album 'showcases the expressive Bee Gees moods and lyricism'. [15] Of 21st century critics, Allmusic's Bruce Eder describes "I Started a Joke" as very much of piece with their early work. Eder claims "Kitty Can", "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" and "Such a Shame" sound like the output of a working band with a cohesive group sound, rather than a harmony vocal group with accompaniment. [10]
This was to be the last Bee Gees album released while Vince Melouney was a member of the group: he left after the late 1968 European tour. He was to conclude that "I was just too young, too naive." His final album with the band would be Odessa , which had been recorded in August that year. [16]
All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, except "Such a Shame", written and composed by Vince Melouney.
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Let There Be Love" | Barry and Robin | 3:28 |
2. | "Kitty Can" | Barry and Maurice | 2:31 |
3. | "In the Summer of His Years" | Robin | 3:05 |
4. | "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" | Robin | 1:55 |
5. | "Down to Earth" | Robin | 2:28 |
6. | "Such a Shame" | Vince | 2:28 |
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Idea" | Barry and Robin | 2:51 |
2. | "When the Swallows Fly" | Barry | 2:22 |
3. | "I Have Decided to Join the Airforce" | Barry and Robin | 2:06 |
4. | "I Started a Joke" | Robin | 3:03 |
5. | "Kilburn Towers" | Barry | 2:14 |
6. | "Swan Song" | Barry | 2:55 |
Idea | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 1968 | |||
Recorded | 13 December 1967 – 12 July 1968 | |||
Studio | IBC Studios, London | |||
Genre | Psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, baroque pop, folk pop [17] | |||
Length | 32:49 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Atco | |||
Producer | Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees | |||
Bee Gees American albums chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Idea | ||||
|
It was released also in August on the Atco label, and was released in stereo. "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" was included on this version instead of "Such a Shame". Its cover was a composite head by Klaus Voormann, the artist who also did the Bee Gees' 1st art.
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Let There Be Love" | Barry and Robin | 3:32 |
2. | "Kitty Can" | Barry and Maurice | 2:38 |
3. | "In The Summer of His Years" | Robin | 3:11 |
4. | "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" | Robin | 2:01 |
5. | "Down to Earth" | Robin | 2:38 |
6. | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" | Robin and Barry | 2:55 |
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Idea" | Barry and Robin | 2:50 |
2. | "When the Swallows Fly" | Barry | 2:29 |
3. | "I Have Decided to Join the Airforce" | Barry and Robin | 2:11 |
4. | "I Started a Joke" | Robin | 3:07 |
5. | "Kilburn Towers" | Barry | 2:17 |
6. | "Swan Song" | Barry | 2:56 |
All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, except "Such a Shame", written and composed by Vince Melouney.
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Let There Be Love" | Barry and Robin | 3:28 |
2. | "Kitty Can" | Barry and Maurice | 2:31 |
3. | "In the Summer of His Years" | Robin | 3:05 |
4. | "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" | Robin | 1:55 |
5. | "Down to Earth" | Robin | 2:28 |
6. | "Such a Shame" | Vince | 2:28 |
7. | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" | Robin and Barry | 2:55 |
8. | "Idea" | Barry and Robin | 2:51 |
9. | "When the Swallows Fly" | Barry | 2:22 |
10. | "I Have Decided to Join the Airforce" | Barry and Robin | 2:06 |
11. | "I Started a Joke" | Robin | 3:03 |
12. | "Kilburn Towers" | Barry | 2:14 |
13. | "Swan Song" | Barry | 2:55 |
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Let There Be Love" (Stereo mix) | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 3:32 |
2. | "Kitty Can" (Stereo mix) | Maurice and Barry | 2:38 |
3. | "In the Summer of His Years" (Stereo mix) | Robin | 3:11 |
4. | "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" (Stereo mix) | Robin | 2:01 |
5. | "Down to Earth" (Stereo mix) | Robin | 2:32 |
6. | "Such a Shame" (Stereo mix) | Vince Melouney | 2:28 |
7. | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (Stereo mix) | Robin and Barry | 2:55 |
8. | "Idea" (Stereo mix) | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 2:50 |
9. | "When the Swallows Fly" (Stereo mix) | Barry | 2:29 |
10. | "I Have Decided to Join the Air Force" (Stereo mix) | Maurice, Barry and Robin | 2:11 |
11. | "I Started a Joke" (Stereo mix) | Robin | 3:07 |
12. | "Kilburn Towers" (Stereo mix) | Barry | 2:17 |
13. | "Swan Song" (Stereo mix) | Barry | 2:56 |
14. | "Let There Be Love" (Mono mix) | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 3:32 |
15. | "Kitty Can" (Mono mix) | Maurice and Barry | 2:38 |
16. | "In the Summer of His Years" (Mono mix) | Robin | 3:11 |
17. | "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" (Mono mix) | Robin | 2:01 |
18. | "Down to Earth" (Mono mix) | Robin | 2:32 |
19. | "Such a Shame" (Mono mix) | Vince Melouney | 2:28 |
20. | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (Mono mix) | Robin and Barry | 2:55 |
21. | "Idea" (Mono mix) | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 2:50 |
22. | "When the Swallows Fly" (Mono mix) | Barry | 2:29 |
23. | "I Have Decided to Join the Air Force" (Mono mix) | Maurice, Barry and Robin | 2:11 |
24. | "I Started a Joke" (Mono mix) | Robin | 3:07 |
25. | "Kilburn Towers" (Mono mix) | Barry | 2:17 |
26. | "Swan Song" (Mono mix) | Barry | 2:56 |
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Chocolate Symphony" | Barry | 2:42 |
2. | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (Mono single version) | Robin and Barry | 3:01 |
3. | "Jumbo" | Barry | 2:08 |
4. | "The Singer Sang His Song" | Robin | 3:19 |
5. | "Bridges Crossing Rivers" | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 2:07 |
6. | "Idea" (Alternate mix) | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 2:48 |
7. | "Completely Unoriginal" | Robin and Barry | 3:36 |
8. | "Kitty Can" (Alternate mix) | Barry and Maurice | 2:36 |
9. | "Come Some Christmas Eve or Halloween" | Robin | 3:30 |
10. | "Let There Be Love" (Alternate mix) | Barry | 3:34 |
11. | "Gena's Theme" | Instrumental | 3:19 |
12. | "Another Cold and Windy Day" | Robin | 1:00 |
13. | "Sitting in the Meadow" | Robin | 1:00 |
Credits from Bee Gees historian and sessionographer Joseph Brennan. [18] [9]
Weekly charts
|
The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Best of Bee Gees is a 1969 compilation album by the English-Australian rock band Bee Gees. It was their first international greatest hits album. It featured their singles from 1966–1969 with the exception of the band's 1968 single "Jumbo".
Odessa is the sixth studio album by the Bee Gees, a double vinyl LP released in February 1969, initially in an opulent red flocked cover with gold lettering. Despite reaching the UK Top Ten and the US Top 20, the album was not particularly well-received, though now is regarded by many as the most significant of the group's Sixties albums. 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 work's direction; finally, a dispute over which song to release as a single led to Robin Gibb temporarily leaving the group.
Vincent Melouney is an Australian musician. He is best known as an official member of the Bee Gees from 1967 to 1969 during the group's initial period of worldwide success.
Horizontal is the fourth studio album by the Bee Gees, and their second album to receive an international release. The LP was released in early 1968, and included the international hit singles "Massachusetts" and "World". On 5 February 2007, Reprise Records reissued Horizontal with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs, non-album tracks, and alternate takes. The album was released in Polydor in many countries and on Atco only in the US and Canada. "And the Sun Will Shine" was released as a single only in France. The influences displayed on the album range from the Beatles to baroque pop.
"I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea, which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a Polydor version by Heath Hampstead. This is the last Bee Gees single to feature Vince Melouney's guitar work, as he left the band in early December after this song was released as a single.
"(The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts" is a song by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb and released in 1967. Robin Gibb sang lead vocals on this song and it would become one of his staple songs to perform during both Bee Gees concerts and his solo appearances. It later appeared on their 1968 album, Horizontal.
"I've Gotta Get a Message to You" is a song by the Bee Gees. Released as a single in 1968, it was their second number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart, and their first US Top 10 hit. Barry Gibb re-recorded the song with Keith Urban for his 2021 album Greenfields.
"World" is a song by the Bee Gees, released in 1967 as a single in the United Kingdom and Europe and then included on their album Horizontal the following year. Though it was a big hit in Europe, Atco Records did not issue it as a single in the United States, having just issued a third single from Bee Gees' 1st, "Holiday".
"Jumbo" is a song released by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. It was released as a double A side with "The Singer Sang His Song" but featured as the lead track in some territories.
Frederick Colin Petersen is an Australian drummer, record producer and former child actor. He played as a member of the bands Steve and the Board, the Bee Gees and Humpy Bong. In August 1969, he left the Bee Gees and he was replaced by Pentangle drummer Terry Cox to record the songs for their 1970 album Cucumber Castle. His scenes from the film of the same name were cut, and he is not credited on the accompanying album soundtrack, even though he does play on some songs.
Bee Gees' 1st is the third studio album by the Bee Gees, and their first international full-length recording after two albums distributed only in Australia and New Zealand. Bee Gees' 1st was the group's debut album for the UK Polydor label, and for the US Atco label. Bee Gees 1st was released on 14 July 1967 in the UK. On 9 August it entered the UK charts; on that same day, the album was released in the US, and it entered the US charts on 26 August.
"Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" is a song written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb released by the Bee Gees in 1967 on their album Bee Gees' 1st. It was released as the B-side to "Holiday" in the US, Australia and Canada.
"The Singer Sang His Song" is a song by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin and released in early 1968 as a single along with Jumbo. In some countries the song was the B-side of Jumbo but in others they were promoted as a double A-side.
"Kitty Can" is a song by the Bee Gees, composed by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. It was released as the B-side of "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" in July 1968, and as the second track on the album Idea in September 1968. In 1973, RSO Records released a compilation called Kitty Can only in Argentina and Uruguay, and this song appeared as the first track on that album.
"Black Diamond" is a song by the Bee Gees released on the album Odessa in 1969. The song was written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb and featured lead vocals by Robin Gibb. It was included on the compilation Marley Purt Drive released in 1970.
"Sound of Love" is a ballad number performed by the Bee Gees, It was written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, and appeared on their album Odessa in 1969.
"I Laugh in Your Face" is a ballad performed by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb and released in March 1969 on the album Odessa. Most of the vocals are performed by Barry Gibb except for a short central section sung by Robin Gibb. It was recorded on July 12, 1968. the same day as the band recorded their hit song "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". The mono mix made at this time, when it was presumably intended as the B-side of "Message", was released in 2009 on the Sketches for Odessa disc that accompanied the remastered edition of the album. Its demo version, recorded the same day, also featured on the Sketches disc.
The 1967–68 Tours are a series of concerts held in 1967 and 1968 by the Bee Gees. The tours promoted their third, fourth and fifth studio albums: Bee Gees' 1st (1967), Horizontal (1968) and Idea (1968). The band's line-up at that time was the Gibb brothers with Colin Petersen and Vince Melouney. Before the tours began, the group were the opening act for Fats Domino in London and Manchester.
"When the Swallows Fly" is a song by the Bee Gees released on their fifth album Idea. Its promotional video was filmed in Brussels and included on the TV special Idea and was aired on 11 December 1968.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)