The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs | ||||
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Studio album by Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees | ||||
Released | November 1965 | |||
Recorded | June 1963 – October 1965 | |||
Studio | Festival Studio, Sydney | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 34:37 | |||
Label | Leedon | |||
Producer |
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Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs | ||||
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The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs is the debut studio album by the Bee Gees. Credited to Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees, it was released in November 1965 on the Australian Leedon label (1967's Bee Gees' 1st would be their international debut album). It is largely a compilation of most of the Gibb brothers' singles that had been released over the previous three years in Australia, which accounts for the many different styles of music on it.
Only five new songs were recorded for the album: "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men", "And the Children Laughing", "I Don't Think It's Funny", "How Love Was True" and "To Be or Not to Be". Barry Gibb had more than enough unrecorded songs for an all-new LP, but the rest of the album was instead made up of nine lesser-known singles. Bill Shepherd set the order of the songs.
Barry Gibb plays rhythm guitar.
Robin Gibb often plays instruments, such as Hammond organ and melodica.
Maurice Gibb plays lead guitar on "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men" and "How Love Was True", probably as well as "I Don't Think It's Funny". The fast piano on "To Be or Not to Be" is perhaps credited to Maurice Gibb. The Hammond organ on "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men" and "And the Children Laughing" is by either Robin Gibb or Maurice Gibb. Though uncredited on the back of this album, it is confirmed that the Gibbs' friend Trevor Gordon played lead guitar on "Peace of Mind", "Wine and Women" and "Follow the Wind". Gordon later released several recordings under the name Trevor Gordon and the Bee Gees. Gordon went on to find success with Graham Bonnet in the UK-based duo the Marbles, who had a hit with "Only One Woman" written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb and Maurice Gibb with Robert Stigwood.
The original issue of the LP on Leedon is extremely rare; even the 1967 reissue on the Calendar label is rarely seen in Australia. This album package was not issued elsewhere and was not issued on CD until it was released as part of a 2013 box set, Festival Album Collection: 1965–1967. [2]
The "Bee Gees" are spelled with an apostrophe on the front cover, but not on the rear sleeve or labels – and unlike on any of their single releases.
Earlier tracks, like "Peace of Mind", "Claustrophobia" and "Could It Be", are in the beat vein that was popular throughout 1964, while later singles like "Follow the Wind" and "And the Children Laughing" reflect the more folky sounds of 1965. Of the new tracks that were recorded specifically for the album, "To Be or Not to Be" was probably the biggest departure, being a blues-based hard rocker. In the compilation Brilliant from Birth, "You Wouldn't Know" is faded early to 2:03, losing the shouting and laughing in the longer original fade.
The Bee Gees' Australian album and single releases were never issued in the United Kingdom or the United States in their original track listings; instead, UK and US releases were compilations of various album and non-album singles from the Festival/Australian recording era. [3] "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men," "Follow the Wind," "Claustrophobia," "Take Hold of That Star," "Could It Be," and "To Be Or Not To Be" were released (along with other songs not included on this album) in the UK on the compilation Rare, Precious, and Beautiful: Volume 2 by Polydor Records in November 1968 and in the US by Atco Records in February 1970. [3]
All tracks are written by Barry Gibb
No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men" | Barry Gibb | 3:35 |
2. | "I Don't Think It's Funny" | Robin Gibb | 2:52 |
3. | "How Love Was True" | Robin | 2:12 |
4. | "To Be or Not to Be" | Barry and Robin | 2:10 |
5. | "Timber!" | Barry | 1:46 |
6. | "Claustrophobia" | Barry | 2:14 |
7. | "Could It Be" | Barry | 2:03 |
No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "And the Children Laughing" | Barry | 3:20 |
2. | "Wine and Women" | Barry and Robin | 2:52 |
3. | "Don't Say Goodbye" | Barry | 2:23 |
4. | "Peace of Mind" | Barry | 2:20 |
5. | "Take Hold of That Star" | Barry | 2:38 |
6. | "You Wouldn't Know" | Barry and Robin | 2:05 |
7. | "Follow the Wind" | Barry and Robin | 2:07 |
Partial credits sourced from Joseph Brennan. [4] [5] [6]
Mr. Natural is the twelfth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1974. It was the first Bee Gees release produced by Arif Mardin, who was partially responsible for launching the group's later major success with the follow-up album Main Course. The album's rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and hard rock sounds initiated the group's reinvention as a disco and blue-eyed soul act, which would solidify on subsequent albums. However, Barry Gibb has said that the album was "whiter" than Main Course. The cover photograph was taken at 334 West 4th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City by Frank Moscati, which is today known as The Corner Bistro tavern.
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.
"I Still Love You" is a song by the Bee Gees primarily written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb. It was released as a double A side of "Living Eyes" and on the album Living Eyes. Produced by the Gibb brothers with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson.
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. 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. It was their third internationally released album – the first two albums being released only in the Australian market.
To Whom It May Concern is the tenth album by the Bee Gees. Released in October 1972, it is the follow-up to, and continues the melancholic and personal sound of its predecessor, Trafalgar. The album was recognised as "a farewell to the old Bee Gees" as the album marked the end of an era for the group in several ways: it was their last album to be recorded solely at IBC Studios, in London, their last with conductor and arranger Bill Shepherd, who had guided them since 1967, and their last under their first contract with Robert Stigwood. Some of the songs were old ones finished or rewritten for the occasion.
Life in a Tin Can is the Bee Gees' eleventh studio album, released in January 1973.
Spicks and Specks is the second studio album by the Bee Gees. It was released in November 1966, on Spin. Primarily written by Barry Gibb, the album includes the first Robin Gibb composition "I Don't Know Why I Bother With Myself" and a Maurice Gibb composition "Where Are You".
"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".
Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2 is a compilation album of hits by the Bee Gees released in 1973. The album, briefly revived on CD in the late 1980s, went out of print, but was reissued by Rhino in November 2008.
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.
"Wine and Women" is a song written by Barry Gibb, and released by Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees in September 1965 on Leedon Records in Australia. The song's B-side was Follow the Wind. The single reached #19 in Australia, marking the Bee Gees' international chart debut. They achieved this by getting as many of their fans as possible to buy enough copies to get the song into the charts at #35 and, thus, to the attention of disc-jockeys.
"I Want Home" is a song by the Bee Gees, written by Barry Gibb and released as a single in Australia in early 1966, backed with "Cherry Red". Their last single on Leedon had not been a hit, so the credit "Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees" used on the last several discs now reverted to simply "Bee Gees". Neither song appeared on any Bee Gees album until the 1967 compilation album, Turn Around, Look At Us, but both were featured on Brilliant From Birth the 1998 anthology of the group's Australian recordings.
"Really and Sincerely" is a song by the Bee Gees. Written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb in 1967 and released in 1968 on the album Horizontal, it is also featured as the B-side of "And the Sun Will Shine" in France. It was issued in 1970 as the B-side single to "Let There Be Love".
New York Mining Disaster 1941 was released on Spin Records by the Bee Gees in 1967. It was their second EP and, like their first EP, was released only in Australia. All of the songs on this EP were originally released on their third LP Bee Gees' 1st.
"You Wouldn't Know" is a song written by Barry Gibb which was recorded by the Bee Gees and released as the B-side of their version of "Everyday I Have to Cry" and later included on the album The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965). The album of the same name was released in Europe by Tring Records and features the Bee Gees songs from 1963 to 1966.
"Follow the Wind" is a song by Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees. Written by Barry Gibb and produced by Bill Shepherd, it was released as the B-side of "Wine and Women" which charted in Australia. It was later included on The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965). It was one of the folk rock songs on the album, the others being "I Don't Think It's Funny", "And the Children Laughing" and "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men".
"Timber!" is a song recorded by the Bee Gees, written by Barry Gibb. The song was released in Australia as their second single in July 1963, backed with "Take Hold of That Star". It was later included on the group's first album The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs.
"I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men" is a single released in November 1965, recorded by the Bee Gees, and written by Barry Gibb. In Australia, the B-side was "And the Children Laughing". It is also the first track of the Bee Gees' first album, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. This song won Barry a songwriting award.