The Ultimate Bee Gees

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The Ultimate Bee Gees
UltimateBeeGees.jpg
Compilation album by
the Bee Gees
Released3 November 2009
Recorded1967–2001
Genre
LengthDisc 1: 78:48
Disc 2: 68:02
Label Reprise
The Bee Gees chronology
Love Songs
(2005)		The Ultimate Bee Gees
(2009)		 Mythology
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]

The Ultimate Bee Gees is a compilation album released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Bee Gees. Although the group did not start recording until 1963 on Festival Records in Australia, they began calling themselves the "Bee Gees" in 1959 after several name changes such as "Wee Johnny Hayes and the Bluecats", "The Rattlesnakes" and "BG's". Each disc is themed with the first containing more upbeat songs, called A Night Out, and the second containing slower songs and ballads, called A Night In, though the cover art does not distinguish this theme. Liner notes were written by Sir Tim Rice. This also marks the return of the 1970s era logo on an official Bee Gees release, which was last used on the Bee Gees' 1983 single "Someone Belonging to Someone".

Contents

Track listing

Though every song in the Bee Gees catalogue since 1967 has been mixed in stereo, a few early tracks are presented here in the mono mixes heard on the original single releases, for the first time on a CD compilation (the mono mixes were previously released on CD on the 2006 box set Studio Albums 1967–1968 [2] ).

All songs were written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb, except where noted.

Disc one
No.TitlePlace of OriginLength
1."You Should Be Dancing" Children of the World , 19764:16
2."Stayin' Alive" Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, 19774:43
3."Jive Talkin'" Main Course , 19753:44
4."Nights on Broadway"Main Course4:33
5."Tragedy" Spirits Having Flown , 19795:02
6."Night Fever"Saturday Night Fever soundtrack 3:32
7."More Than a Woman"Saturday Night Fever soundtrack3:17
8."Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)"Main Course4:04
9."Spirits (Having Flown)"Spirits Having Flown5:11
10."If I Can't Have You" B-side to the "Stayin' Alive" single, 19773:19
11."Boogie Child"Children of the World4:11
12."Love You Inside Out"Spirits Having Flown4:10
13."You Win Again" E.S.P. , 19874:00
14."One" One , 19894:52
15."Secret Love" High Civilization , 19913:32
16."Alone" Still Waters , 19974:49
17."Still Waters (Run Deep)"Still Waters4:08
18."This Is Where I Came In" This Is Where I Came In , 20014:52
19."Spicks and Specks" (Live) (B. Gibb) Tales from the Brothers Gibb , 1990; originally from Spicks and Specks , 19662:25
Disc two
No.TitlePlace of OriginLength
1."How Deep Is Your Love"Saturday Night Fever soundtrack4:02
2."To Love Somebody" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb) Bee Gees' 1st , 19673:00
3."Words" (Mono mix)Non-album single, 19683:17
4."How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" Trafalgar , 19713:58
5."Too Much Heaven"Spirits Having Flown4:55
6."Emotion" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb) Their Greatest Hits: The Record , 20013:39
7."Lonely Days" 2 Years On , 19703:47
8."Run to Me" To Whom It May Concern , 19723:12
9."Love So Right"Children of the World3:37
10."For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Single edit) Size Isn't Everything , 19933:58
11."I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (Mono single mix) Idea , 19683:03
12."New York Mining Disaster 1941" (Mono mix) (B. Gibb, R. Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st2:10
13."Massachusetts" (Mono mix) Horizontal , 19682:21
14."I Started a Joke"Idea3:08
15."World" (Mono mix)Horizontal3:17
16."First of May" (Mono mix) Odessa , 19692:50
17."Holiday" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st2:55
18."Don't Forget to Remember" (B. Gibb, M. Gibb) Cucumber Castle , 19703:31
19."Islands in the Stream" (Live) One Night Only , 19983:46
20."Heartbreaker" (Live)One Night Only1:05
21."Guilty" (Live)One Night Only2:23
Bonus track on Japanese releases Rhino Records WPCR-13706-7 [3] and WPZR-30352-4 [4]
No.TitlePlace of OriginLength
22."Melody Fair"Odessa3:48

DVD bonus disc

The Ultimate Bee Gees [Deluxe Edition] came with a bonus DVD containing promotional clips and videos. Though the promo clip for "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" is included on the DVD, the song is not included in the collection. All tracks are original studio recordings unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Spicks and Specks" – Promo clip aired on Bandstand (Australia) – 19 November 1966
  2. "New York Mining Disaster 1941" Promo clip – 1967 (Mono album version)
  3. "Massachusetts" – Performed live on Top of the Pops UK TV – 26 December 1967
  4. "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" – from Idea TV Special – 1968 (Mono single mix)
  5. "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" – Promo clip – 1969
  6. "Lonely Days" – Promo clip – 1970 (Alternate studio version)
  7. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" – Performed live on Whitaker's World of Music – 6/5/1971
  8. "Run to Me" – Performed live on In Session US TV – 1973
  9. "Jive Talkin'" – Promo clip – 1975
  10. "Night Fever" – Promo clip – 1977
  11. "Stayin' Alive" – Promo clip – 1977 (Slightly sped up studio version)
  12. "How Deep Is Your Love" – Promo clip – 1977 (Slightly sped up studio version)
  13. "Too Much Heaven" – Promo clip – 1979
  14. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" – Promo clip – 1993
  15. "Alone" – Promo clip – 1997
  16. "Still Waters (Run Deep)" – Promo clip – 1997
  17. "You Win Again" – Promo clip – 1987
  18. "One" – Promo clip – 1989 (Version 1)

Charts

Though there are not any new songs included in this compilation and there has been little promotion for it, the set has charted in the UK at No. 19 in its first week and in the US at No. 116 on the Billboard 200 top albums chart. [5]

In May 2012, The Ultimate Bee Gees re-entered the Billboard 200 at No. 49 due to a huge increase in Bee Gees' album sales following the death of Robin Gibb.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Saturday Night Fever</i> (soundtrack) 1977 soundtrack album by the Bee Gees and various artists

Saturday Night Fever is the soundtrack album from the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta. The soundtrack was released on November 15, 1977 by RSO Records. Prior to the release of Thriller by Michael Jackson, Saturday Night Fever was the best-selling album in music history, and still ranks among the best-selling soundtrack albums worldwide, with sales figures of over 40 million copies.

<i>One Night Only</i> (Bee Gees album) Live album

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stayin' Alive</span> 1977 single by the Bee Gees

"Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in 1977 as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The band co-produced the song with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It is one of the Bee Gees' signature songs. In 2004, "Stayin' Alive" was placed at No. 189 by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The 2021 updated Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Songs placed "Stayin' Alive" at No. 99. In 2004, it ranked No. 9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In a UK television poll on ITV in December 2011 it was voted fifth in "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jive Talkin'</span> Song by the Bee Gees

"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in May 1975 by RSO Records. This was the lead single from the album Main Course and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it also reached the top-five on the UK Singles Chart in the middle of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's comeback song, it was their first US top-10 hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (1971).

<i>Still Waters</i> (Bee Gees album) 1997 studio album by the Bee Gees

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<i>Spirits Having Flown</i> 1979 studio album by Bee Gees

Spirits Having Flown is the fifteenth album released by the Bee Gees. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles and all reached No. 1 in the US, giving the Bee Gees an unbroken run of six US chart-toppers in a one-year period and equaling a feat shared by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. It was the first Bee Gees album to make the UK top 40 in ten years, as well as being their first and only UK No. 1 album. Spirits Having Flown also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the US. The album has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

<i>Children of the World</i> 1976 studio album by the Bee Gees

Children of the World is a 1976 album by the Bee Gees. The first single, "You Should Be Dancing", went to No. 1 in the US and Canada, and was a top ten hit in numerous other territories. It was the group's fourteenth album. The album was re-issued on CD by Reprise Records and Rhino Records in 2006. This was the first record featuring the Gibb-Galuten-Richardson production team which would have many successful collaborations in the following years.

<i>Horizontal</i> (album) 1968 studio album by the Bee Gees

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>Their Greatest Hits: The Record</i> 2001 compilation album by the Bee Gees

Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music. Four of the songs were new recordings of classic Gibb compositions originally recorded by other artists, including "Emotion", "Heartbreaker", "Islands in the Stream", and "Immortality". It also features the Barry Gibb duet with Barbra Streisand, "Guilty", which originally appeared on Streisand's 1980 album of the same name. It is currently out of print and has been supplanted by another compilation, The Ultimate Bee Gees.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Win Again (Bee Gees song)</span> 1987 single by Bee Gees

"You Win Again" is a song written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb and performed by the Bee Gees. The song was produced by the brothers, Arif Mardin and Brian Tench. It was released as the first single on 7 September 1987 by Warner Records, from their seventeenth studio album E.S.P. (1987). It was also their first single released from the record label. The song marked the start of the group's comeback, becoming a No. 1 hit in many European countries, including topping the UK Singles Chart—their first to do so in over eight years—and making them the first group to score a UK No. 1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I've Gotta Get a Message to You</span> 1968 song by the Bee Gees

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">How Can You Mend a Broken Heart</span> 1971 song written by Barry and Robin Gibb

"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees in 1971. It was written by Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 album Trafalgar. It was their first US No. 1 single and also reached No. 1 in Cashbox magazine for two weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World (Bee Gees song)</span> 1967 single by the Bee Gees

"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".

<i>Bee Gees 1st</i> 1967 studio album by the Bee Gees

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.

<i>Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live</i> 1977 live album by the Bee Gees

Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live is the first live album by the Bee Gees. It was recorded on December 20, 1976 at the LA Forum and was released in May 1977 by RSO Records. It reached No. 8 in the US, No. 8 in Australia, No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 2 in Spain.

<i>Mythology</i> (Bee Gees album) 2010 compilation album by the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb

Mythology is a box set compilation of recordings by the Gibb brothers, mostly performed as the Bee Gees, arranged in a four disc set each highlighting a Gibb brother. Barry and Robin chose their own songs, with Maurice's songs selected by his widow Yvonne and Andy's songs selected by his daughter Peta. Several U.S. and U.K. hits are absent from this collection including "Lonely Days", "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", "You Should Be Dancing", "Nights on Broadway", "World" and "One".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saved by the Bell (song)</span> 1969 single by Robin Gibb

"Saved by the Bell" is a 1969 single written and recorded by Robin Gibb. It was released in June 1969, and has been certified gold. It was the lead single on Gibb's debut album Robin's Reign, released in early 1970. According to Vinyl Records, the song was co-produced by Kenny Clayton. Gibb also made a promotional video for this song. The song gained commercial success in Europe, but was a commercial failure in the US.

<i>In the Now</i> 2016 studio album by Barry Gibb

In the Now is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Barry Gibb, released on 7 October 2016 by Columbia Records. Although his second solo album, it is the first of all new material since the Bee Gees' final studio album This Is Where I Came In (2001). Gibb said of the album: "This is a dream come true for me. It's a new chapter in my life. I always hoped one day that the Bee Gees would be with Columbia or indeed Sony so, it's a great joy for me to start again this way with such great people."

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: The Ultimate Bee Gees: The 50th Anniversary Collection". AllMusic . Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Gibb Songs".
  3. ↑ "Bee Gees = ビー・ジーズ – the Ultimate Bee Gees = アルティメイト・ベスト・オブ・ビー・ジーズ (2009, CD)". Discogs .
  4. ↑ "Bee Gees – the Ultimate Bee Gees (2009, CD)". Discogs .
  5. ↑ "Billboard Top 200".
  6. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Charts.nz – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Bee Gees Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Bee Gees – The Ultimate Bee Gees". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2012". ARIA. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
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