BEE GEES: BARRY GIBB & THE BEE GEES SING AND PLAY 14 BARRY GIBB SONGS (1965)
1) I Was A Lover, A Leader Of
Men; 2) I Don't Think It's Funny; 3) How Love Was True; 4) To Be Or Not To Be;
5) Timber; 6) Claustrophobia; 7) Could It Be; 8) And The Children Laughing; 9)
Wine And Women; 10) Don't Say Goodbye; 11) Peace Of Mind; 12) Take Hold Of That
Star; 13) You Wouldn't Know; 14) Follow The Wind.
The «real» Bee Gees did not seriously register
on the world's musical scene until they relocated to England in 1967 — but The Bee Gees' 1st, with all of its
stunning achievements, did not appear out of nowhere, and even
technically-officially, it was The Bee
Gees' 3rd, since they already had two LPs out by that time, not heard
outside of Australia, where they grew up and missed a good chance of becoming
that nation's Easybeats. Presumably, tough-guy Australia deemed them too sissy
for its own pop market.
Anyway, «Barry Gibb & The Bee Gees»,
including Barry's underage twin brothers Maurice and Robin, had really been
releasing singles as early as 1963, and a big bunch of them was put out in 1965
as their first LP whose name basically says it all. Including, that is,
pointing out the band's two major strengths, already well worked out: (a) that
Barry Gibb knows a thing or two about catchiness; (b) these are some dang good,
unique, harmonies — kinda like the Everley Bros., but three instead of two,
which adds extra power, joyfulness, and sometimes even — dare I say it? — «spirituality».
I mean, "My heart cries, ʽTimber! Timber!ʼ" — is that spiritual, or what?
Since there was nothing better to do in
Australia anyway, the Gibb brothers spent a lot
of time listening to the radio, and it shows. At the same time, at a very early
age, they (or at least big brother Barry) understood that writing songs, rather
than covering others, was the way to go — not only is it more profitable in the
financial department, but you can also find awesome ways to pass other people's
ideas for your own. (Not that this is a Bee-Gees-specific jab, but maybe the
Bee Gees deserve to be jabbed a bit stronger than others, given as how the LP
title puts such a strong emphasis on «Barry Gibb songs»).
So just about every song on here sounds like an
adolescent attempt to emulate somebody else without directly ripping off the
somebody else (not that somebody else would bother — takes a long way for the
subpoenas to reach the faraway land of Oz). The Everleys, with their lightly rock'n'rolled
take on the suave folk vibe, are one of the main inspirations (ʽI Don't Think
It's Funnyʼ, ʽHow Love Was Trueʼ, etc.), but there are also nods to Motown, to
the Merseybeat scene, to the new-and-upgraded folk-rock scene of the Searchers,
of the Byrds (ʽAnd The Children Laughingʼ), and the brothers were not even above
an occasional listen to some «cruder» boogie and garage-rock (ʽTo Be Or Not To
Beʼ).
It is hard to say what exactly is so «wrong»
with this album: in a way, there are no problems here that would not be
characteristic of The Bee Gees as a whole — near-complete inability to come up
with, let alone innovative, but simply «idiosyncratic» ideas of their own: from
the beginning of time and until the very end of it, Barry and his brothers
could only really work in other people's backyards. And these here songs
aren't really much worse, on their own, than second-rate work by the Everleys:
catchy, sing-along-ish, pleasant, with impeccable harmonies. Guitar-based
instrumentation is a bit monotonous, but what wasn't back in 1963-64? Production
is a bit scruffy, but what could we expect from a cheap Australian studio at
the time? The hooks on the upbeat songs are a bit kiddie-like, but why wouldn't
they be, with the songwriter himself only having turned 17 when the first of
them was released? And he did write a
song called ʽClaustrophobiaʼ at the age of 18, didn't he? Not every 18-year-old
knows what that means. (On second thought, checking out the lyrics makes me
wonder if Barry really knew what it means. Oh well, not every 18-year-old knows
that it actually exists).
In the end, it might simply be the fact that
the brothers were not quite ready yet, nor was the time quite ready for them.
Even in their prime, they would almost always be writing and performing in the
confines of a genre or style, but here they are still writing and performing in
the confines of particular bands or artists — so much so that, if you already
have the Beatles, there is no reason to cherish an inferior imitation of
Lennon/McCartney such as ʽYou Wouldn't Knowʼ, and if you already have your
Manfred Mann, ʽPeace Of Mindʼ will be just an infantile copy of their already
juvenile approach (and at least Manfred Mann, in their early days, were
accomplished musicians intentionally targeting the «innocent teen» market with
their singles — the Bee Gees could only do so much as provide the basic
instrumental backing for their compositions).
I cannot bring myself to turn the thumbs down,
since I had no problems whatsoever listening to this — quite «charming» in its
own way — celebration of «crass naïveté», but I do hereby confirm that the
album is only of serious value for major enthusiasts of either the Bee Gees or
that «wonderful early Sixties sound, when all the people were still little
children playing in the grass» and «bad» music was impossible in principle.
Technical detail: although both this record and its follow-up are thoroughly out
of print (and seem to have never been released on CD per se), all of the songs,
and much, much more, including non-LP singles, demos, outtakes etc., are available on the 2-CD collection Brilliant From Birth (not really, I'd
say, but everybody is welcome to check it out and form one's own opinion).
Hmm.. but is it as good as "From Genesis to Revelation"? Some of your comments on the old site are somewhat similar..
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely not as mature as FGTR, at least in its scope. This is strictly teen angst pop, whereas Genesis was making collegiate angst pop. Yet Barry seems to grab a lot of metaphorical ideas from more mundane sources. Peter & Co. are drawing from the well of British art school romanticism, with a pinch of the weed, of course. But the comparison is a good one, nonetheless. I suppose that would make "1st" the equivalent of "Nursery Cryme?"
DeleteI have nothing against artists working in other people's backyards - provided they choose the right backyards and contribute something substantial to these backyards. Rearranging some elements to provide another perspective is already good enough. A few roots replanted can have exciting results.
ReplyDeleteBut I never have been able to catch the BeeGee's in that action. OK, perhaps Saturday Night Fever, but that stuff always makes me feel like me nuts being jammed in a nutcracker.
I have to say that I'm fairly pleased with the record, even if it is corny, immature, and insipid in spots. In other words, it sounds like a record made by a bunch of teenagers. And yet, when I take that into consideration, I have to say, I am impressed with these humble results. It's certainly no worse than anything Swift or Bieber have come up with. I disagree with you however, in regards to idiosyncracies. The first notes of the album, the "Aa-aa-ah" the opens I Was a Lover is pure Gibb harmonies. Nobody was sounding like that on the radio--In Aussie, the UK, or the States. Another interesting moment in this song is the pleasant way the bass guitar and the chords resolve on the final "it's a game" line in the chorus. Sure you can hear the squeak of changing voices. Sure the music is simplistic and a little monotonous on further listens. But that Gibb "Cobweb and Strange" is strung all over these songs, even at this early stage.
ReplyDeleteYES! FINALLY!
ReplyDelete