The Bee Gees, The #6 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

The group was slated to begin a seven-week tour of the U.S. in August, 1968 but on July 27, Robin collapsed and was unconscious.  He went into a London nursing home from nervous exhaustion, and the American tour was postponed.

The Bee Gees began work on their sixth album, spending a week recording at Atlantic Studios in New York City.  Robin missed the New York Sessions, but the rest of the group recorded instrumental tracks and demos.

By this time, the problems that  every major group experiences began to surface, even though the primary figures in this case were brothers. Robin felt like Stigwood had been favoring Barry as the frontman of the group. 

The trio's performances on Top of the Pops and The Tom Jones Show were one of the last live performances of the group with Robin for some time.

The next album was originally a concept album called Masterpeace but turned into the double-album the Bee Gees named Odessa, one of their best career endeavors and certainly their best of the '60's.  

Today Odessa is hailed for its blend of Rock, Country, Baroque, Opera, and Classical music.  If you want to go back and discover some of the group's great "undiscovered" material, this would be a good place to start.   "First Of May" hit #2 in the Netherlands, #3 in Ireland, #4 in Germany and Switzerland, #6 in the U.K. and #7 in Belgium.

 

 

This song was the first track recorded after the Bee Gees returned to England from beginning sessions in New York City, and the first without the departed Melouney--"Black Diamond".

 

Just as groups such as Led Zeppelin and AC/DC piled up points with solid album tracks (without which they would not have come close to The Top 100 Artists*), the Bee Gees scored tons of points with their album tracks.  When Robin disagreed with "First Of May" as the single though, feeling that the flipside of that, "Lamplight" should have been the A-side, he quit the group to begin a solo career.  

It's a beautiful song and Robin's voice soars.

"Odessa", about a fictitious British ship called Veronica, floating on an iceberg in the Baltic Sea, is one of the group's most unique songs.  The title song features a mix of Maurice playing flamenco guitar and Grammy-winning composer Paul Buckmaster, who later became Elton John's arranger, on cello.  

 Odessa landed at #3 in Germany and #4 in the U.K.  "Marley Purt Drive" shows off the group's songwriting talent to be able to think outside the box, drawing comparisons to Bob Dylan, The Band, and Van Morrison.  It was originally written as a Folk song which turned into more of a Country effort on the final recording.  The group brought in Bill Keith to play banjo.

The song starts out as just a mundane Sunday routine, but we learn that the protagonist is dealing with a heavy burden of keeping his large family intact while also caring for orphans.  

He takes a Sunday drive as an escape, a moment of solace, while at the same time knowing that he has to return to his responsibilities. As a result, the Bee Gees explore the common struggle of balancing personal desires with the demands of responsibility.  

 Odessa was released as a bright red flocked cover with gold lettering.  "Seven Seas Symphony", featuring Maurice on keyboards and a wonderful string arrangement by Bill Shepherd, is a simple but beautiful and mystical instrumental.  The sea could be seen as a symbol of the love of God, which is as deep, alive and life-giving as the ocean. 

The group released their compilation Best of Bee Gees, which landed in the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.  

The group released their first album without Robin, Cucumber Castle.   They debuted live without Robin at Talk of the Town.  During this time, their sister Lesley replaced Robin in at least one performance and the group filmed a television special which aired on the BBC in 1970 to promote the album. 

Petersen was fired from the group while the album was recorded, and Terry Cox was brought in to play drums.  But the first single, "Don't Forget To Remember", stalled at #73 in the U.S. 

 

The band recorded this song in May of 1969 in IBC Studios, with a cameo vocal appearance by P.P. Arnold.  The Bee Gees did not release "Bury Me Down By The River" as a single, but Arnold recorded a version for herself and did release it as a single.

 

Cucumber Castle, the title taken from a song on their first album, includes songs from their television special of the same name.  Shortly after Peterson left, Barry reminded everyone, as quoted in the book The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees by Melinda Bilyeu, Hector Cook and Andrew Mon Hughes,  that "Maurice is capable of playing about seven instruments - most of the back tracks on the records were all him."  This is "My Thing".

However, the next two singles failed as well and it seemed like the group was finished.  For most acts in a similar situation, they would have been done.  On December 1, 1969, Barry and Maurice decided to part ways professionally.

Maurice recorded his first solo album, The Loner, which was not released.  He subsequently starred in the West End musical Sing a Rude Song.  In February of 1970, Barry recorded a solo album which also did not get released.  Robin enjoyed a #2 hit in the U.K. with "Saved By The Bell" from his album Robin's Reign.

Then, in mid-1970, Barry says "Robin rang me in Spain where I was on holiday [saying] 'let's do it again'".  Robin and Maurice recorded a dozen songs in June before Barry joined and included two songs that made it on their reunion album.  On August 21, the Bee Gees reunited.  Barry and Robin published the book On the Other Hand together, which was a good sign of the relationship-mending they had done.  The group also hired drummer Geoff Bridgford, who had played previously for the Groove and Tin Tin.  Tin Tin, you might remember, had just enjoyed the hit "Toast and Marmalade for Tea".  

The Bee Gees released the album 2 Years On, led by this song which they wrote in their first reunion session in the basement of Barry's house on Addison Road in London.  "Lonely Days" became their biggest hit to date, reaching #1 in Canada and #3 in the U.S. and the Netherlands and giving them their first career Gold record.

The group performed on many of the top television shows in the United States, including The Ed Sullivan Show, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, The Andy Williams Show, and The Dick Cavett Show.

  Recording for the group's next album began on January 28, 1971.  The Bee Gees hired Alan Kendall as lead guitarist and released the album Trafalgar.  This classic was written on the same day as "Lonely Days"--how many artists can write two songs of that caliber in one day?  For the first time in their career, the trio enjoyed a #1 song--"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart", another million-seller.

The Bee Gees were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for their smash hit.  Here is the title song.

 

The following year, the band released the non-album single "My World", a #3 smash in Australia.  It was later included on the compilation Best of the Bee Gees, Volume 2.

 

The Bee Gees also released the album To Whom It May Concern, featuring the single "Run To Me".  "We Wrote this ("Run To Me"), Robin told The Mail On Sunday, "at our manager Robert Stigwood's house in Beverly Hills.  He was a great visionary and championed our beliefs and chemistry as brothers."  Like its predecessor, "Run To Me" peaked at #3 in Australia, the same chart position for the song in New Zealand; it also reached #6 in Canada and #7 in the United Kingdom.  

Veteran Clem Cattini played drums in the sessions and said, "I think they [Bee Gees] have an unbelievable talent - I'd give anything just to have written one of the songs that they've written, especially the later stuff."  Robin's vocals soar on this one--"Never Been Alone".

 

To Whom It May Concern was the Bee Gees' last album with conductor and arranger Bill Shepherd, who had been with them since 1967.  The trio showed their great versatility on "Bad Bad Dreams".

 "Alive" is one of the group's best ballads. 

Bridgford left the group during recording of the album and the brothers decided not to hire a new member at the time. 

Don't miss Part Three of the Bee Gees, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!