The Bee Gees 1st Album Is a Psychedelic Pop Masterpiece
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 лип 2021
- Mini-documentary about the first album by the Bee Gees, a psychedelic pop masterpiece released in 1967. These days, many people only seem to remember the Bee Gees' disco hits from the 70s. Not that there's anything wrong with that stuff, but their albums from the 60s are kind of overlooked and those records, especially the first one, are among the best pop albums released in the 60s. Great songwriting, brilliant arrangements and beautiful vocals and harmonies. Pure joy.
Hope you enjoy the mini-documentary!
![50s Stars Who Tried to Adapt to the Psychedelic 60s [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/l_FTSVuyej4/mqdefault.jpg)
![50s Stars Who Tried to Adapt to the Psychedelic 60s [Part 1]](/img/tr.png)
Love the Bee Gees, especially their early work!
They were magnificant!!! 💥💥💥
Bear in mind that Robin and Maurice were 17 years old (December 1949), and Barry was 20 (September 1946), when they wrote and recorded Bee Gees 1st. Definitely prodigies.
OH MY GOODNESS ROBIN AND MAURICE AND BARRY WERE ALL SO YOUNG IN THE SUMMER OF 1967 💋💯🫂🦘🦘🦘🐝🐝🐝🌽🌽
Definitely had a seasoned producer to make them sound their best.
I loved this album. Should never have given it away.
WHY DID YOU?
Love this album. Unfortunately, many people remember the Bee Gees only as a Disco band, and forget this incredible albums
Yeah, it's a pity.
I discovered that first album 23 years ago and fell in love with it. Very lush sound. Next to Mike Pinder of Moody Blues I'd say the Bee Gees made good use of the mellotron for that psychedelic sound.
I didn't I knew of their history but not familiar of their early body of work. "Harry. Braff" is probably my favorite song.
I love The Bee Gees early work. I never listen to their late 70’s output. The albums from 67-72 are generally good if not great. Songs like “Every Christian Lion Hearted Man” should be on classic rock rotation.
This is the album that really inspired me to make my own upon others but this one I believe is number one for me. It is definitely overlooked. I think singles saved the following couple of albums even though I thought they were good albums they just didn't have such a mass appeal. This was them busting out of the gates imo.
A Fantastic LP for that fantastic Summer of '67....Summer of Love !!!!
This 1967, was an explosion a few years in the making with influences from NYs East Village, Swinging London, Big Sur, The strip of LA, Laurel Canynon..and Sandoz labs!!!!
..this LP Bee Gees 1st fit right in between Beatles Sgt Pepper, Hendrix's Are You Experienced ...and Love Revisited!!
Colorful mastery of sight and sound!!!!
I wish, if Barry could make the comeback with Colin and Vince, and play their old songs one more time in a tour with paying tribute to his great brothers.
WOW THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE BARRY WITH COLIN AND VINCE AND PLAY THEIR OLD SONGS TOGETHER ON TOUR THIS SUMMER 2023 I WOULD LOVE TO SEE BARRY SING SPICKS AND SPECKS AND EVERY CHRISTIAN LION HEARTED MAN WILL SHOW YOU AND SWAN SONG
Agree ! Colin and Vince are still performing !! Great musicians !
I love that album is on my fav list of 1967 albums 😍
1967? Try top 10 all time.
Thankyou for your great post. It's still my favorite album of all time
I fully agree! An excellent album. I also liked the ambitious semi-concept album “Odessa”. It’s good to see The Bee Gees finally getting some respect after decades of being reviled as the nadir of music. If the Foo Fighters are touring doing nothing but your songs, you have cred!
Sister brought them home after there show at the Grandie ball room in Detroit 1968. Very cool
Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb were born on the Isle of Man, and the family moved to Manchester when the boys were young. It was from there they went to Australia.
THANK YOU FOR UPDATING THE BEE GEES
I can completely hear Otis Redding singing To Love Somebody. Tearing it up.
The Bee Gees are much more than Disco era. They composed in around a thousand songs in six decades. My eternal idols. Thanks for post it. Thanks from 🇧🇷
Absolutely phenomenal lp!! A must for all collectors!! Killer band
Within the 60's counterculture there was a very opinionated and protective attitude about music. The album oriented music of groups such as Cream, Traffic, The Beatles, The Stones, The Moody Blues, etc., was created by people who were part of the counterculture and it was made specifically for people within that culture. There was as much of a divide between singles played on AM radio and the albums played on FM radio, as there was between the generations. The Bee Gees were the only AM radio oriented group that was embraced by the counterculture, everybody loved their vocal harmonies.
The record industry is anything but "counterculture". And "The Beatles" -- who were singlehandedly responsible for their being a counterculture -- hit before there was a "counterculture".
All the rest were who they were, and some were accepted by the "counterculture," regardless how corporate (see "The Moody Blues").
Otis Redding singing "To Love Somebody." Imagine that. What a FANTASTIC HIT it would have been!!
Jani Joplin and Eric Burdon both covered the song.
As did Nina Simone.
Check out the James Carr version.
It’s a fantastic hit as is.
Everyone has an musical artist that means more to them than any other. The Gibb brothers are mine.
Thank you so much for this well-researched and edited video! I adore the Bee Gees' 1st 4 records, especially this one and Odessa. So wonderful to see someone else with a passion for these albums.
Thank you very much. Those first 4 records are brilliant indeed.
Masterful LP. A jewel of pop that shows the incredible talent of these guys. A great album that preceded even more brilliant masterpieces in their catalogue like "Horizontal" or "Odessa".
Idea was also a masterpiece. Early Bee Gees albums had many great songs that never made the radio.
@@big_fat_hen Yes, "Idea" was brilliant too and I love it although "Horizontal" and specially "Odessa" are still my favorites.
Unfortunately, the psychedelic period of The Bee Gees is largely unknown to the general public, who only know their disco stage, "Saturday Night Fever" and all that (which it's great of course but it's less interesting to me).
"Red Chair Fade Away" is great.
Brilliant song.
I remember when the Bee Gees went disco and thinking "What have they done.." - it was like they were a different group, but now I see it like Fleetwood Mac- two groups that had two incarnations - a very rare thing.
They were never really disco. Just writing R&B and it got lumped in with the disco era. You can’t tell me “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” is the same genre as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Their “disco” albums were soul and funk put together, simple as, much like Stevie Wonder and many other Black groups in the 70s.
They didn’t go disco.
Although I hated disco, I never saw their disco era songs as being fundamentally different. The quality was still excellent. "Emotion" is as good as any song they ever wrote.
Gotta love late 60s Bee Gees!
Knew you'd enjoy this with the pics!🥰
@@kthorLOVE these pics! I was just coming back to say more about it.
I have always really loved songs from ‘67 on. They were vocally unique, melodic and emotional. It is fascinating that Otis Redding was a fan. The fact that Nina Simone covered them only further heightens their prestige. Songs like Holiday and To Love Somebody represent some of the best pop music of the era.
As well as NY mining disaster '41
😍❤
Otis Reading died in 1968, not 1967.
@@NickZedd1 - Thanks for that fact, and of course, it is appreciated. Does the fact that he died in ‘68 mean I was wrong to say he was a fan? Apparently he was going to cover one of their songs, but then he passed. So I never stated Otis died in ‘67, just that I liked their songs (Bee Gees) from ‘67 - 70’ or so.
Otis didn't live long enough to record a version, but Janis lived long enough to release one (sigh)
One of my favorite albums of all time. My band used to cover a few of these songs. Please Read Me, NY Mining Disaster, To Love Somebody...
Writing and recording their songs "off the cuff" while in the studio... absolutely amazing!
Like so many others...
@@morbidmanmusic Studio time is expensive, having the luxury to go into the studio unprepared was not affordable by "many others".
YES THE BEE GEES ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! I LOVE ALL THEIR OLD SONGS LIKE TO LOVE SOMEBODY AND HOLIDAY AND BARRY AND ROBIN SING THIS SONG TOGETHER
this sounds fun! i only recently learnt about the bee gee's 1960's music.
This first album by The Bee Gees is fantastic.
They were phenomenal from the get go!
Your selection of pictures in this video is stellar! I love all the extra cute pictures of Barry, which I can tell you selected with taste and care. Thank you!
Congratulations on the excellent work you are proposing, this album is one of the best of this period. Greetings from Italy
Thank you very much. Saluti!
Mac and BeeGees have second acts which often get the plaudits but their first phases were groundbreaking
A very cool segment on The Bee Gees. Thank you!
Thanks!
My brother bought this album in 1967. Red Chair fade away...bring back memories...every Christian lion-hearted man will show you...Oooh, you're a holiday, every day, such a holiday...
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb C.B.E. was born in Douglas on the Isle Of Man on September 1st. 1946, and the twins Robin Hugh Gibb C.B.E. & Maurice Ernest Gibb C.B.E. was also born in Douglas on the Isle Of Man on December the 22nd 1949. The ONLY Gibb brother born in Manchester was Andy Gibb, who was not part of The Bee Gees.
I discovered this album in the mid-1980's. I had heard the Three O'Clock's version of "In My Own Time" and saw the Gibb brothers as the writers. I found an old copy and listened to the album often. It became one of my essential albums, and I still listen to the songs on UA-cam. I put together an "Early Bee Gees" playlist and it's one of my go-to listens. The live recordings of that era show some amazing guitar and bass work, and there live harmonies were only matched by The Hollies. Robin Gibb is my favorite vocalist, and has been for many years. When Vince left - I think the band lost a lot, and almost broke up for good. I don't care for the 70's material, but their 5-piece lineup will always be one of my top 10 rock groups. And they really could rock (Listen to their "Live in Bern 1968" video. I honestly believe this should be in any essential Top 100 Rock Albums list.
According to Barry, they were influenced by The Hollies - the way they use to harmonize. I totally spot on. way too different to The Beatles harmonies if you ask me
@@Harrisonianne THAT IS VERY INTERSTING Barry Said That He Was Influenced by The Hollies not the Beatles
A classic album from ''67 for sure. New York Mining Disaster was such a mysterious song to hear on AM radio at the time. I had to buy the album when it came out. Got the mono version. Played it so much. Bought the CD when they became popular, now I have it in digital form also. Red Chair Fade Away still my favorite. The mellotron used on this track was rumored to have been the same one used on Strawberry Fields Forever. The Beatles comparison continues. 🎵🎼🎵
The mono version is the best version. I found a first pressing of the LP in mono a few years ago and it sounds amazing.
This albums deserves to be right up there with the great debut albums of all time and high on the list of albums from the 60's. Of all the big names from the 60's, The Bee Gees were the only ones to have all original compositions on their debut album. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, CCR....they all featured at least one cover song.
True, but 1st wasn't really their first album, their debut album was called Bee Gees sing 14 songs by Barry Gibb or something like that
YOUR RIGHT THE BEE GEES DID THEIR OWN SONGS THEY WERE EXCELLENT
2 albums and 12 singles in Australia. That is a lot of singles.
Thank you! I've been hooked for the last couple of days!
I like how Maurice looks like he's talking on a cell phone on the cover.
When it was reissued over a decade ago, I was in a record store (remember them) when the clerk played a song off it. It was Every Christian Lionhearted Man Will Show You. I bought it instantly.
Colin Petersen, the drummer , was a former child star actor in Australia in the '50's, the movies 'Smiley' and 'Smiley gets a gun' still get a run on Tv to this day. He might just have been the most famous of the 4 when this first overseas album was released.
Colin Petersen also formed the band Humpy Bong with Jonathan Kelly and Tim Staffel. Tim was the man who formed SMILE, the forerunners of QUEEN, and he introduced his friend Freddie Mercury to the band when he left. Colin also managed Jonathan later. Humpy Bong was the name of the school in Sydney that Colin and the Bee Gees attended.
@@bobinscotland THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS INFORMATION ABOUT COLIN DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIS LIFE AND CAREER AND THAT HE WENT TO THE SAME SCHOOL THAT THE BEE GEES WENT THIS IS VERY INTERESTING THAT TIM WAS A FREIND OF FREDDIE MERCURY OF THE BAND OF QUEEN WOW
Undoubtedly their best album with no hint of the tripe they would put out a decade later, and certainly one of the great overlooked albums of all time. Thanks for this one!
Tripe? The disco era isn't my favorite but there were some good songs. And they had some great tunes after that too.
You aren’t a Bee Gees fan if you think it’s tripe.
Such a great video YP... awesome work. I had a neighbourhood friend who came knockin' on my door one August day in '67 and said "Rob, you have GOT to hear this album!" So off we went back to his place to listen to it. We went through it twice and were totally stunned at how good it was. So a week later, with money earned from mowing lawns all summer, I went downtown and bough my very first albums ... "Sgt. Pepper's", "Younger Than Yesterday" (The Byrds) and "Bee Gees 1st". I've been a Bee Gees fan ever since. I think all the songs on 1st are top shelf, just an amazing album, my favourite of their catalogue. And yes, absolutely ... it's got a real understated psych vibe goin' ...
You got it! Especially your final statement.
My band covered a lot of Bee Gees in the 60's, so I'm quite familiar with their work at that tiime.
WOW GOOD FOR YOU I LOVE BARRY AND THE BEE GEES MUSIC AND THEIR SONGS FROM 1967 LIKE EVERY CHRISTIAN LION HEARTED MAN WILL SHOW YOU
Barry should do something with Colin and Vince. They are still living.
one of the first albums i ever bought. it's a classic.
I love their early music.
So do I.
Yessirree bob! Great album, their best., by far.
Amazing! Thanks great pics ,video and l love the information 👍watched x2
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers!
Fantastic!
Great video well done, love them, now I've got to listen to it
even the Bee Gees sounded like The Beatles in the beginning , they developed their own style ,very original, Robin and Barry ,very catchy voices ,the most impressive were their compositions and their melodies..
Legendary 💕💕💕 always ❤️
What a fantastic analysis! Thank you so much
I was in high school the year it was released, it was a pretty big deal among the radio DJs at the time. They had big expectations.
0:44 Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, along with older sister Lesley, were born in Douglas, Isle Of Man and NOT in Manchester. Only youngest brother Andy Gibb was born in Manchester.
"I can't see nobody " is one of their greatest songs IMHO...they really gave the Fabs a run for their money
Love that song, too.
I don't know about giving the Beatles a run for their money as such but it's a good track nonetheless. But a bit of a rip off.
Yes it was, but it was put on the B side.
I second that Robert Dillon. Robin HughGibb C.B.E. had the most UNIVERSALLY UNIQUE voice in the business a.ndno one will ever sound like him
Well they did write about 15 songs in the 60s that were as good s the Beatles material...duly noted
Many do not realize that the Bee Gees 1st LP was all written by one brilliant person, Benedict Cucumberbatch, who gave the authorship and royalties to the Gibb brothers. He continued to do this for several albums because of photographs the Gibbs had of him and Jimmy Savile, showing them naked with two small lads. By the mid-1970's, the Gibbs had more such compromising photos, but this time they were of a black sanitation worker. By coincidence, he could write really good disco songs and had a good falsetto voice, which influenced Barry a lot.
Prior to my 50th High School Reunion.... we were asked to submit five songs for a playlist. 1967 was such a watershed year for great music... it was difficult to decide. Topping my list was "To Love Somebody" from the "Bee Gees 1st" album.
Good choice. It's a beautiful song.
I appreciate the upload, great to watch. Am now a subscriber. Greetings from Tasmania!
Atlantic records had this great series of "Super Hits" LPs (and 8-track tapes!) that mostly included the best soul hits that were coming out of the Memphis area scene at the time. "To Love Somebody" is on The Super Hits Volume 2, and it fits in so nicely on that album. Great memories of listening to those 8-tracks in my parent's car. Bee Gees 1st is a wonderful record.
I'm glad that this album is getting coverage from this excellent site.Even in 1967 to a 14 year old like me it was clear that it was a remarkable record.I can remember a lot of covers of tracks (in that period To Love Somebody must have been catching up with Yesterday for covers),also other album tracks were released around the world by the Bee Gees eg. I'm sure I can remember Holiday being a hit in the US.Personally I couldn't afford to buy it, but saved up and bought the next album, Horizontal which had similarities including a couple of good singles which encouraged me to buy it ahead of John Wesley Harding !.
I bought this LP on first release. Listened to it perhaps twice. Still have it. imitation "Beatles" do not make for a "masterpiece".
You don't notice it so much with big rock acts like the Rolling Stones , the Yardbirds, Cream, etc. but with pop and soul tracks from the 1960s, the ones recorded in the UK, like those of Tom Jones, PP Arnold, The Flirtations, and even ones that were not hits in the UK like "I still believe in tomorrow", by John and Anne Ryder and "Baby Take Me in Your Arms" by Jefferson, it's hard not to notice the greater use of orchestration and limited use of effects, compared to those recorded here in the USA. Maybe it was partly that studios over there were more likely to have a full orchestra on hand then their American counterparts. If so, I'm glad the early BeeGees recordings were done there; they had a sound that would probably have been hard to match in a typical American studio.
I think the greater use of orchestration was probably because the musician's union was quite powerful in the UK and I suppose the record companies wanted to keep them happy. I think the american soul records sounded a lot better than the ones recorded in the UK but I do enjoy that UK sound as well and I would agree that it worked perfectly for those early Bee Gees records. I love the production and sound on their first albums..
This band of brothers was magnificent in many ways yet always fought an impression of naffness.
They were naff. It wasn't possible for them to defeat the fact.
What is the instrumental you’re voicing over, it’s lovely
Our band does a reggae cover of "Holiday". It lives on!
Interesting Content !! I've Subscribed. Greetings From the French Alps. Xx
The Bree Gees were never better than when they were a 5 piece band !!!
Their first album is a great one! I get vibes of the monks were on my favorite song from the album, "Every Christian Lion Hearted..". The album featured influences of The Beatles, psychedelia and a little bit of Jimi Hendrix.
I really love this album. Masterpiece, for sure. "Read me" is my favorite song. Bee Gees are, for me, in the Olimpo of Rock and, by the way, the name Beev Rations has a wink for them. ;)
Same here - and there's a great video showing the boys goofing off.
YP, Reading some of the repetitive snarky comments must warm the cockles of your heart. It's always nice to see people sweetly correct 'correct' your mistakes and opinuions. Right. Illegitimi non carborundum.Just because your taste does not totally align with mine does not mean that I don't appreciate each and every post. Particularly with all the footage/snaps that you put up.
67 to 69 is my favourite period of The Bee Gees. All the albums from that period are worth listening to, although I think Idea is probably the weakest, but it must have been difficult coming up with so many original songs in that time period. From what I've read, there's quite a bit of stuff still in the vault that wasn't released on the deluxe versions of the albums.
I agree. "Idea" is a good album but it's probably the weakest from that period. The debut and "Odessa" are their best albums, in my opinion.
Trafalgar (1971) is an overlooked classic, with in my opinion, some tremendous tracks (and a couple 'not so' including the single**). That interim between the 1960s and "Disco Falsetto" had some great tracks. Also love "Life In A Tin Can" (1972) which I still play.... all the way through...... ** Their first US No. 1, what do I know?
Totally agree about BGs 60s work. Odessa album contains brilliant songs used on soundtrack for Melody aka Swalk film 1971. Forget Saturday Night Fever😅
Great band, who evolved most interestingly. Anyone else spot Frankie Howerd in that picture at 6:52?
This is an excellent album, kids. Insist upon the original mix.
I agree, the original mono mix is king
It certainly is a masterpiece and if you haven’t heard it you need to find it and rectify that situation
They were really good out of the shute.
every christian lion hearted man will show you is outstanding.
I still have the original LP I bought when this was released. I bought all their albums until they went disco....but then bought their CDs later after Disco died. Still have all the original LPs.
When New York Mining Disaster was first played on the radio many questioned whether it was the Beatles.
Where I come from, I have never heard that they sounded like the Beatles. Not at all.
@Radiant Siren I always distinguished between the two bands. To me they sounded very different.
Swedish pop band ”Shanes” (sometimes “The Shanes”) did a pretty good cover of “New York Mining Disaster 1941” in 1967. Must have been an unusual song to cover!
quite a few pop and psychedelic rock bands did covers to new york mining disaster back then. it was actually quite a popular song to cover.
You have some incorrect information about my father Bill Shepherd - he had already worked with the Bee Gees in Australia as engineer and producer of some tracks at the studio of Festival records. He came back to England shortly after the Bee Gees arrived to be their Musical Arranger - he had an upstairs flat in Hampstead, and downstairs was Colin Petersen, the drummer, but Bill Shepherd did not get the Arranger slot because of Colin Petersen. He was well known for his string arrangements in particular. I later worked at IBC studios, occasionally on sessions he was arranging for other artists.
Thanks for pointing out the mistakes. Cheers!
Your Dad was a great arranger and absolutely enhanced the Bee Gees sound and learning back then, thanks.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a lover/ you're stayin'alive/stayin'alive
They were born on the isle of man
YES THEY WERE BORN ON THE ISLE OF MAN IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
I strongly agree that this album is a masterpiece with several great songs and the reason I call the Beatles Beach Boys and Bee Gees the killer B's is that they all on equal footing with music and songwriting the greatest 10 bands in pop music history.
Tanxx!!!
As someone who has taken more Psychedelics than most . I dont understand the Myth that Psychedelic music is in any way a masterpiece . Under the influence ALL is Psychedelic ALL. While tripping you dont need 60s shit to hear psychedelic . I feel most of it was shit back then and is still shit now . DISCLAIMER - I love the BEE GEES and feel all of there music was good even the disco . If you werent alive in the disco era ya missed a hell of a lot of fun ! I was a teen in the late 60s early 70s and saw all the greats in concert if the lunatics wanna destroy everything with their POLITICAL LIES (global warming , good is bad, Communism works, the PLANdemic) I had a great ride wish you were there.
I was 17 when this came out and I bought it, liked much. I'd say their music was Edwardian (if anything), far far from psychedelic (just my opinion). When they went disco, they lost me. Wonder if there is much you could do about "Odessa"? Great album and that velveteen cover was really something...
Baroque pop ? But definitely not psychedelic !
what is the name of the song used as background music in this video?
Pretty good album but I'd say it's not that overlooked except by disco fans. Christian Lion Hearted Man is a real classic.
In My Own Time - could easily fit on the Beatles’ Revolver.
Yeah, that's the most Beatles-sounding song on the album. Like "Taxman" part two.
The vocals on that track genuinely like George Harrison.
One of my all time favorites from the Bee Gees. Love the 3 part harmonies in that one. Simple song that sounds great.
Loved this!p po
good timings?
the background music sounds like "St. Paul" song that was the only song by the artist who would be Paul's double or replaced real Paul??
MARILYN LOVES THIS ALBUM I LOVE ALL THE SONGS MY FAVOURITE IS ONE MINUTE WOMAN IT IS ABOUT ME 🥰
I didn't realize that they worked with Stigwood that far back.
Red Chair Fadeaway one of the best UK 60s psych songs ever
Great song!
For me there hay days are the 60's