yeah i can't get past the sound quality.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 03:34 (11 months ago) Permalink
there's no youtube for it, but would like to put in a kind word for "Completely Unoriginal", perhaps their funniest moment
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 16:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
what, funnier than the attempt to use a moog on "Sweet Song of Summer"?
― Jeff W, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 17:12 (11 months ago) Permalink
what's funny about that?
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 17:15 (11 months ago) Permalink
This song is awesome.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 20:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
which one
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 23:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
"Sweet Song of Summer." The middle eastern melismas in that song are off-the-charts crazy.
I've been stockpiling things to say about "Mr. Natural" in the results thread (assuming it places). I came to it late -- but am finding its chorus to be just a masterfully written, arranged and sung.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 24 May 2012 00:07 (11 months ago) Permalink
yeah I like Sweet Song of Summer, it's like their doomy-y prog track
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 24 May 2012 15:29 (11 months ago) Permalink
I've been reading the Gibb Songs website the last few days: http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/index.html
One of the things discussed in some detail is the demos Barry and the boys did for Dionne and Kenny Rogers. Which it turns out I have on a bootleg. Some highlights:
"Islands in the Stream" -- while not exactly the Sam Cooke-like version described by Robin, the chorus on the demo is just stunningly beautiful. Apparently, Kenny was super lazy, hadn't bothered to learn any of the songs and just ended up singing what Barry did on the demo -- but the harmonies on the chorus by Dolly (who was added later, I believe) transforms it from Bee Gees ethereal to something decidedly more country.
Also great is the demo for "Midsummer Nights":
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 24 May 2012 17:55 (11 months ago) Permalink
still want someone to make this into a doom metal epic. nothing says 1969 like a thirteen minute sea dirge. (??!!)
Never realized this was a longer, unreleased take on this. The Gibb Songs site calls it his "masterpiece." Must hear it!
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 25 May 2012 19:47 (11 months ago) Permalink
Posted this to ILM somewhere before, but I think it's worth posting again, and I couldn't find the other thread anyway, this being the Mix magazine Classic Tracks article about the recording of "Stayin' Alive": http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_bee_gees_stayin/index.html
― Ian Hunter Is Learning the Game (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 May 2012 23:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
fyi I am love love loving Mr Natural - gonna have it nicely represented in my ballot methinks
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 27 May 2012 02:14 (11 months ago) Permalink
2 days to go, a whopping 2 ballots received...
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:27 (11 months ago) Permalink
oh shi I forgot -- I will do mine tonight!
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:32 (11 months ago) Permalink
Yikes. I plan to do one, but I've been ABBAing it up the past few days.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:50 (11 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, I really think running this at the same time as the ABBA poll was a bad mistake.
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:51 (11 months ago) Permalink
if only Robin had gotten our message about holding on a little longer eh
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:54 (11 months ago) Permalink
I'm happy to extend the deadline if people are gonna like actually vote and stuff
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:55 (11 months ago) Permalink
wd do
― nerds being macho (remy bean), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:56 (11 months ago) Permalink
So would I but there's like 40 years of stuff there! So my contribution would be spotty at best.
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:58 (11 months ago) Permalink
okay, DEADLINE OFFICIALLY EXTENDED TO JUNE 8th
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:03 (11 months ago) Permalink
yay thanks Shakey! <3
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
Will do this I swear
― buzza, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
I have an obligation to drum up support for this.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 21:16 (11 months ago) Permalink
thanks - I had this week slated for boning up on Fleetwood Mac's obscurities for next week's poll (and maybe ABBA for this week's), and didn't wan't to rely on the mostly-familiar material I already know - and their discography is huge.
But this has the hallmarks of a great tracks poll - a long, storied career, lots of great stuff throughout, several distinct phases, and no consensus whatsoever as to which is the best.
― Lee971 (Lee626), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 07:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
I kind of love all their periods, hard to say which one I like the most
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 16:14 (11 months ago) Permalink
I've been digging into To Whom It May Concern and Life In a Tin Can of late -- their immediately pre-disco era. A lot of great songs on those.
Great solo and ensemble vocals on this:
Really good trade-off vocals:
I find myself really drawn to this super ethereal Maurice song -- I'm trying to decide who it sounds like:
Not sure if any of these will make my ballot -- but it just goes to show how unbelievably deep these guys' catalog is.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 17:38 (11 months ago) Permalink
You Know It's For You is great - I wanna say there's something almost country-by-way-of-Neil Young about it?
I don't have Life in a Tin Can anymore, don't recall anything particularly standing out on that one.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 17:44 (11 months ago) Permalink
"Method to My Madness" is on LiaTC -- also, "Come Home Johnny Bride" is a good country-ish Barry tune.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 19:32 (11 months ago) Permalink
their flirtations with country are kinda scattered across a bunch of albums (starting with Odessa) - would probably make a pretty solid album if you compiled 'em all together
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 19:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
I'll just say with three ballots in (including my own) so far, there is definitely a consensus forming lol
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 21:42 (11 months ago) Permalink
Lol
Re. Life in a Tin Can, "My Life Has Been a Song" is really good -- awesome refrain from Barry. One thing I like about this era is the preponderance of sludgy, mid-tempo ballads that feature little more than Maurice's piano. It kind of affirms for me how much these guys got by purely on melody and emotion -- something I think they returned to in the later stages of their career, as they began writing for other folks.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:11 (11 months ago) Permalink
It's weird to me that this was their lowest point commercially. None of the material is particularly out of step with the times - lush, mellow "easily listening" ballads were huge, and they obviously had their ear to the ground re: R&B and funk stuff too - and it's not like their melodic or compositional gifts lagged at all. I suppose the breaking up/not breaking up shenanigans didn't help matters... Even so, for some reason 2 Years On and LiaTC were the two from that period that I didn't unreservedly love at first blush. I wonder if anyone will be voting for anything off "A Kick In the Head is Worth Eight in the Pants" lol
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:19 (11 months ago) Permalink
I love how Robin basically sounds like a Moog synth on the bridge around 1:50) on this one
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:22 (11 months ago) Permalink
such a great song - smooth and mellow at the outset, weirdo ethereal bridge in the middle, then shifts into gospel funk overdrive at the end
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:24 (11 months ago) Permalink
Yeah that whole album is great
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Thursday, 31 May 2012 14:58 (11 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, I love how "Throw a Penny" blows right into "Down the Road."
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 31 May 2012 15:20 (11 months ago) Permalink
feel like some of their best moments are their most morbid and self-pitying
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 18:09 (11 months ago) Permalink
very Spector-esque
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 18:10 (11 months ago) Permalink
2 ballots are so lonely
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 22:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
voted!
2 less lonely ballots in the world etc
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 May 2012 22:54 (11 months ago) Permalink
Honestly, my ballot has been changing on a daily basis. I keep discovering new songs that are bumping the more obvious ones.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 00:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
I'll be out of town this weekend, but I'll assemble and cast my ballot early next week!
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 1 June 2012 02:03 (11 months ago) Permalink
4 ballots
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 16:19 (11 months ago) Permalink
And so the rush begins...
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 17:08 (11 months ago) Permalink
gonna rep for some deep-60s cuts here
one of their most blatantly Macca/Ray Davies cuts but christ what a melody, just irresistable:
the song that sold my wife on the bros:
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 18:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
The first of may came up on my iPod this morning, so gorgeous
― buzza, Friday, 1 June 2012 19:19 (11 months ago) Permalink
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 20:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 20:38 (11 months ago) Permalink
I continue to be utterly stunned at how deep their catalog is. Does anyone else even come close?
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 21:22 (11 months ago) Permalink