Flopped in the UK btw.
― Once in Rahul Dravid's City (Tom D.), Thursday, 27 December 2018 19:02 (five years ago) link
It feels quite distinct from the rest of the album. Though I can no longer tell whether that reflects actual stylistic differences or just exposure to so many other renditions that it feels like a standard rather than a 'mere' Bee Gees song. The lyrics in the verses don't seem all that much more coherent than other tracks. LOL.
Looks like it charted fractionally better than "1941" in Australia. Though singles from this album seemingly struggled to match the chart success (in that market) of their pre-emigration single "Spicks and Specks", which finally gave them a massive hit while they, it's frequently noted, were on the boat back to the UK!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 27 December 2018 22:22 (five years ago) link
Track No. 11: I Close My Eyes ("Bee Gees 1st", 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JaUaIEh9F8
Another one that feels like a Revolver outtake. Personally my favorite part is the break just before the verses where Robin brings back his goat impression for those "ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ahaaaas". Piping flute arrangement is p great too.
― Οὖτις, Friday, 28 December 2018 17:44 (five years ago) link
odd factoid I didn't realize before: Klaus Voorman designed the cover for this LP
― Οὖτις, Friday, 28 December 2018 18:01 (five years ago) link
very revolvery indeed. and i'm off now to report it to this thread. a baffling song to try to cover. love it.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 28 December 2018 18:02 (five years ago) link
haha yeah that fill after the intro is so weird
lyrically this comes across as a re-write of "I'm a Loser"
― Οὖτις, Friday, 28 December 2018 18:44 (five years ago) link
“I Close My Eyes” simply reminds me that this record has so many “Dee dee dee’s” and “Ehh ehh ehh ehh’s” from Robin. “To Love Somebody” was the one undisputed early classic of theirs I didn’t even have on my ballot for the ILM Artist Poll Shakey threw together in the wake of Robin’s death (and it placed first). I’m not sure what it is – the open is just perfect in so many ways for me, the string melody, the opening line. My own perspective may be a bit skewed by the Flying Burrito Brothers version, which is one of my absolute favorite things they recorded. Gram’s vocal really brings out the pathos in the verse and the chorus crescendos into this tidal wave that wrings every last bit of emotion out of the melody by the time they get to the titular phrase. It’s awesome. Yet by comparison there’s something about The Bee Gees’ own rendition that feels ... off to me. A bit like it’s going through the motions. The harps and string flourishes feel like they belong to another song – and while Barry does a good job delivering a passionate lead, there’s nothing really earned about the emotion. In some ways it reminds me of Badfinger’s original recording of “Without You” – an obvious classic but one that feels like it hasn’t quite bloomed in full.
― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 29 December 2018 15:46 (five years ago) link
I had no idea the Burritos covered this w Gram
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 29 December 2018 16:50 (five years ago) link
Track No. 12: I Can't See Nobody ("Bee Gees 1st", 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-6a27bIgt0
Robin's skills come to the fore in this one, his best track on the album imo. The minor-key descending string melody leading into the harpsichord sets it up and then it all resolves in the sweeping major-key chorus where Barry and Maurice's harmonies come in, just really wonderful.
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 29 December 2018 17:00 (five years ago) link
always thought it was a goofy joke that this followed "I Close My Eyes" in the tracklisting
Sorry I've been missing this - I will try to keep up. I think "Turn of the Century" is my favorite on this album and that it's classic toytown psych.
― timellison, Saturday, 29 December 2018 19:21 (five years ago) link
Toytown is a good descriptor
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 29 December 2018 19:47 (five years ago) link
It's a sub-genre of UK psychedelia, I believe.
― Once in Rahul Dravid's City (Tom D.), Saturday, 29 December 2018 19:52 (five years ago) link
Going back to "To Love Somebody":
the Bee Gees arrangement doesn't go anywhere near the white UK R&B style of the time, the band doesn't bother trying to approximate Motown or Chicago blues or Stax/Volt
I just had it on before I read this and was thinking that the strings on it were very Motown.
― timellison, Saturday, 29 December 2018 21:32 (five years ago) link
I can kinda hear that. Rhythm section (and the rest of the orchestra - harp, horns, flutes etc.) are another story entirely.
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 29 December 2018 21:39 (five years ago) link
_Is the “Mr. Jones” character at all a reference to “Ballad of a Thin Man”?_Wondered about this myself but highly doubt it
Yeah no idea but Robin singing about puppets and repeating “Throwing stones” in a descending melodic turn defines melancholy. The first Robin classic if not a three-hanky one.
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 December 2018 22:04 (five years ago) link
Also think this cover connection should be noted: https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2234173475_16.jpg
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 December 2018 22:07 (five years ago) link
Always stan for the James Carr version of “To Love Somebody.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Ili2VvtvU
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 December 2018 00:20 (five years ago) link
that one's pretty good! lol @ those slide guitar zips in the chorus. dope drum break too.
just listened to the Burritos one, that's p good too, although my favorite thing about it (not surprisingly) is the pedal steel (Sneaky Pete Kleinow?)
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 30 December 2018 00:53 (five years ago) link
Track No. 13: Please Read Me ("Bee Gees 1st", 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYAKcOfg9tU
This is like the vocal showcase tune of the album, indulging in some "Nowhere Man"-style multi-tracked harmonies with a bit of the Beach Boys thrown in on the wordless verse, to my ears.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 31 December 2018 17:00 (five years ago) link
the harmonies are gorgeous. i usually love '60 tambourines that are mixed a little too loud but this one annoys me for some reason. is he talking to his shrink?
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 31 December 2018 18:39 (five years ago) link
Ha, thats an interesting take
― Οὖτις, Monday, 31 December 2018 18:52 (five years ago) link
This one hadn't made an impression on me before, but yes, some really nice vocal parts.
― timellison, Monday, 31 December 2018 19:07 (five years ago) link
The little slide guitar interjections are great too. This might be even my favourite of the deeper cuts.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 1 January 2019 04:54 (five years ago) link
Ha yeah i was gonna mention those guitar bits. Melouney is generally kind of embarrassing and at best adequate on these tracks, but ocassionally he adds a nice touch as he does here.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 January 2019 16:59 (five years ago) link
Track No. 14: Close Another Door ("Bee Gees 1st", 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDJLlhEvUDE
Finishing up the album on a characteristically odd note with a tune that features three time changes, dropped beats, and lyrics that make no sense from one phrase to the next ("listen to my eyes"? who exactly is "too old to work" in this song?), but nonetheless delivers an evocative arrangement and their trademark harmonic and melodic strengths. Feel like the marching cadence and overwrought Robin vocal parts put this firmly in the toytown psych camp previously referenced.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 2 January 2019 17:03 (five years ago) link
Just catching up with this now, and it's been a great read so far. The debut is easily my second favourite '60s album of theirs after Odessa. I like Horizontal and Idea, but find 'em a little less consistent. Also, why not include E.S.P. as part of this thing? It was their last big success, with 'You Win Again' etc.
I saw a video of 'em being interviewed circa '87 where Barry looked fucked off as some radio stations were still refusing to play 'em in the US because of their strong association with disco.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 2 January 2019 18:09 (five years ago) link
yeah I know it was big but the 6-year gap (the longest in their recording history up to that point) made it "Living Eyes" seem more like a natural cutoff point, as the "end of an era". (I know there's also the "Staying Alive" sdtk but eh)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 2 January 2019 18:13 (five years ago) link
I agree that Horizontal and Idea are less consistent than 1st, we'll see if others concur shortly, I suppose
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 2 January 2019 18:14 (five years ago) link
Track No. 15: Massachusetts(released as a single in 1967 prior to appearing on the "Horizontal" LP in 1968)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3fCScu-yPQ
The group's first of five No. 1 hits in the UK, issued as a single in the winter of 1967 ahead of the release of "Horizontal" in the following February. A beautiful orchestral arrangement backing a classic Robin lead with thick and gooey harmonies on the refrain, the song is a homesick ode for an American city the band had never been to but liked the name of. Written as a response track to the many songs then in vogue about going to San Francisco, the boys wonder gee what if you got to San Francisco and really just wished you were back home in Massachusetts?
Incidentally, the day it went to number one, Robin survived the Hither Green Rail Crash.
― Οὖτις, Friday, 4 January 2019 23:24 (five years ago) link
There's very little I could say about 'Massachusetts' what hasn't already been said - it's an absolute classic. There's a performance they did of this on Parkinson in the '80s, just them singing and Barry and Maurice playing acoustic and they could just pull off those gorgeous harmonies so effortlessly.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 5 January 2019 18:30 (five years ago) link
I do like that they never shied away from doing their 60s material live, they knew those songs were hits for a reason, and even in the disco era would still pull them out
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 5 January 2019 18:54 (five years ago) link
I agree, I think that was a good attitude for them to have. You don't always find that with artists that have had different "phases" of their career.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 5 January 2019 18:58 (five years ago) link
Also gave Robin the chance to do some lead vocals.
― Never Turn Your Back On Virginia Woolf (Tom D.), Saturday, 5 January 2019 19:02 (five years ago) link
ode for an American cityCity?
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 5 January 2019 19:21 (five years ago) link
Yeah, one could be forgiven for thinking that Barry was the one calling all the shots - especially in the disco era - but christ was there some serious creative/personal tension between Barry and Robin for a long time. I remember being quite tickled when I found out that the geekiest looking member of the Bee Gees - the one who sang all those ballads with that unique, trembling voice - was actually one difficult, firey little bastard.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 5 January 2019 19:46 (five years ago) link
Sorry, state! Duh
Xp
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 5 January 2019 19:53 (five years ago) link
A sorry state indeed.
― Never Turn Your Back On Virginia Woolf (Tom D.), Saturday, 5 January 2019 19:54 (five years ago) link
christ was there some serious creative/personal tension between Barry and Robin for a long time.
It's been several years since I watched the In Our Own Time documentary but I have been continually haunted by one particular exchange, where Robin is trying to explain the ethos of the group in the early days, and ends with:
Robin: A good time to us was actually being in the studio.Barry (swooping in and setting the record straight): A good time to us was a good woman.
So happy some weirdo recorded it off his TV with his phone because the delivery (and the weird muttered exchange between the two of them a few seconds later) is crucial:https://youtu.be/gIsXKiMG1zU?t=367
― cwkiii, Monday, 7 January 2019 02:52 (five years ago) link
"The idea of women crept into our lives. Up to that point, women had not." <----now THIS I can believe
― resident hack (Simon H.), Monday, 7 January 2019 05:48 (five years ago) link
Track No. 16: Barker of the UFO (UK b-side to "Massachusetts" single, 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SIiAcEj6hA
A bit of fluffy tinker-toy psych with strings and xylophone (?), puts me in mind of similar LP cuts from the Hollies. No idea what this is about, the lyrics are particularly inscrutably child-like, not sure if they're singing about some guy who stands outside the Club UFO corralling patrons or someone who barks at unidentified flying objects or what. As usual, some nice harmonies.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 7 January 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link
I'm endeavoring to go chronologically here through official releases, so I'm including non-album singles (and any non-album B-sides as well. No reissue/outtakes though). Oddly, in this particular period (post-1st) I think their non-album tracks were often better than what eventually made it onto "Horizontal".
― Οὖτις, Monday, 7 January 2019 17:29 (five years ago) link
The title makes me think it's some sort of play on Barker of the FO (i.e. the Foreign Office) and the UFO Club, the words are gobbledygook though. I do like this song, and this kind of nonsense psychedelia in general.
― Never Turn Your Back On Virginia Woolf (Tom D.), Monday, 7 January 2019 18:07 (five years ago) link
is Barker of the Foreign Office some kind of offical position?
― Οὖτις, Monday, 7 January 2019 18:09 (five years ago) link
No, it sounds like a character in a Boulting Brothers movie.
― Never Turn Your Back On Virginia Woolf (Tom D.), Monday, 7 January 2019 18:11 (five years ago) link
If only I could join all the dots in my head I'd be clever...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton-Browne_of_the_F.O.
― Never Turn Your Back On Virginia Woolf (Tom D.), Monday, 7 January 2019 18:18 (five years ago) link
Part of the appeal of the first album for me is that it's the Bee Gees as a band plus maybe some overdubs. On records from the period where the band is replaced by an outside arrangement, I'm not always convinced about the music's basis in the modernity and experimentalism of the time. With, say, "Eleanor Rigby" or "Within You Without You," I'm convinced. Likewise am convinced by the orchestral stuff on Odessa.
― timellison, Monday, 7 January 2019 18:45 (five years ago) link
i could hear the who doing this. and not just because of the tuba.
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 7 January 2019 18:50 (five years ago) link
Track No. 17: Sir Geoffrey Saved the World (US b-side to "Massachusetts" single, 1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUyxmrRhwqI
A descending sing-song melody wrapped around a bunch of frilly-cuffed psych nonsense, with a few tasteful bells and whistles in the arrangement thrown in. Like a dreamier "Penny Lane" or Ray Davies throwaway, evocative of a very specific kind of British nostalgia.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 8 January 2019 18:00 (five years ago) link
Pretty vocal by Robin on this one!
― timellison, Tuesday, 8 January 2019 19:17 (five years ago) link