DON'T FORGET TO REMEMBER: The Official ILM Track-By-Track BEE GEES 1968-1981 Listening Thread

Utter garbage, I can't put it plainer than that. What audience was this aimed at? The over 70s? The only interesting thing about this is that Robin genuinely sounds like he's on the edge of some kind of mental breakdown. Barry overdoes the breathiness so much he probably needed an inhaler after finishing his vocal.

this is like the Carpenters at their misty-eyed schlockiest, just totally soporific

Track No. 97: Lion in Winter ("Trafalgar", 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k_Gh2Fp5aM&list=RD2k_Gh2Fp5aM&index=1

There is a kernel of a half-decent song from their 60s psych period in here, and that's the kindest word I can say for it. Opening for no apparent reason with an overlong segment of isolated drum track (which in itself is something of a retread of the similar opening to the far superior "I'm Weeping"), the promise of the band's familiar combo of Barry's plaintive vocal, 12-string guitar, stately strings, and Maurice's bass quickly evaporates under the weight of both mind-numbing repetition and vocals from both Barry and Robin that devolve into an unbelievably shitty approximation of the Righteous Brothers. Perhaps jealous of (or inspired by?) Barry's equally unhinged delivery on "Israel", Robin really outdoes himself in straining to twist his vibrato into some semblance of an African-American soul shouter and it is just embarrassing, possibly the worst vocal he ever formally released. The lyrics are the usual blend of randomly knocked together cliches and gobbledygook, completely overwhelmed by the histrionic delivery. On the plus side, Maurice gets off some nice bass runs. At least he was reliable.

Funnily enough, I don't mind this track! Not much of a song admittedly, more an experience. Robin's vocals are so ridiculous they edge over into being plain weird.

this interview with Robin about his singing style always stuck out to me (conducted around the time of Saved by the Bell):

Robin informed me during a recent interview. "I sing how I feel. I know I haven't got a great voice but I manage to touch something inside other people that they understand. It is an accident but the best kind of accident – one with no blood involved."

Robin quite rightly believes that his distinctive vocal style is an important ingredient in his success although he likes people to listen to the lyrics he writes as well. The imperfect, broken quality of his voice is something that he quite deliberately retains and regards the suggestion of taking singing lessons with understandable indignation.

"If I did that it would not be me, would it?" he says. "Dylan sings in the same way as me. He uses his heart as an instrument. Even I can't understand completely why this works but it does. It's not possible for any artist to jump outside themselves and see themselves for what they are. Even when you look in a mirror you get a reversed image!"

Track No. 98: Walking Back to Waterloo ("Trafalgar", 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liq146X-96w

At least the boys close the album on a redemptive note, with all their respective talents well in evidence. Opening with a descending minor key melody on the piano over Barry's 12-string, Robin leads into the first verse with a familiar tone of nostalgic fantasy, and when Bridgford's drums and the electric guitar kick in we're sailing through territory not to dissimilar from "Trafalgar" or "Odessa", Robin's florid quaver doing what it does best. The orchestra and backing vocals come charging in for the chorus (which feels like it must have been nicked by Oasis at some point) as Barry takes over the lead and the overall effect is as rich as luscious as anything in their catalog. The odd elements (Barry's "hotcha!" + I swear he sings "and bagels that have never been" in the 2nd verse) only add to its charm.

At this stage it might seem redundant to mention the Bee Gees incomprehensible lyrics, but the lyrics in this song are incomprehensible. Excellent end to the album. It seems, on this album, they went back to the Beatlesque grandeur of their 60s material after the featureless plodding of "2 Years On" - but I wonder if this didn't all sound a bit dated in 1971?

That occurred to me too, like where does a song like this fit into the pop landscape of 1971? It does feel like a throwback, albeit with slightly better production values and performances.

Track No. 99: Walking Back to Waterloo (non-album single, 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0QUoEX-gA0

This footage of them in the studio is by far the coolest thing about this song, which, while not exactly bad, is pretty boring and leans excessively on their well-established formulas. Robin's endearing vocal on the verses lends it some much needed character, but it's overwhelmed by the seemingly endless repetitions of the lunkheaded refrain. Also sounds like the key change at the end takes the horns by surprise, bit of an awkward transition there. Nonetheless, the single was a modest hit. The song was the last single to feature Bridgford on drums (he would also appear on a couple tracks for the next album, "To Whom It May Concern"), and other big changes were afoot, even if they didn't necessarily bear much immediate fruit.

Awesome video. The verses of this song are great but the chorus is like a boot stamping on a human face for 4 minutes 26 seconds.

Curiously, given that he's the only Bee Gee who never tried to sound like him, Robin looks like John Lennon in this video!

... and Geoff Bridgford looks like Alan Bates ... a bit.

love both Robin's shirt and his delivery

Track No. 100: On Time (non-album single, 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa8pJnpbqYg

Hey it's another tossed off Barry b-side, which is about exactly what you expect. Competently executed and readily identifiable as something different from what what Barry or Robin would come up with, he takes his central riff and runs it through a few different permutations, bringing in strings here, harmonizing with it there. It doesn't really go anywhere interesting, however, and can best be described as "workmanlike".

argh tossed off MAURICE b-side

I meant to say

Never heard this before. Sounds a lot more contemporary than, er, "Dearest". Some nifty guitaring but Maurice hasn't put too much effort into the vocals.

Maurice seemed to be more "man on the scene" than the others, just in the sense of clearly paying closer attention to country and rock trends

Mr. Lulu.

Track No. 100: Run To Me ("To Whom It May Concern", 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk8cJts_xRc

The band leans into what turned out to be both their commercial nadir and a period of significant transition with this deftly crafted, easily listening gem. The album's lead single, it at least cracked the top 10 in the UK and the top 20 in the US, but the album's fate was less fortunate. The song follows a familiar trajectory: breathy Barry intro backed by his 12-string and Maurice's piano, with Robin coming in for the chorus as other elements (strings, harmonies, horns) gradually creep into the arrangement. Fortunately the choruses are gorgeous and the steady build-up is perfectly executed, Shepherd delivering (for what would be the last time, this being his last album with the band) an excellent countermelody as the choruses repeat through the end. They also had a new drummer for this, Clem Cattini, who also plays on the majority of the record.

Great single this, though I'd misremembered it as a Hollies song! That shoulder/older rhyme and lyric always makes me wince a little, however sticking to affairs of the heart generally gives less opportunity for the lyrical howlers we've come to expect by this stage.

plenty more lyrical howlers to come tbh

apparently a b&w promo film was shot for this, but I don't see it on the internets anywhere

ah wait here it is! It's awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsMsrR5ttMg

we're entering a period where these guys were on TV *a lot* so get prepared for some fun clips

Barry perfecting and premiering the classic Barry Gibb Look there

Track No. 101: We Lost the Road ("To Whom It May Concern", 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7eCGNn8ml0

This 3/4 tune follows a familiar sequence - Barry with the first verse, Robin on the second, drums and strings come bounding in on the choruses as the vocals gradually split from singing in unison into impeccable multi-part harmonies. While Robin and Barry both indulge a bit of their favorite vocal techniques (heavy vibrato and semi-hoarse soul-shouting, respectively) they at least reign it in a bit more than they did on the previous record. Lyrics seem to invite an at least semi-autobiographical interpretation, e.g., the band reflecting on the current state of heir career, much like the album title. Perhaps some credit should be given to them for attempting to sound more contemporary: instead of the Beatles, this sounds more like a Wings song.

Not bad, but awfully repetitive. Robin is good on this, Barry not so much.

I think this album features the last gasps of some of their less successful stylistic tics.

They certainly never did anything like "Paper Mache, Cabbages and Kings" again

I almost get the impression on this album they'd loosened the corsets a bit and decided to do what they like and to hell with the commercial implications - it's more likely though they just didn't know what they were doing and how to move on.

Track No. 101: I've Never Been Alone ("To Whom It May Concern", 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meDuUQwm-d4

I have to say, while Robin's typical lyrical sentiments are readily detectable, this song makes even less sense than usual, eventually devolving into lines that violate rudimentary rules of logic and grammar ("I've never rode a plane/and I never will again"? ok) The arrangement is kind of interesting as a baroque country exercise not entirely out of line with something that Gene Clark might have penned around the same time, just a couple of 12-string guitar parts and a small string section and, perhaps most oddly, an oboe. Robin's delivery also shows some craft, the melody gradually ascending and descending throughout the song as he varies his phrasing. As Robin solo songs go this one isn't bad, he largely restrains his worst impulses.

I agree, this song is quite nice but the lyrics are complete cobblers. This was also the last solo Robin Gibb composition on a Bee Gees album.

huh interesting detail about the solo credit

Yes, retired at age 22!

hey he did make those solo albums in the 80s. Let's not forget "How Old Are You?" or "Boys DO Fall in Love"

He did carry writing songs but only in collaboration with his brothers. Maybe he was less miserable than he used to be.

it is weird that he never got a lone solo vocal on a record again though. Barry definitely did.

He got solo vocals, just not solo compositions. I suppose the idea was that his voice didn't really work for their later material.

looks like his next solo vocal isn't until Living Eyes

He's definitely lead vocalist, if not sole vocalist, on songs before that - "Country Lanes" on "Main Course", for instance.

right, yeah which was why I had thought he might have written some of those. I forgot that Barry sings the second verse of Mr. Natural, for ex., which I would otherwise totally think of as a strictly Robin song.

There's a few songs where Barry sings a verse when I'd have much preferred hearing Robin sing the whole thing - "Mr. Natural" for one!

Track No. 102: Paper Mache, Cabbages and Kings ("To Whom It May Concern", 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfactctWP3I

I'd be hard-pressed to name anything else from 1972 that bears more than a passing resemblance to this song. Maybe something from Sparks or some other vaguely proggy art-pop band? But even then most of those bands would have included a section in the song where the band rocks out, and rocking out is something the Bee Gees almost never did. Instead what we get is some bizarre Frankenstein of childlike oompah band psych, a quite pretty 4/4 chorus section that seems flown in from one of the other soft-rock opuses from the previous LP, then a drumless, free floating section where Barry and Robin take turns emoting over eerie piano and organ accompaniment (with some guitar fluorishes here and there), and finally a reprise of the oompah section that gradually speeds up as the boys go into an anti-war(?) chant. By any measure, this song is bizarrely schizophrenic. The lyrics from one section to the next do not appear to bare any relation to each other, veering from random lists of objects to equating heartbreak with smashed paper mache to the closing "Jimmy had a bomb and the bomb went bang/Jimmy was everywhere". There's still some good moments throughout - the vocals that transition from the oompah verses to the choruses are great, and when the drums drop out entirely for Barry and Robin's vocal spotlight the odd chord progression and dreamy atmospherics sound great. Robin's vocal kind of ruins that part though, unfortunately. They never did anything like this again, as far as I know.

The start of this song with that nice bass part surely belongs to another song doesn't it? This is very psychedelic for 1972, particularly the chorus, I have no idea what people would have made of this at the time. The middle section is great, Robin sounds exactly like Roger Chapman of Family! I don't know why it's 5 minutes long though.

haha yeah that intro feels like something else entirely. Maurice's bass playing always adds so much.

agree about the chorus as well, the "don't be scared" transitions into the chorus are fantastically ghostly

The start of this song with that nice bass part surely belongs to another song doesn't it?

belongs on pearl jam's first album. "jeremy," perhaps.

Track No. 103: I Can Bring Love ("To Whom It May Concern", 1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsnLtPX4TBQ

This album is such a random grab bag. Here we get what is essentially a Barry solo tune, just him and his 12-string and a small string section, delivering a plaintive dose of syrupy soft-focus folk-pop. Unusually minimalist and compact, it's pleasant-ness can't entirely override the suspicion that this was some tossed off filler. Again showcases his penchant for juxtaposing sweet major key melodies over suspended chords.

I feel like this thread has devolved into me and Tom D doing some version of "On Bee Gees At The Bee Gees"

I give this song three bags of popcorn and a large hairbrush for Barry's coiffure