Bee Gees, early 70s.

A couple of months back Warners in Japan asked me to help transcribe some lyrics for five Bee Gees albums they’re re-releasing and yesterday the CDs arrived in the mail. Which coincidentally times pretty perfectly with my birthday tomorrow so a big thank you to Warners and in particular, Minako Yoshida.

Four of the albums are classic early-era Bee Gees – 2 Years On (1970), Trafalgar (1971), To Whom It May Concern (1972), Life In A Tin Can (1973) – and the fifth is the fan-favourite Living Eyes (1981). I love all five LPs and have written in the past how the early 70s is an underrated treasure trove for admirers of the Gibbs.

As for Living Eyes, it was a victim both of record company upheaval and the post-70s backlash the brothers faced. Those factors stalled its commercial performance, but artistically the material was strong enough to ultimately rank it amongst many fans top five Bee Gees albums from more than 20 official studio releases.

Despite five CDs arriving in one go, it was a no-brainer to look first at the packaging of 1972’s To Whom It May Concern. The original vinyl version opened up to reveal animated pop-up Bee Gees against a backdrop of combined animated / photographic images of all the prime figures in the brothers lives as of 1972. Would the reissued CD be pop-up or just deflatingly flat like some later vinyl prints of the original? An obvious and worrying concern.

Well, here is the more-fun-that-it-should-be photo evidence. What makes the pop-up Bee Gees so awesome? It probably has something to do with the general enthusiasm kids have for anything pop-up and while birthday number 33 would suggest my childhood days are behind me, my enjoyment of the things I loved as a kid is perhaps modestly described as “healthy.”

Pop-up Bee Gees!

As for the music, To Whom It May Concern included the beautiful UK top 10 / US top 20 Run To Me, as well as a trio of eccentric gems in Paper Mache, Cabbages And Kings – is there a stranger repeating vocal in pop music than “Jimmy had a bomb and the bomb went bang, Jimmy was everywhere”? – the jaunty I Held A Party and the psychedelic Sweet Song Of Summer. There’s also the unusually hard-rocking (for the Bee Gees) Bad Bad Dreams, the soulful Alive, Barry’s gorgeous ballad I Can Bring Love and the pessimistic but vocally excellent We Lost The Road.

But for me, standing apart from all those fine songs is a stirring (though all-too-brief) secular gospel number I’m still waiting for someone like Alicia Keys to discover. You can read more here about what makes Please Don’t Turn Out The Lights such a stunning song, but have a listen below first. And enjoy the the pop-up Barry, Robin and Maurice.