Barry Gibb & Kenny Rogers, 1983.

A quick post to say Happy 75th birthday to Kenny Rogers for yesterday and to draw your attention to two of the other songs (aside from Islands In The Stream) from his Bee Gees’ written album Eyes That See In The Dark.

30 years ago Rogers teamed up with Dolly Parton and the Gibb brothers for a not just a hit song – indeed the biggest country hit of all time – with Islands In The Stream, but for an entire album. Of all the full albums the Bee Gees wrote for other artists (Barbra Streisand’s Guilty and Guilty Pleasures, Jimmy Ruffin’s Sunrise, Dionne Warwick’s Heartbreaker, Diana Ross’ Eaten Alive, Swedish artist Carola’s The Runaway), I’d rate Eyes That See In The Dark as a very close second behind Guilty.

The following two ballads are a big reason why. Beautiful, meaningful love songs with traditionally unusual Gibb chord structures, here are Hold Me and You And I: