A 
| Big Brothers |
|
A new single-disc Bee Gees hits collection features all their U.S. and international chart-toppers.
he Bee Gees, the most successful trio of all-time and the most successful brother act of all-time, are pop music's first family. The voices of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb have been indelibly imprinted on the soundtrack of popular culture for five decades and counting. Blazing musical trails, they have created an enduring legacy. Their iconic place in pop music history is forever assured and their influence, as recording artists as well as songwriters and producers, continues unabated.
November 9 will mark the release of Number Ones (Polydor/UMe), the ultimate collection of hits from the Bee Gees.
Packed with one smash after another from their acclaimed body of work, Number Ones marks the first time that all 10 U.S. #1 hit singles -- and eight other #1's from around the world -- are presented in a single-CD package. The 19-track collection spans 20 years (1967-1987) and includes a bonus track ("Man In The Middle") specifically included at the request of Barry and Robin as a tribute to their late brother Maurice.
Number Ones begins with the Rock & Hall of Fame inductees' first U.K. #1, 1967's "(The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts." It goes on to trace the Bee Gees' musical legacy around the world: the early "World" and "Words" (both #1 in Germany) and 1971's "Lonely Days" (the group's first U.S. #1 on Cashbox and #3 on Billboard, marking their first U.S. gold record); the history-making Album of the Year Grammy Award-winning Saturday Night Fever soundtrack ("How Deep Is Your Love" -- Top 10 for 17 straight weeks, setting a Billboard record -- "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever"); Spirits Having Flown's "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out"; and the most recent Bee Gees #1, 1987's "You Win Again" (#1 U.K.).
In addition, a limited edition of the CD will include a bonus DVD which features performances never before aired in the U.S. from the U.K. television program An Audience With. The songs performed are: "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," "How Deep Is Your Love," "Jive Talkin'," "Massachusetts," and "I Started A Joke."
• Rock & Hall of Fame (1997 induction)
• 16 Grammy nominations and seven Grammy Awards
• Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Brit Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music
• World Music Awards
• American Music Awards
• Australian Recording Industry (in whose Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they are also enshrined)
• 60 charted hit singles around the world
• The distinction of being the only artist to reach #1 on the U.K. singles chart in four different decades
• 1977's Saturday Night Fever soundtrack became music's top-selling album and it remains the biggest-selling soundtrack ever
The complete U.S. track listing is as follows:
"Massachusetts"
"World"
"Words"
"I've Gotta Get A Message To You"
"I Started A Joke"
"Don't Forget To Remember"
"Lonely Days"
"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart"
"Jive Talkin'"
"You Should Be Dancing"
"Love So Right"
"How Deep Is Your Love"
"Stayin' Alive"
"Night Fever"
"Too Much Heaven"
"Tragedy"
"Love You Inside Out"
"You Win Again"
"Man In The Middle" (Maurice Gibb Tribute Track)
| Loose Lennon |
|
Two new packages capture the late Beatle hard at work and at his most chaotic.
by Anthony DeCurtis in Rolling Stone
wo November-released John Lennon sets document distinct, and in some ways opposite, aspects of the late ex-Beatle.
Acoustic -- a new collection of demos, live performances and studio run-throughs, nearly half of which were previously unavailable -- is a gripping, bare-bones portrait of the artist at work. Meanwhile, the remixed, remastered version of Lennon's 1975 Rock 'n' Roll (expanded by four bonus tracks) depicts the man at his most freewheeling. Taken together, the discs document a range of emotional risk-taking -- anger, humor, love, fear and desperation are all nakedly on display -- that makes clear why he continues to fascinate and inspire.
The first six entries on Acoustic offer alternate takes on songs from Lennon's solo masterpiece, Plastic Ono Band. "My Mummy's Dead" and "Working Class Hero" are predictably spine-tingling, but most surprising is a version of "God" that reveals its apparent origins as, of all things, a doo-wop song. Lennon's own affecting demo of "Real Love," which became one of the new songs on the 1996 Beatles Anthology 2, is here, along with a scarifying "Cold Turkey," on which Lennon mimics Yoko Ono's ululating vocal style. Concert renditions of "Imagine" and "John Sinclair" showcase Lennon the visionary and activist.
A tribute to the Fifties giants Lennon worshipped -- Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly among them -- Rock 'n' Roll is a genre exercise gone mad. As Lennon and producer Phil Spector spun into a haze of alcohol and drugs, the sessions descended into chaos. Orchestras full of musicians crowded into the studio to play on tunes such as "Be Bob A Lula" and "Bony Moronie," and Spector even fired a gun one night. After Lennon objected to his excesses, Spector ran off with the master tapes. An unauthorized version of the album came out, litigation ensued, and Lennon eventually finished the album on his own.
Amazingly, freed of his zany history, Rock 'n' Roll now plays exactly as it was intended to in the first place. It's a touching, heartfelt tribute to the music that made John Lennon who he was. It's not the album anyone will most remember him for, but these songs may well have meant the most to him. Acoustic * * * *, Rock 'n' Roll * * * * 
Reader's Comments
No comments so far, be the first to comment.
