Best of

Bee Gees | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 3, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Universal Import
• ASIN: B000001FLX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,527 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Holiday

2. I've Gotta Get A Message To You

3. I Can't See Nobody

4. Words

5. I Started A Joke

6. Tomorrow, Tomorrow

7. First Of May

8. World

9. Massachusetts

10. To Love Somebody

11. Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You

12. New York Mining Disaster

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Long before they reinvented themselves as the kings of Saturday Night Fever, The Bee Gees were an amazing Australian trio singing songs that were more rooted by lilting folk guitar melodies than dance floor beats. The high, almost falsetto, harmonies were in place even in their hits of the mid- and late-1960s. The melodicism of hits like "Holiday" and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" had a darker, even eerie, quality compared to the more typically melancholy "To Love Somebody." Comparing the music on Best of the Bee Gees, Volume I to the later antics of the Brothers Gibb is the proverbial apples and oranges. It's clear that the boys truly knew how to craft a hit regardless of the genre, but it does beg the question, "Will the real Bee Gees please stand up?" While both periods have their moments, the smart money seems to be on their earlier work. --Steve Gdula

Product Description

Audio CD.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fab Three's Biggest Sixties Hits May 22, 2000

By Steve Vrana HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

When the Bee Gees first charted in 1967 with "New York Mining Disaster, 1941," Barry Gibb was 19 and his twin brothers Robin and Maurice were 17. Despite their youth, their Beatles-inspired pop would return them to the Top 40 seven more times over the next two years and they're all here.

For this aging Baby-Boomer, this is the Bee Gees at their best--not a disco song in sight--just the Gibb brothers' voices wrapped around timeless melodies like "To Love Somebody," "Holiday," Massachusetts," "Words" and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You." ["I Started a Joke" is an equally exquisite song, but am I the only one completely baffled by the lyrics?]

As has been noted earlier, this is not exactly the original Best of the Bee Gees released in 1969. "Spicks and Specks" (which topped the charts in Australia before the band broke out in the U.S.) has been replaced by the duet "Tomorrow Tomorrow' (a minor hit at #73 and recorded during Robin's two-year hiatus from the group). [Attention Polygram: Why only 12 tracks and 37 minutes? Couldn't you have left "Spicks and Specks" on the disc? And while you're at it, why not also add the minor hit "Jumbo" (#57) from 1968?]

After getting this CD, get Best of Vol. 2 and you'll have all of the big hits and also-rans from the pre-disco Bee Gees. [Note: Vol. 2 has a more generous 14 tracks and runs nearly sixty minutes.]

If you're old enough to remember the Bee Gees before they became the reigning kings of disco in the Seventies, this is a must-have purchase. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Stigwood Knew the Potential! December 15, 2000

By Martin A Hogan HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Released in 1969 when the three brothers were in the midst of a breakup, this collection represents not just the singles, but the very best they had to offer from four albums. While most of the songs are culled from "Bee Gees 1st" ("NY Mining Diaster 1941", "Holiday" and the much copied "To Love Somebody"), the rest are singles hits. There is the obvious omission of "Jumbo", a strange break in style for the group and the inclusion of their first international single "Spicks & Specks". When released as a CD, "Spick & Specks" was replaced by the overlooked ballad "Tomorrow, Tomorrow". So many artists have copied these songs it reaches into the hundreds and there is an urgency present that will make you nod your head in delight when you realize the incredible foresight that manager Robert Stigwood possessed. In the CD transition, Polydor had remastered "Spicks & Specks" into stereo, but held it back. With so many songs to be chosen, it's a wonder that most albums of that period were limited to twelve songs or why this CD was limited as well. Regardless, it reflects a fresh, crisp blooming of genius that few knew at the time would reach so far.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Sixties Pop August 15, 2001

By Robert Moore HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

The Bee Gees's hits from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER are now considered oldies, but a decade before that movie and album, they were producing some of the finest pop of the sixties. THE BEST OF THE BEE GEES, Vol. 1 collects their finest singles from that period. I actually like SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, but to me the true BEST of the Bee Gees will be these incredible singles.

There are two reasons that this album stands out. The first is their extraordinary harmony singing. Like so many other brothers' singing acts (the Shoes, the Louvin Brothers, and, of course, the Everly Brothers), their voices just blend together better than most others' voices.

The second reason for their success are the excellent songs. All of the songs are at least decent, and several are masterpieces. "Holiday," "Words," "To Love Somebody," and "Massachusetts" are classics that have been recorded over and over by various recording artists over the years.

I am not sure that all fans of the later music of the Bee Gees will love this album, but I know that all fans of sixties pop will adore it.