Search - Bee Gees :: The Very Best of the Bee Gees

Mostly the sixties and seventies

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Bee Gees began in the sixties and continued making music into the new millennium. Along the way, they had many hits of their own but also (as songwriters) provided plenty of hits for others. This set chronicles their own hits from the sixties to the nineties. It cannot be as comprehensive as the more recent double-CD (Record - Their greatest hits) but it is different from the even more recent compilation of number ones.



The first ten tracks cover their folk-pop period of the sixties and early seventies. Their impact on the American charts in this period was somewhat patchy, but most of these reached the UK top ten, while Massachusetts and I've gotta get a message to you both topped the British charts. My favorites from this period are Don't forget to remember and First of May. Saved by the bell was a Robin Gibb solo. To love somebody was a huge UK hit for Nina Simone as well as being a minor UK hit for the Bee Gees. In some other countries, the Bee Gee Gees had a much bigger hit with their own version of the song. Apparently, they originally offered the song to Otis Redding but he chose not to record it.



The public lost interest in the Bee Gees after a few years, so they got into disco music and this made them bigger UK stars than they had been before, while making them huge stars in America. My favorite tracks from this period (represented by the next nine tracks) are How deep is your love and Too much heaven, while Staying alive, Night fever and Tragedy were also major international hits.



Only two other tracks are included here. The first, You win again, gave them a UK number one hit in 1987. And yes, it is an original song, not to be confused with the similarly titled Hank Williams classic. The final track, Ordinary lives, became a minor UK hit in 1989, a few months before this compilation was originally released. Maybe the record label thought the Bee Gees were finished but they had four UK top five hits during the nineties - not spectacular but better than they achieved during the eighties even though they have (so far) never had another UK number one.



This is an excellent collection of Bee Gees music that will particularly appeal to those who like their early folk-pop music. There are some omissions, but all the essentials of the sixties and seventies (from a UK perspective) are here. Buy the double-CD if you want a more comprehensive collection, otherwise this provides a wonderful introduction to the music of the Bee Gees."