Issue #164 – The Bee Gees

Part two of our chronicle of THE BEE GEES’ unsung early ’70s adventures finds the brothers Gibb back, having splintered in the late ’60s, with a bang, a big US hit, and another one on the way. But something’s eating all three brothers as they adjust to the sinister ’70s.

MARTIN RUDDOCK charts their course from Trafalgar to an uncertain future in America

To Whom It May Concern, released in Autumn 1972 was a conscious farewell to IBC Studios, to long-time arranger Bill Shepherd, and to the “old” Bee Gees. To Whom rounded up Trafalgar out-takes (‘We Lost The Road’, Mo’s sweet Mellotron-infused ‘You Know It’s For You’) and remade’68 era tune ‘Sea Of Smiling Faces’, while Barry revived ‘I Can Bring Love’ from his fan club 45. Even Odessa out-take ‘Nobody’s Someone’, mixed for the occasion, almost made the cut. There are two towering ballads, ‘Run To Me’ and ‘Alive’, while Robin brought the knowing, harpsichord-led waltz ‘I Held A Party’ (“Maybe I had an excess of my drink”). ‘Bad Bad Dreams’ let Alan Kendall loose on a fuzzy chugging rocker. Being The Bee Gees, it naturally got weird. ‘Papier Mache, Cabbages And Kings’ was gleefully manic, ending on a cartoon chant of “Jimmy had a bomb and the bomb went bang / Jimmy was everywhere,” while the bizarre ‘Sweet Song Of Summer’ combined Gregorian chant, sinister wordless ad-libs from Barry and Robin and a berserk, blaring Moog played by Mo.

The album’s sleeve looked like a budget compilation with its generic live shots of the Gibbs (including a soused-looking Mo). A sepia ’63 shot of the teenage brothers was on the back, the inner gatefold had them as cartoon pop-ups with their family and entourage forming an orchestra behind them. ‘Run To Me’ finally gave them another UK Top 10 hit, but money was running out, and most of the Gibb clan, including parents Hugh and Barbara and teenage Andy moved back to their old stomping ground of Douglas on The Isle Of Man that summer. “It was real rough,” said Mo, who’d separated from Lulu. “It was bloody cold. Mind you, the fish & chips shop was good.” Only Robin stayed on the mainland. In their haste to leave London, ‘Run To Me’ was inexplicably briefly pulled from the album, then reinstated at the last minute.

Stigwood made yet another attempt to launch a Bee Gees movie that summer. Spoof horror flick Castle X was set to commence filming in mid-September but was quickly pulled – mainly because the Gibbs were already frantically recording new album Life In A Tin Can at The Record Plant in Los Angeles with veteran arranger Johnny Pate. The songs were long, odd, often superb (like the dramatic ‘Saw A New Morning’), and had a dazzling LA production, but were mostly slow, and oddly repetitive.

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