Best of Bee Gees

Best of Bee Gees
Compilation album by
Bee Gees
ReleasedJune 1969 (United States)
October 1969 (United Kingdom)
GenrePop
Length37:34
LabelPolydor (United Kingdom)
Atco (United States)
ProducerRobert Stigwood, Bee Gees, Ossie Byrne
Bee Gees albums chronology
Rare, Precious and Beautiful, Volume 2
(1968) 		Best of Bee Gees
(1969) 		Inception/Nostalgia
(1970)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Best of Bee Gees is a 1969 compilation album by the English-Australian rock band Bee Gees. It was their first international greatest hits album. It featured their singles from 1966–1969 with the exception of the band's 1968 single "Jumbo".

History

[edit]

The following songs in this compilation from 1966-1969 were very popular worldwide and were picked up by many casual fans who owned no other Bee Gees album. The compilation includes the US singles "Holiday" and "I Started a Joke." However, the 1968 song "Jumbo" that was also released as a single was not included. This was the first LP appearance of "Words" and first LP appearance outside North America of "I've Gotta Get a Message to You." Both songs were presented in stereo on the Atco version and in mono elsewhere. Many fans consider the songs from Bee Gees' 1st to sound better here than on the original album.[3]

Release

[edit]

With the release of this compilation, Robin Gibb had left the group after the previous release, Odessa, and this compilation was released while the remaining Bee Gees worked on their next album, Cucumber Castle. Guitarist Vince Melouney, although playing guitar on most of the tracks, is not pictured on the front or back cover as he had departed the group a year earlier. The cover of the album features only the four members and was taken in early 1967 before Melouney joined the band. The back cover is from the winter of 1968-1969. The original 1969 vinyl release included the Bee Gees' 1966 Australian top ten hit "Spicks and Specks", but due to licensing issues with Festival Records in Australia, the group's 1969 hit "Tomorrow Tomorrow" was substituted on the Polydor CD release. The album is noted by fans for its bad stereo mix of the song "Words", which increased the vocals so much that the percussion was lost in the background. This is the only album/CD with this mix. All future compilations have a more balanced stereo mix.[3]

The first issue in Germany was in August 1969, and had the song "Please Read Me" on the disc by mistake where "I Can't See Nobody" belongs. This was fixed a month later.[3]

With the release of Their Greatest Hits: The Record in 2001, this CD went out of print for several years until Rhino reissued it in November 2008 with the same tracks as the Polydor CD. Three of the thirteen tracks from the combined vinyl/CD Best of Bee Gees do not appear amongst the forty seven tracks on Their Greatest Hits: The Record: "I Can't See Nobody" and "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" had only actually been the B-sides of other hits on Best of Bee Gees, while "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" had charted but had never reached the top 20 in the charts of the UK, USA nor Australia.

Legacy

[edit]

In October 2010, it was listed at No. 16 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.[4]

Noel Gallagher commented that Best of Bee Gees is one of his favourite albums and that it inspired the cover art of his band High Flying Birds' greatest hits album, Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1 (2011–2021).[5]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb except where noted.

Side 1
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Holiday" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st, August 19672:53
2."I've Gotta Get a Message to You"UK: Single only, September 1968
US: Idea, September 1968		2:59
3."I Can't See Nobody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st3:45
4."Words"Single, January 19683:13
5."I Started a Joke"Idea3:07
6."Spicks and Specks" (Barry Gibb)UK: Spicks and Specks, November 1966
US: Rare, Precious and Beautiful, 1968		2:52
Side 2
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."First of May"Odessa, March 19692:48
2."World"Horizontal, February 19683:13
3."Massachusetts"Horizontal2:23
4."To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st3:00
5."Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You"Bee Gees' 1st3:38
6."New York Mining Disaster 1941" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb)Bee Gees' 1st2:09

Personnel

[edit]

Chart performance

[edit]
Year Chart Position
1969 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart 6
1969 Billboard Albums Chart 9
1969 Germany Media Control Charts 26
1969 United Kingdom Albums Chart 7
1969 Canadian Top 100 Albums 5

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[6] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[7] Gold  
United States (RIAA)[8] Gold 500,000^
Summaries
South America — 200,000[9]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Best of Bee Gees - Bee Gees". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "The Bee Gees". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 58. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ^ a b c "Gibb Songs : 1969". Columbia.edu. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
  5. ^ Noel Gallagher: Evolution Since Oasis, Meeting Bruce Springsteen and Best Of Album | Apple Music, retrieved 13 June 2021
  6. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Bee Gees – Best of". Music Canada. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Triple Crown" (PDF). Cash Box. 16 May 1970. p. 64. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  8. ^ "American album certifications – Bee Gees – Best of". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  9. ^ "The Bee Gees' International Fame Provides Fuel for Youle's Thought" (PDF). Record World. 14 June 1974. p. 44. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Best_of_Bee_Gees&oldid=1192686665"