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Gibb Songs version 2 by Joseph Brennan, copyright 2006—2013

1994

The Bee Gees and Polydor had planned a major tour in 1994 to promote the 1993 album Size Isn’t Everything but it had to be called off in February 1994 because Barry was having trouble with arthritis in his back, right hand, and right knee. He dated it to the surgery he had in 1992. No link was ever proved but his painful condition could not be denied. Barry would now endure years of ineffective treatments.

After the tour was cancelled Robin mentioned to the press in 1994 that the Bee Gees were working on an album of acoustic versions of songs they had written for other artists. Whether they recorded any is unknown. By the second half of the year this plan had turned into an album to be called Love Songs that would combine some new and old recordings. The album was announced in September with a release date of Valentine’s Day 1995.

songs

MIRACLES HAPPEN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997. US copyright September 1994

GIRL WITH THE DIAMOND EYES
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb
no record

LOVE NEVER DIES
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side by Bee Gees, June 1997

RINGS AROUND THE MOON
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side by Bee Gees, February 1997

recording sessions

Bee Gees

Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar, drum programming
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, keyboard, guitar
Alan Kendall — guitar
Kevin Savagar — keyboards
Ben Stivers — programming
choir — vocal (‘Miracles Happen’)
orchestra arranged by ? (‘Miracles Happen’)
engineer: Femi Jiya; John Merchant
producer: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb
1994, Middle Ear, Miami Beach

Songs for Love Songs and some others. These were recorded in 1994 but the dates are unknown.

MIRACLES HAPPEN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1994)
undated 1994
stereo 3:45, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased

‘Miracles Happen’ was written and recorded to be the title song for a new film version of Miracle on 34th Street. The Bee Gees got the job in June and quickly returned this recording, with a boys’ choir and a big string section backing them. The filmmakers however decided later to use only old Christmas songs. The Bee Gees recorded it again in 1996 for Still Waters.

GIRL WITH THE DIAMOND EYES
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb (1994)
undated 1994
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased

Nothing really is known about ‘Girl with the Diamond Eyes’. It was mentioned as early as 1992, and the credit to Andy shows that in some form it goes back even farther. The US copyright was filed the same day in March 1995 as the two new songs for Love Songs so it was probably finished with them in 1994. Robin planned to use the song in his Titanic Requiem in 2011 but did not complete a recording of it.

LOVE NEVER DIES
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1994)
undated 1994
stereo 4:05, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side, June 1997

RINGS AROUND THE MOON
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1994)
undated 1994
stereo 4:29, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
B side, February 1997

‘Love Never Dies’ and ‘Rings Around the Moon’ were written and recorded for Love Songs. Robin is in fine voice on both of them. On ‘Love Never Dies’ he takes two dark verses up into a soaring declaration of hope, cutting over to Maurice’s commentary in a Lennon-like voice. The verses of ‘Rings Around the Moon’ were made for Robin’s more vulnerable sound, and with Barry he again sounds more hopeful than usual in the chorus. Reportedly ‘Love Never Dies’ was dropped from the album lineup as it was being compiled, and it is hard to see why. Fortunately both songs emerged from oblivion three years later into the semi-oblivion of non-album B sides.

EMOTION
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb (1977)
undated 1994
stereo 4:20, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
unreleased
stereo (edit) 3:41, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
The Record, 2001

HEARTBREAKER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1982)
undated 1994
stereo 4:25, lead vocal Barry Gibb
The Record, 2001

These versions of ‘Emotion’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ were also made for Love Songs. Both were released for the first time in 2001 on the hits collection The Record, with ‘Emotion’ shortened because of the tight running time on disk 2 of the set.

An important feature of ‘Heartbreaker’ is the strong forward motion from the rhythm section that is present in both the Dionne Warwick version and the demo by Barry and Albhy. But this re-make doesn't have it, quite a letdown. ‘Emotion’ adds nothing really to the Samantha Sang version either. Maybe they were not completely committed to the idea of re-recording old songs. The new songs done around the same time sounded good.

selected record releases

The US market finally got a single of ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’— and ignored it. The American branch of Polydor also overlooked the idea of including the non-album song that been on one of the British singles, ‘My Destiny’, which might have given fans a reason to seek out this single.

The first of the pair of British singles of ‘How to Fall in Love’ included another new non-album song, the excellent ‘855-7019’, and an extended remix version of ‘Fallen Angel’. The other one again had assorted old hit recordings.

Barry wanted ‘How to Fall in Love’ released but it was a little soft for a single and scored only number 30 in Britain. In Europe the Polydor affiliates went with the more lively ‘Kiss of Life’ instead, backed by either ‘How to Fall in Love’ or by the same three oldies as the British ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’. But ‘Kiss of Life’ reached only 51 in Germany. Including ‘855-7019’ would have boosted sales to fans, who could never get the song outside Britain except as an import. The Americans could at this point have released a single with two non-album cuts, but the low sales of the album and two singles made a third single unnecessary.

The best Bee Gees tribute album ever? At any rate it was the only one to which the Gibb brothers themselves contributed a track, namely the previously unreleased recording they made with their niece Beri Rhoades in 1987, ‘I’m Not Wearing Make-Up’.

The great thing about this whole album is that only a few of the songs chosen were Bee Gees hits. The majority of the album instead goes deep into obscure album tracks from 1966 to 1972. The young indie-label performers show a real love for the music as such, quite refreshing compared to the attitude that even the Bee Gees themselves usually affected in speaking with the press. Some of them are close to the Bee Gees’ versions, most are not, but they are all worth a listen.

Producer and Bee Gees fan Saul Davis decided it was time someone recorded the 1975 composition ‘Your Love Will Save the World’. Percy Sledge, eternally famous for ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, does a fine job with it.

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