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

1997

The Bee Gees started getting press around this time for a series of career honors. They had been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York back in June 1994. But in 1997, they got the International Artist Award at the American Music Awards in January, the British Phonographic Industry Lifetime Achievement Award at the Brit Awards ceremony in February, and the Lifetime Contribution to Music Award at the World Music Awards in April. In May they were inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Release dates were well-coordinated. The lead single in Britain came out just before the Brits and the album just after, and the medley the Bee Gees did at the Brits was even included on the second single in June. In America the album was released on the same day as the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame induction. There are few coincidences in the entertainment business.

Barry’s continuing problems with arthritis had made it impossible for him to endure the rigors of touring. In 1997 he decided he would commit to a series of shows spaced well apart that would be called One Night Only. The first one was given in Las Vegas on November 14. It was recorded on videotape and in multitrack sound for broadcast and release on CD and DVD.

songs

FIRST AND LAST
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by cast of Saturday Night Fever, 1998. US copyright December 1997

The only new song for 1997 was a partial song used as an extended intro to the older song ‘Tragedy’ in the Saturday Night Fever stage musical.

recording sessions

Céline Dion

Céline Dion — vocal
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb — vocal
others unknown
arranged by Walter Afansieff
engineer: ?
producer: Walter Afansieff
June and August 1997, location unknown

IMMORTALITY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1996)
undated 1997
stereo 4:11, lead vocal Céline Dion
Let’s Talk About Love, 1997; A side, 1998

Céline Dion recorded ‘Immortality’ in June 1997 and the Bee Gees put on backing vocals on August 18. Céline attended the Bee Gees session, which was recorded for the video. The song was released as a single in the middle of 1998 in much of the world, but not North America.

selected record releases

The lead single for Still Waters was a classic set of three songs with each emphasizing one brother on vocals (although Barry sings significant parts of all three). The rousing ‘Alone’ was not really typical of the album to come, but it certainly raised interest in Britain and Europe, reaching number 5 in Britain and number 6 in Germany.

The first version of the single had the non-album ‘Rings Around the Moon’, recorded in 1994 for Love Songs. The second version once again offered three old hits as B sides. Someone was losing track, because ‘I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You’ had been on the British single ‘How to Fall in Love’ in 1994.

Buoyed by the single and media attention, the album reached number 2 in Britain and Germany.

By this date, the Internet allowed fans in North America to be well aware of what was being released across the Atlantic, and provided them an easy way to place orders for import CDs. By the time these songs were officially available in North America, alert fans already had them. What effect this had on the usual fan boost in first week sales is hard to calculate. Nonetheless this album reached number 11 in Billboard, by a long shot the highest a Bee Gees album had gone since 1979 (or since the Stayin’ Alive soundtrack in 1983).

The VH1 Storytellers mini-album was available only in Target stores in the United States, and only as part of a 2-CD box containing also the usual Still Waters album. Each CD was in its own jewel case in shrinkwrap, so once the box was opened the customer had a normal stock copy of Still Waters and this rare VH1 Storytellers. The five songs were recorded on November 25 at the live show recorded for the Storytellers series on the VH1 cable network. The songs had all been heard in March when the television version was shown, but ‘I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You’ was incomplete on television, and all five songs had been remixed from the way they had been heard on television.

Barry wanted ‘I Could Not Love You More’ to be the second single. It reached number 14 in Britain but did not do well in Germany, and the American label A&M passed on it. Both versions of the second British single offered something new.

The first disk had the non-album ‘Love Never Dies’, recorded in 1994 for the Love Songs album, followed by the medley that the Bee Gees’ performed at the Brit Awards on February 24. The medley runs 7:26 and contains one continuous live track with parts of: ‘To Love Somebody’, ‘Massachusetts’, ‘Words’, ‘How Deep Is Your Love’, ‘Jive Talkin’’, ‘Stayin’ Alive’, and ‘You Should Be Dancing’. The band were Barry, Maurice, Alan Kendall, Ben Stivers, Matt Bonelli, and Steve Rucker.

The second disk had two songs from Storytellers that were also on the Target stores special CD in the US, followed by the non-album 1996 studio recording of ‘Stayin’ Alive’, confusingly labelled as ‘Stayin’ Alive (live)’.

Why the handlers though it would be a good idea to issue the lead US single after the album is lost to history. The first version was released in June containing the so-called ‘single mix’ of ‘Alone’, only subtly different from the usual mix, and the 1996 studio recording of ‘Stayin’ Alive’ (listed as ‘Stayin’ Alive (live)’).

A few weeks later a second version of the single was released with the usual version of ‘Alone’, the 1996 ‘Stayin’ Alive’, an edit of one of the mixes of ‘Decadance’, and the non-album ‘Rings Around the Moon’, not previously available in the US.

Andrew Sandoval scored the first ever release of the 1968 song ‘Nobody’s Someone’ on his five-song EP Million Dollar Movie, which consists otherwise of his own compositions. He recorded it with an orchestral arrangement in the spirit of Bill Shepherd but not copying the arrangement Bill did for the unreleased Bee Gees version.

A long-time fan, Andrew later supervised the Bee Gees reissue series that started in 2006 with The Studio Albums 1967-1968.

The third British single and second American single was the title song ‘Still Waters Run Deep’, which sounded like an obvious single. But it charted about the same as ‘I Could Not Love You More’ in Britain and Germany, and did not reach the American top forty.

The first version of the British single contained the demo of ‘Still Waters Run Deep’, which shows how little it was changed after two re-makes with outside producers (P M Dawn, not used, and Hugh Padgham, released). Robin did not sing on the demo but it is otherwise the same arrangement. The third cut was ‘Obsessions’ right off the album. The second version of the single just contained three old songs.

The American single had just one other song, ‘Love Never Dies’ in its only American release.

Barry, Robin, and Maurice on backing vocals.

A tribute album of new cover versions by young artists, many in hip hop and techno styles. All of the songs were previously recorded by the Bee Gees or other artists. The project was promoted by a CD single with three of the songs and a 12-inch single that included one song not on the album.

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