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

1977

By the end of 1976 the Bee Gees were solidly back on top as hitmakers with the success of ‘You Should Be Dancing’ and Children of the World. In the important American market they were in fact bigger than they had ever been. In celebration a live show was recorded for an album in December 1976. Now early in 1977 they began the familiar process of starting the next studio album.

At just this point the routine changed because of two RSO movie projects. The new songs the Bee Gees were doing were diverted into the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever. Then Barry, Robin, and Maurice (but not Blue, Alan, and Dennis) were cast into Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was originally scheduled to start filming in May, but was delayed until later in the year. Because of the two films, there was no Bee Gees studio album in 1977.

The gap was partly filled by the appearance of the first album by Andy Gibb, for which Barry had recorded two songs. At the end of the year the backlog of Gibb songs began to break through, to dominate the charts early in 1978.

Rock critics had by now parted company with the Bee Gees. Just as an older generation had knocked rock and roll in the 1950s for being all rhythm and no melody, their children now levelled the same charge against ‘disco’. The popularity of the new dance music among blacks and homosexuals, two groups the Bee Gees had always been happy to work with, was alien and threatening to white American teenagers in the heartland. Although the records sold very well, they did not get the serious attention they deserved. In light of later developments it is interesting to listen to these songs and hear the rock band basics like rhythm guitar and real bass guitar and drums. The Rolling Stones would soon do ‘I Miss You’ with a nice falsetto by Mick Jagger (1978), but that was forgiven; the Bee Gees were not.

songs

IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1977; B side by Bee Gees, 1977; A side by Yvonne Elliman, February 1978

NIGHT FEVER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1977; A side by Bee Gees, January 1978

WARM RIDE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Graham Bonnet, March 1978; album cut by Andy Gibb, 1980

MORE THAN A WOMAN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1977; A side by Tavares, April 1978

(OUR LOVE) DON’T THROW IT ALL AWAY
Barry Gibb, Blue Weaver
album cut by Andy Gibb, 1978; A side by Andy Gibb, September 1978; album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Bee Gees, September 1977; album cut by Bee Gees, 1977;

STAYIN’ ALIVE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1977; A side by Bee Gees, December 1977

EMOTION
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
A side by Samantha Sang, December 1977; album cut by Samantha Sang, 1978

SAVE ME, SAVE ME
Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten
A side by Network, June 1977; album cut by Network, 1977

AN EVERLASTING LOVE
Barry Gibb
A side by Andy Gibb, July 1978; album cut by Andy Gibb, 1978. US copyright December 1977

FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU
Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten
album cut by Andy Gibb, 1980. US copyright December 1977

AIN’T NOTHING GONNA KEEP ME FROM YOU
Barry Gibb
album cut by Teri De Sario, July 1978; album cut by Teri De Sario, 1978. US copyright December 1977

recording sessions

Bee Gees

The Bee Gees’ first live album Here at Last was recorded December 20, 1976, at the Forum in Los Angeles. The band were Barry Gibb (vocal, guitar), Robin Gibb (vocal), Maurice Gibb (bass, vocal), Blue Weaver (keyboards, synthesizer), Alan Kendall (guitar), and Dennis Bryon (drums), augmented by Geoff Westley (keyboards), Joey Murcia (guitar), Joe Lala (percussion), and the Boneroo Horns: Peter Graves, Whit Sidener, Ken Faulk, Peter Ballin, Jeff Kievit, and Stan Webb.

The show was broadcast in the United States on the radio program King Biscuit Flower Hour and airchecks preserve the original live sound. Post-production for the album at Le Château, Hérouville, France, in February 1977 included touch-ups to the vocals and bass. There were of course no new studio recordings so nothing is listed here.

Bee Gees

Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, bass
Blue Weaver — keyboards, synthesizer, piano
Alan Kendall — lead guitar
Dennis Bryon — drums
Joe Lala — percussion
The Boneroo Horns
engineer: Karl Richardson; Michel Marie
producer: the Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
February and March 1977, Le Château, Hérouville;
about April 1977, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami;
September 1977, Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles (‘More Than a Woman’, ‘If I Can’t Have You’)

When the Bee Gees completed mixing the live album at Le Château, they began recording songs for their next album. The order shown here is that on a handwritten note on file at Universal. It agrees with Maurice who once said that ‘If I Can’t Have You’ was the first song they did, and with the necessary fact (see below) that ‘Night Fever’ must precede ‘Stayin’ Alive’. The recordings were started at Le Château as basic tracks only, and completed later at Criteria or Cherokee.

All of the songs have Barry as lead vocalist. It was pretty much established on Children of the World that his voice was now the voice of the Bee Gees, mostly falsetto and occasionally a breathy natural voice. Barry even did much of the backing and harmony vocals, such that Robin and Maurice are not obviously singing on any of these songs, although they are. It was Barry’s hour. Maurice is sometimes notable for bass guitar parts, but not any more than Blue Weaver on keyboards and synthesizer.

IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo 3:25, lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, December 1977

NIGHT FEVER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo (early state), lead vocal Barry Gibb
download, 2009
stereo 3:33, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Saturday Night Fever, 1977; A side, January 1978

WARM RIDE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Bee Gees Greatest, 2007

MORE THAN A WOMAN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo 3:15, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Saturday Night Fever, 1977

The Bee Gees started off with four dance songs. When the call came for songs for Saturday Night Fever, the four were assigned different fates.

The Bee Gees held onto ‘Night Fever’ and finished it up at Criteria around April. A mix in an unfinished early state, but with some vocal and instrumental parts that survived to the finished version, was available as a download on Rhino’s web site in 2009 (or possibly 2007).

‘If I Can’t Have You’ was given to Yvonne Elliman and ‘More Than a Woman’ to a group called Tavares, so the Bee Gees versions of those two were left unfinished until it was decided to release the former as a B side and the latter on the soundtrack album. At that point the Bee Gees hastily put finishing touches on them at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, where they were recording songs for Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

‘Warm Ride’, a close cousin of ‘Night Fever’ and ‘More Than a Woman’, was set aside and offered to other artists. Versions were released in 1978 by Rare Earth and Graham Bonnet, and finally by Andy Gibb. The unfinished Bee Gees track was mixed and released in 2007 on a reissue of Bee Gees Greatest.

(OUR LOVE) DON’T THROW IT ALL AWAY
Barry Gibb, Blue Weaver (1977)
undated 1977
stereo (early state), lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
stereo 4:02, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Bee Gees Greatest, 1979

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo 4:03, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
A side, September 1977; Saturday Night Fever, 1977

‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ is an excellent ballad by Barry based on a melody by Blue Weaver. An early state stereo mix exists but has not been released. Samantha Sang recalls visiting the sessions in France and asking Barry for a song, and not long afterwards he sent her what she calls a demo of ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’, probably this early state. The version released in 1979 has new vocal tracks. The Andy Gibb version recorded and released in 1978 has an additional bridge section that Barry added later. Blue prefers the original.

‘How Deep Is Your Love’, one of the Bee Gees’ most well-known songs, was the big love ballad in Saturday Night Fever. Once again Barry worked out the melody with Blue Weaver, not credited this time around. Blue’s recollection is that they made only a demo at Le Château, with Albhy taking over the piano by the end of the session, and that Blue came up with the now well-known keyboard line when they recorded it again at Criteria. It won a Grammy for best group vocal, and while all three Gibbs do sing on it, many of the voices are Barry’s.

STAYIN’ ALIVE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo (edit) 6:59, lead vocal Barry Gibb
promo LP, 1978. Bee Gees Greatest, 2007
stereo (edit) 4:43, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Saturday Night Fever, 1977
stereo (edit) 3:29, lead vocal Barry Gibb
A side, December 1977
stereo (different slow section), lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased

Around this point, Robert Stigwood suddenly called and asked the Bee Gees to supply songs for a film project that had begun production in January. It needed dance songs and a love ballad. They were able to fulfill almost everything he wanted from the songs they had already begun. ‘Night Fever’ ultimately suggested a title for the film, which was based on a creative nonfiction magazine article called ‘Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night’. Stigwood wanted one more song that would have fast and slow sections. This custom order led to the creation of ‘Stayin’ Alive’, likely the most famous Bee Gees song.

Recording ‘Stayin’ Alive’ was not simple. To start with, the drumming is literally a tape loop. Karl Richardson copied a choice few seconds of drumming from ‘Night Fever’, cut out the piece of tape, glued the ends together, and fed it back into a recorder by a makeshift arrangement to create a new drum track. This was done solely to work around Dennis Bryon being away for a few days, but the effect was a strikingly mechanical beat. As boring as this would become later in dance songs, it was new in 1977. It would make this the perfect song for John Travolta strutting down 86th Street, Brooklyn.

After preliminary work was done at Le Château, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ was finished up at Criteria. Maurice laid down an excellent bass line modelled on ‘Clean Up Woman‘ by Miami singer Betty Wright, Alan and Barry put on guitar riffs, Blue added some synthesizer, and the Boneroo Horns added their parts. The lyrics are the traditional Gibb melancholy: the fast part desperately insists ‘it’s all right, I’m OK’, ‘I’m stayin’ alive’, but the slow part says ‘life’s going nowhere, somebody help me’. Robin was still writing possible lyrics on April 22, on a Concorde ticket, seen in the book Songs in the Rough.

Every available version of ‘Stayin’ Alive’ seems to be an edit. The longest one ever made available was 6:59, heard on a promo LP, just barely before the days of twelve-inch singles sold to the public. It was finally released in 2007 on the reissue of Bee Gees Greatest. It is a different mix all the way through, and it has extra short horn breaks that are not heard on the soundtrack or single but that were played live on tour. The album edit is a still generous 4:43 that was not surprisingly cut down further to 3:29 for the single. These three are just increasingly shorter edits of the same recording.

There is also another long edited version with a completely different slow section in the middle with a new melody line, made to fulfill a request from the film director. The group wrote and recorded the new piece at Criteria, and then Karl Richardson edited it into the multitrack master and made a stereo mix. But the production team were not happy with it, and when nothing else was said about using the piece, Karl cut it back out.

Samantha Sang

Samantha Sang — vocal
Barry Gibb — vocal
Joey Murcia — guitar
George Bitzer — keyboards
Harold Cowart — bass
Ron ‘Tubby’ Ziegler — drums
possibly others
engineer: Karl Richardson
producer: Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
about April 1977, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

EMOTION
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb (1977)
undated 1977
stereo 3:43, lead vocal Samantha Sang
A side, December 1977; Emotion, 1978

WHEN LOVE IS GONE
Frances Lai, Evans, Brian Wells
undated 1977
stereo 3:46, lead vocal Samantha Sang
B side, December 1977; Emotion, 1978

Barry recorded two songs with Samantha Sang, the Australian singer he had worked with in 1969. Again her memory of the approximate date— about a month after France— lets us know not only when her songs were recorded but also about when the Bee Gees probably finished up the three Saturday Night Fever songs.

When Samantha arrived in Miami, Barry offered her a new song called ‘Emotion’ that she recorded instead of ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’. On her 1969 single she goes from quiet to a brassy loud voice, but for ‘Emotion’ she sticks to a breathy Barry-like sound, with Barry himself singing along. Some people now remember this as a Bee Gees song.

For the B side, they recorded a new song by Frances Lai instead of another Barry Gibb song. Samantha Sang’s subsequent album Emotion did include two more Barry songs, a re-make of her 1969 song ‘The Love of a Woman’ and a version of the Bee Gees song ‘Charade’ from 1974, but Barry was not involved in recording either of those.

Blue Weaver identified the musicians as shown from memory. Three had been on Andy’s album. George Bitzer was in the band Network, who were recording at Criteria— see below. This was his first recording with Barry.

Network

John Vinci — vocal
Richie Cerniglia as ‘Richie C’ — guitar
Mike Maniscalco as ‘Mike Coxton’ — keyboard
George Bitzer — keyboard, synthesizer
Howie Blume as ‘Howard Davidson’ — bass
Butch Poveromo as ‘Jean Paul Gaspar’ — percussion
Mike Ricciardella — drums
engineer: Karl Richardson
producer: Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
around April 1977, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

SAVE ME, SAVE ME
Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten (1977)
undated 1977
stereo, lead vocal unknown
A side, June 1977; Network, 1977

Around the same time as Samantha Sang’s session Albhy and Karl produced an album by the New York rock band Network, who were recording their first album at Criteria. Someone in their management wanted most of them to disguise their Italian and Jewish names, thus the silly aliases shown above. Neither of Network’s two albums would be well known. However Albhy noted the talents of George Bitzer and he was later hired to play keyboards and synthesizer on recordings by Andy and Barry.

‘Save Me, Save Me’ was the first song written by Barry and Albhy. It became strangely popular among artists who covered Barry’s songs. Frankie Valli recorded it as a followup to ‘Grease’, Teri De Sario recorded it for her album after she did Barry’s ‘Ain’t Nothing Gonna Keep Me from You’, and Rare Earth recorded it for the album following the one with ‘Warm Ride’. None of these charted.

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Cast of the feature film Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
starring Peter Frampton, Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb,
Sandy Farina, Paul Nicholas, Diane Steinberg,
and with Frankie Howerd, Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston,
George Burns, John Wheeler, Jay MacIntosh

George Martin — piano
Max Middleton — keyboards, synthesizer
Robert Ahwai — guitar
Wilbur Boscomb — bass
Bernard Purdie — drums
Peter Frampton — guitar
Tower of Power Horns Section
others
orchestra arranged by George Martin
engineer: Geoff Emerick
producer: George Martin
May and September 1977, Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles

George Martin wrote in his book All You Need is Ears that RSO asked him in November 1976 to prepare music for the Sgt Pepper film, which was supposed to start production in May 1977. A handwritten list on file at Universal lists all of the songs with just two dates, May 17 and 18, which may possibly be the dates for the basic tracks recorded by Max Middleton, Robert Ahwai, Wilbur Boscomb, and Bernard Purdie. Sir George wrote only of recording starting September 1, and that some of the tracks had to be edited or redone to fit the time or style needed for the film.

The Bee Gees’ involvement would have started in September when the music recordings were made, and then they spent October to January 1978 shooting the film. Robin and Maurice arrived September 12, and Barry on September 14. In the film Peter Frampton was Sgt Pepper and the Bee Gees were the members of his band, Barry on bass guitar, Robin on keyboard or guitar, and Maurice on drums. Maurice, who could have played anything on screen, was the only one who could mime drumming convincingly. As the title characters the four were in most of the scenes throughout the film.

The Bee Gees would recall fondly their time working with George Martin, and he returned the compliments in his book. They only had to record vocals for the songs where their characters appeared singing on screen. However they volunteered to sing backup for other songs too, for the sake of working more with the Beatles’ producer. Thus for example ‘Because’ by Alice Cooper is backed by a chorus of three tracks of Bee Gees.

The timing though was awful. Just as Saturday Night Fever was the talk of the nation and Barry Gibb songs took over the charts, the Bee Gees were almost unavailable for appearances because they were busy making a movie based on someone else’s music. And it was not a very good movie either, subtracting some of the good will they had earned as record makers.

The order of recording is unknown. The songs are grouped below partly by vocalist and partly in the order they appeared on the soundtrack album.

SHE’S LEAVING HOME
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 2:40, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

OH! DARLING
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1969)
September 1977
stereo 3:29, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

Robin took lead vocal on two songs. ‘She’s Leaving Home’ features also parts sung by the parents of the girl leaving home, played by Jay MacIntosh and John Wheeler. Robin’s blues version of ‘Oh! Darling’ is one of the few tracks that departs significantly from the Beatles original, and it is so much in his own style that he must have suggested the arrangement to George Martin. In the film Robin appears to be playing the song on keyboard as he sings it.

NOWHERE MAN
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1965)
September 1977
stereo 1:24, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

A DAY IN THE LIFE
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 5:11, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

Barry also had lead on two songs. ‘Nowhere Man’ was sung by all three brothers with a solo part by Barry. ‘A Day in the Life’ was his real featured number. Both stick close to the Beatles’ originals.

BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR KITE!
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 3:12, lead vocal Maurice Gibb, Barry Gibb, Peter Frampton, George Burns
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

Maurice took some of the lead on one song, ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite!’. If there was ever a time to bring out his John Lennon impression, this was it, but he does not do so. Peter Frampton and George Burns take a few lines too, and some of what might appear to be Maurice is sung by Barry.

SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 1:54, lead vocal Paul Nicholas, Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (REPRISE)
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 1:32, lead vocal Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (FINALE)
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 2:13, lead vocal the company
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 2:48, lead vocal Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

GETTING BETTER
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 2:46, lead vocal Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY)
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1969)
September 1977
stereo 6:31, lead vocal Dianne Steinberg, Paul Nicholas
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

GOOD MORNING GOOD MORNING
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1967)
September 1977
stereo 1:58, lead vocal Paul Nicholas, Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

POLYTHENE PAM / SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1969)
September 1977
stereo 2:25, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

BECAUSE
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1969)
September 1977
stereo 2:45, lead vocal Alice Cooper
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

GOLDEN SLUMBERS / CARRY THAT WEIGHT
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1969)
September 1977
stereo 3:24, lead vocal Peter Frampton
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978

The songs listed above are all the others on which the Bee Gees sang part of the vocal. The order of recording of all these songs is unknown.

Maurice had worked with Peter Frampton before on Jimmy Stevens’s album in 1972. Robin and possibly Maurice and Barry had worked with Paul Nicholas when he was known as Oscar (his real first name) for a single in 1967.

As noted previously, while they were at Cherokee Studios the Bee Gees also added some finishing touches to their recordings of ‘If I Can’t Have You’ and ‘More Than a Woman’, now planned to be released in connection with Saturday Night Fever.

selected record releases

The last singles from Children of the World differed in the United States and in Britain and Europe. Like the third single off the previous album ‘Boogie Child’ missed Billboard’s top ten by two places, and its counterpart ‘Children of the World’ did not chart across the Atlantic.

Barry wrote, produced, and sang backup on ‘I Just Want to Be Your Everything’. This was Andy’s first single released outside Australia (and his second single there). It went to number 1 in the United States, and ended up being the most played record of the year. It got a cooler reception in Britain but did make top forty.

CD: Both on Flowing Rivers.

The Bee Gees’ first live album was recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, on December 20, 1976, and prepared for release at Le Château early in 1977.

The Here at Last tour concentrated on songs from the last couple of albums, but, feeling that the old hits would be expected, the Bee Gees did them too, putting most of them into a block of short versions that appear on side 2. Two other older songs, ‘I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You’ and ‘Words’, got a full-length treatment in new arrangements varying from the records. The only surprise in the lineup was their showcase of the album cut ‘Down the Road’ from 1974. The more recent songs were done at length, notably a nine-minute ‘You Should Be Dancing’.

CD: All on Here at Last.

A single from the Here at Last album. The song was an album cut from the Main Course album rather than a live reprise of one of their famous singles. It was a minor hit.

CD: Both on Here at Last.

‘Save Me, Save Me’ written and produced by Barry. Also on their album Network.

The first Andy Gibb album was finally issued almost a year after it was recorded, carefully spaced between Bee Gees releases. Andy wrote eight of the ten songs, and Barry contributed the other two. The songs were good, and Andy’s youth and good looks didn’t hurt. Andy was very suddenly very big in America, where both of the singles hit number 1. Unfortunately the ill effects of what Barry calls ‘first fame’ had already claimed him by now.

CD: All on Flowing Rivers.

Andy’s second single in Britain did nothing. Release was held off in America as part of an RSO strategy that started to appear late this year.

CD: Both on Flowing Rivers.

The first song from Saturday Night Fever was coupled with another song from the Here at Last live album. Number 1 in America, top five in Britain. The movie would not open for another two months.

CD: ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ on Saturday Night Fever. ‘Can’t Keep a Good Man Down’ on Here at Last.

The soundtrack album of Saturday Night Fever would become the ‘best-selling album of all time’. Although the Bee Gees’ contributions to it were essential to its success, to put it in perspective the two LPs contained just four new Bee Gees songs and a total of five new Gibb-written songs.

Robert Stigwood had the 2-LP soundtrack released in America two months before the movie opened, a radical move at this time. The music created interest in the film. This is a common practice today, but not so in 1977.

The album contained not only the new Bee Gees single but also Walter Murphy’s ‘A Fifth of Beethoven’ (based on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony), which had reached number 1 in July on another label (Private Stock). A third pre-movie hit single was Rick Dees’s parody song ‘Disco Duck’, which hit number 1 in September 1976 on the RSO label, but it was mysteriously the only song in the movie that was not on the soundtrack album.

On the original set ‘Jive Talkin’’ was the studio version from Main Course, but later it was replaced by the live version from Here at Last. The substitution was probably done to save paying a license fee on North American copies to Atlantic for use of the version from the Atlantic-distributed LP Main Course. The CD version reverted to using the Main Course studio version.

CD: All the Bee Gees songs on Bee Gees’ Greatest.

Andy’s second single in America followed the first one to number 1.

CD: Both on Flowing Rivers.

Barry wrote, produced, and sang backup on ‘Emotion’, and produced the B side. Top five in America. Barry’s approved guest appearance on a Private Stock release may be related to RSO’s use of the Private Stock recording ‘A Fifth of Beethoven’ in Saturday Night Fever.

CD: Many collections, notably: Bee Gees Songbook, VSOP (UK); Soul of the Bee Gees, The Right Stuff (US).

Tavares’ Saturday Night Fever song did the least well of the five Gibb originals. It did not break Billboard’s top forty until April 1978, and did not get much higher. It was also the only one not by an RSO artist. Tavares was a vocal group made up of five brothers called Ralph, Tiny, Chubby, Butch, and Pooch. Their most well-known hit is ‘Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel’ from 1976.

This song and Yvonne Elliman’s ‘If I Can’t Have You’ were recorded together in the middle of 1977 at a studio called The Mom and Pops Company Store in Studio City, near Los Angeles. Freddie Perren produced using the same musicians for both songs: Sonny Burke (piano), Bob Bowles (guitar), Scott Edwards (bass), James Gadson (drums), and possibly others. None of the Bee Gees were involved in recording the two songs.

CD: ‘More Than a Woman’ on Saturday Night Fever.

Yvonne Elliman’s Gibb-written song went to number 1 in America, top five in Britain. The Bee Gees version of ‘If I Can’t Have You’ was released simultaneously as the B side of their new single.

CD: ‘If I Can’t Have You’ on Saturday Night Fever.

The second Bee Gees song from Saturday Night Fever. Number 1 in America, top five in Britain.

Notice the incredible clustering of releases. The number 1 ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ led the way not only for more new songs from Saturday Night Fever by Tavares, Yvonne Elliman, and the Bee Gees, but also for two unrelated new songs by Andy Gibb and Samantha Sang. As this all came together Barry would dominate the American charts early in 1978.

CD: ‘Stayin’ Alive’ on Saturday Night Fever. ‘If I Can’t Have You’ on Bee Gees’ Greatest and Tales from the Brothers Gibb.

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