A Collector's Item!

There are so many single CD's out there containing half of these tracks and they are poorly mixed. This is the only definitive collection of pre-1967, Australian only, Bee Gees music that one needs. Running with 32 songs on a 2-disc set, these contain the classic songs that are nothing short of amazing to the ear. Mind you, the Gibb brothers were all 13 to 17 years old when recording these songs. Openly influenced by the Beatles (as most groups were), the Bee Gees show their deftness in copying some of their sound ("Coalman", "Exit, Stage Right", "How Many Birds"), as well as covering some of the early Beatles. What is truly intriguing is the sound they create by themselves that seems to have cropped up in later groups. "Born A Man" sounds like Eric Burdon, while "To Be Or Not To Be" conjures up Jerry Lee Lewis. Elvis Presley's influence shines through on "Monday's Rain". The sound is fresh and unlike any group from the early-mid sixties. This set also contains their classic original, "In The Morning" (still sung in concerts) as well as their first #1 hit in Australia, "Spicks And Specks". Their voices contain a wide range and it's a thrill to hear such mature harmonies at such a young age. Well mastered with copius liner notes, this collection will not last long.

Definitive Record of Early Australian Years

The cover is ugly, but this is easily the best anthology of the Gibb Brothers' pre-"New York Mining Disaster" career. The liner notes are excellent and the discs appear to contain absolutely everything they recorded down under. While there are some embarrassing pre-pubescent squeakers like "Timber," "Three Kisses of Love" and "Ballad of Jamie McPheeters," by 1965 the group were doing very solid work. Fans of the pre-disco Bee Gees will recognize their beloved wrist-slash melodrama group in numbers such as "I Am the World" and "I Don't Know Why I Bother With Myself." There are great Beatlesque rockers in "How Many Birds," "All By Myself," "I Want Home" and perhaps a little too blatantly in "Coalman." There are early versions of Gibb songs covered by others, such as "Butterfly" (Marmalade, Unit 4 Plus 2) and "In the Morning" (Lulu). There are adolescent folk rockers, such as "And the Children Laughing." Their first truly great album "Monday's Rain" (aka "Spicks & Specks") is included in its original song sequence. And everywhere the harmonies sound great.

If you bought one of the volumes of "Rare, Precious & Beautiful" in the old vinyl days, I recommend this anthology. It's much more and it's much better.