Bee Gees Greatest
Encyclopedia
Bee Gees Greatest is a compilation album of songs by the Bee Gees
, released in 1979 by RSO Records
. Coming soon after the blockbuster studio album Spirits Having Flown
, Greatest was a summary of the Bee Gees' most recent period of success, 1975-1979. A remastered and expanded version of the album was released by Reprise Records
in 2007.
Two charting singles, "Boogie Child
" and "Edge of the Universe" were omitted in favor of tracks that other artists had hits with such as "Love Me" and "If I Can't Have You" (Yvonne Elliman
) and "You Stepped Into My Life" (Wayne Newton
). Incidentally "Boogie Child" reached the same Billboard position as Yvonne Elliman's version of "Love Me", while Wayne Newton's recording of "You Stepped Into My Life" only peaked at 90. "Boogie Child" did appear in the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb
, but it was again passed over on the double disc set Their Greatest Hits: The Record
from 2001. Greatest was released on CD as a two disc set, but has since has been deleted domestically with the release of The Record.
On September 18, 2007, Reprise Records released a remastered and expanded version of Greatest. Many of the tracks on Greatest have been previously remastered, but the album contain the first release for remastered versions of "You Stepped Into My Life", "Rest Your Love on Me", "Wind of Change", "Spirits (Having Flown)" and "Children Of The World". In addition, there are extended versions of "Stayin' Alive" and an unreleased Bee Gees track, "Warm Ride", which was written for the group Rare Earth
. The re-release contains new mixes of "You Should Be Dancing", "If I Can't Have You", "Night Fever" and "More Than a Woman" and as a hidden track, a new mix of "Stayin' Alive". Billboard's unofficial policy states an album requires at least 33% new material to qualify as a new release; Bee Gees Greatest contains about 28% new material, thus making it a re-issue.
album charts early in 1980, becoming their third consecutive number one album. The re-issue of Bee Gees Greatest debuted at #1 on Billboard's Pop Catalog charts for the week of September 30, 2007. There was some question as to whether Billboard was going to treat this as a new release or a re-issue. The set scanned over 20,000 copies for the week, making it the 35th best selling album in the country, good enough to place in Billboard's Top 40.
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, released in 1979 by RSO Records
RSO Records
RSO Records was a record label, formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973. The "RSO" stands for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair...
. Coming soon after the blockbuster studio album Spirits Having Flown
Spirits Having Flown
Spirits Having Flown is the Bee Gees' fifteenth original album, released in 1979. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles which all went to no.1 in the US...
, Greatest was a summary of the Bee Gees' most recent period of success, 1975-1979. A remastered and expanded version of the album was released by Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
in 2007.
Background
The original release was a double album, with album sleeves and labels featuring pictures of each brother on the label and all three brothers on side four, while each record sleeve was adorned with the Bee Gees Greatest logo. Side one contains disco tracks featuring "Jive Talkin'", "Night Fever", "Tragedy", "You Should Be Dancing" and "Stayin' Alive". Side two contains ballads and featured "How Deep Is Your Love", "Too Much Heaven", "Love So Right", "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" and "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)". Side three consists of B-sides and album tracks such as "If I Can't Have You", "You Stepped Into My Life", "Love Me", "More Than a Woman" and "Rest Your Love On Me". Side three also consists songs that spawned cover versions for other artists. Side four contains "Nights on Broadway", "Spirits (Having Flown)", "Wind of Change", "Love You Inside Out" and "Children of the World".Two charting singles, "Boogie Child
Boogie Child
"Boogie Child" is the third hit single from The Bee Gees 1976 platinum album Children of the World. Released in the U.S. in early 1977, "Boogie Child" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100....
" and "Edge of the Universe" were omitted in favor of tracks that other artists had hits with such as "Love Me" and "If I Can't Have You" (Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Marianne Elliman is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar...
) and "You Stepped Into My Life" (Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
). Incidentally "Boogie Child" reached the same Billboard position as Yvonne Elliman's version of "Love Me", while Wayne Newton's recording of "You Stepped Into My Life" only peaked at 90. "Boogie Child" did appear in the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb
Tales from the Brothers Gibb
**On releases of Tales outside North America, three Barry Gibb solo tracks were added to Chapter IV from the "Hawks" soundtrack right after Robin Gibb's "Toys": "My Eternal Love", "Where Tomorrow Is" and "Letting Go"....
, but it was again passed over on the double disc set Their Greatest Hits: The Record
Their Greatest Hits: The Record
Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music...
from 2001. Greatest was released on CD as a two disc set, but has since has been deleted domestically with the release of The Record.
On September 18, 2007, Reprise Records released a remastered and expanded version of Greatest. Many of the tracks on Greatest have been previously remastered, but the album contain the first release for remastered versions of "You Stepped Into My Life", "Rest Your Love on Me", "Wind of Change", "Spirits (Having Flown)" and "Children Of The World". In addition, there are extended versions of "Stayin' Alive" and an unreleased Bee Gees track, "Warm Ride", which was written for the group Rare Earth
Rare Earth (band)
Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
. The re-release contains new mixes of "You Should Be Dancing", "If I Can't Have You", "Night Fever" and "More Than a Woman" and as a hidden track, a new mix of "Stayin' Alive". Billboard's unofficial policy states an album requires at least 33% new material to qualify as a new release; Bee Gees Greatest contains about 28% new material, thus making it a re-issue.
Reception
Bee Gees Greatest topped the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
album charts early in 1980, becoming their third consecutive number one album. The re-issue of Bee Gees Greatest debuted at #1 on Billboard's Pop Catalog charts for the week of September 30, 2007. There was some question as to whether Billboard was going to treat this as a new release or a re-issue. The set scanned over 20,000 copies for the week, making it the 35th best selling album in the country, good enough to place in Billboard's Top 40.
Disc one
- "Jive Talkin'Jive Talkin'"Jive Talkin" is a song by the Bee Gees, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top-five on the UK singles chart in the summer of 1975. Largely recognized as the group's "comeback" song, it was their first U.S. top ten hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in...
" - 3:45 - "Night FeverNight Fever"Night Fever" is a disco song, written and performed by The Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film Saturday Night, but singer Robin Gibb expressed hesitation at the title. Stigwood liked the title Night Fever but was...
" - 3:29 - "TragedyTragedy (song)"Tragedy" is a song recorded by the Bee Gees, included on their 1979 album Spirits Having Flown. The single reached number one in the UK in February 1979 and repeated the feat the following month on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100...
" - 5:05 - "You Should Be DancingYou Should Be Dancing"You Should Be Dancing" is a single by the Bee Gees, from the album, Children of the World, in 1976. The single hit number one for one week on the American Billboard Hot 100, number one for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in July the same year, reached number five on the UK...
" - 4:17 - "Stayin' AliveStayin' Alive"Stayin' Alive" is a song by the pop group Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was written by the Bee Gees and produced by the Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It was released on 13 December 1977, as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever...
" - 4:45 - "How Deep Is Your LoveHow Deep Is Your Love"How Deep Is Your Love" is a pop song recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977 and released as a single in September. Originally intended for Yvonne Elliman, it was ultimately used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever. It was a number three hit in the United Kingdom and Australia...
" - 4:05 - "Love So RightLove So Right"Love So Right" is a R&B/pop ballad by the musical group the Bee Gees in 1976. It was the first Bee Gees single to feature Barry's falsetto exclusively as the lead vocal...
" - 3:36 - "Too Much HeavenToo Much Heaven"Too Much Heaven" is a song by the Bee Gees, which was the band's contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9 January 1979. The song later found its way to the group's thirteenth original album, Spirits Having Flown...
" - 4:57 - "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" - 4:05
- "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)"Fanny " is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees for their Main Course album in 1975. It was the third single release from the album and peaked at number 12 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and reached number two in Canada-Chart performance:...
" - 4:03
Disc two
- "If I Can't Have YouIf I Can't Have You"If I Can't Have You" is a song written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. It was most famously recorded by Yvonne Elliman for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.-Background:...
" - 3:21 - "You Stepped Into My Life" - 3:27
- "Love MeLove Me (Bee Gees song)"Love Me" is a Barry and Robin Gibb composition which was an international hit in 1976-77 for Yvonne Elliman."Love Me" was originally recorded by the Gibbs' group the The Bee Gees on their 1976 album Children of the World, the track featuring Robin Gibb on lead with his falsetto evidenced on the...
" - 4:01 - "More Than a WomanMore Than a Woman (Bee Gees song)"More Than a Woman" is a disco song written by the Bee Gees for the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever....
" - 3:16 - "Rest Your Love On Me" - 4:23
- "Nights on BroadwayNights on Broadway"Nights on Broadway" is a song by the Bee Gees for the Main Course album in 1975. The second single release from the album, it immediately followed their number-one hit "Jive Talkin'"....
" - 4:34 - "Spirits (Having Flown)Spirits (Having Flown)"Spirits " is song by The Bee Gees which was originally released on the 1979 album Spirits Having Flown. Though not issued as a single in conjunction with the parent album, it was issued as a single in the UK to promote the compilation Bee Gees Greatest, which was released in December, 1979.The...
" - 5:10 - "Love You Inside OutLove You Inside Out"Love You Inside Out" is a 1979 hit single for the Bee Gees, from their album Spirits Having Flown. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in June 1979...
" - 4:13 - "Wind of Change" - 4:55
- "Children of the World" - 3:08
2007 edition bonus tracks
- "Warm RideWarm Ride"Warm Ride" was a song written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees during the 1977 Saturday Night Fever sessions in France. The Bee Gees original, if unfinished, recording from 1978 was mixed and included on a reissue of the Bee Gees Greatest album in 2007.The song sounded like the...
" - 3:16 - "Stayin' Alive" (promo 12" version) - 6:59
- "You Should Be Dancing" (Jason Bentley/Philip Steir remix) - 4:46
- "If I Can't Have You" (Count da Money remix) - 4:10
- "Night Fever" (GRN Remix) - 4:44
- "How Deep Is Your Love" (Supreme Beings of Leisure remix) - 4:39
- "Stayin' Alive" (Teddybears Remix) - 3:23
- "More Than A Woman" (Equinox Remix) [iTunes only track] - 4:04
- "Stayin' Alive" (Version 2 Video) [iTunes only track] - 3:25
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
| 1979 | Australian Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... Albums Chart |
1 |