 Various Artists I hope the remaining Gibb brothers have gotten over their fear of being eternally trapped as a disco act in people's minds. Good and bad news for you, fellas: to John & Jane Jackass, you'll forever be "Stayin' Alive." Forget about these people – besides, they're paying for your next 41 platinum-plated yachts. Knowledgeable Bee Gees fans relish the fact that there's an amazing scope and variety to the Bee Gees catalog, not to mention that Gibb songwriting is STILL not as widely acknowledged as it should be. No one can write a minor key song like Barry and make it sound so powerful and uplifting. Perfect reason to release a compiled collection of not only Bee Gee covers, but originals by the Brothers Gibb written for others. Straight away, let it be known that two of the greatest, "Islands in the Stream" and "Guilty" are NOT on this collection … you have been warned. That said, Dionne Warwick's mind-blowing "Heartbreaker" and the not-as-easy-to-find "Emotion" by Samantha Sang are on here, complete with production and background vocals by the Bee Gees themselves. In fact, the latter is practically a Bee Gees song, as they seem to sing more than Sang does (fill in your own "sing-sang-sung" pun here, if you must). Most of the disc tends to focus on Bee Gee covers performed by geniuine soul singers, kicking off with Al Greens scorching take on "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart." Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Jive Talkin'" might be described by some as a "slow burner," but just gets slowly more boring to lilywhite ol' me. It's easy to picture them performing it on "Good Times" ("JJ, how did you get Rufus to play at Bookman's birthday party!?!", etc). On the other hand, Jerry Butler & Thelma Houston's version of "Love So Right" pleasantly erases any previous thoughts of Chicago®'s version (nothing against Chicago® and their registered trademark, mind you). "A Message to You" performed by Percy Sledge makes much sense, simultaneously kicking ass and chewing gum; same with the Staple Singers on "Give a Hand, Take a Hand." A href="/records/S/ninasimone_ultimate.html">Nina Simone's version of "Please Read Me" is (surprise) a live version, and is exactly what you'd expect if you put Nina in front of a piano with a Bee Gees songbook … a good thing, mostly. Out of more than 145,000 recorded versions of "I Started a Joke," Richie Havens's is represented here, showing that while the man is definitely competent, his fame is quite out of proportion to his talent. Add a couple of other covers I don't particularly feel like mentioning here, as well as two tracks from Saturday Night Fever by others (no, not "Manhattan Skyline" or "K-JEE"), as well as a stray 80s single from Robin Gibb ("Toys," a decent song that was deservedly not a big hit), and that's the bleedin' disc. Admittedly, this won't make it to your CD player very often, and better songwriting cases for the Bee Gees can be made, but it's great for mix tapes and funnels some much needed songwriting royalties to the Gibbs for "arthritis medicine" … the smokeable kind.
Review by Ray Davis, Cat Burglar |