Bee Gees
(Reprise/Rhino)
I'm sure I wasn't the only person who double-checked the credits on the album the first time the needle dropped on Odessa. The Bee Gees, despite what we now know to be legendary competition, were riding a nice streak of hit singles in the US. The prior year and a half alone produced four top tens including "Massachusetts", "Words", "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke". So forgive the surprise when the fan expecting another three minute gem instead was greeted by a seven-and-a-half minute orchestral overture featuring Gregorian chants and flamenco guitar. Especially when the lyrics reflected the thoughts of a shipwrecked man floating on a melting iceberg? (In retrospect, it shouldn't have been such a shock; prior singles echoed the cry of men dying in a coal mine and the last wishes of a man prior to his execution.)
Mistakenly referred to as a concept album, Odessa, issued in 1969, is simply a more ambitious expansion on the Bee Gees formula of ear-candy melodies, harmonic structure and orchestral backing. Manager Robert Stigwood, savvy to the cultural temperature, encouraged the band to stretch out a bit. Barry Gibb admits that the initial effort was meant to be more thematic, but in the wake of tour problems and departing band members, they wandered off course. The result is a scattered but highly enjoyable potpourri of ballads, psychedelic pop, country and cinematic overtures which should have resulted in at least a few popular hits. The title track was initially selected as the ambitious leadoff single, but "I Started a Joke" was still lingering on the charts so it was held back. By the time Stigwood was ready, he changed his opinion and the delicate "First of May" was issued instead.
While the album did hit #20 in Billboard, the single didn't fare as well, and their label (Atco) backed off from pushing any harder...and that was that. Perhaps its unlikely that these ballads and chamber pop songs would have sliced their way through Led Zeppelin and the more exotic FM radio formats and play lists, but who's to say that the trendy move towards exploring deeper cuts on albums wouldn't have given Odessa the second chance it deserved? Thankfully, forty years later, the spotlight is finally shining down upon it.
Rhino/Reprise has done an outstanding job assembling this expanded edition, including flawlessly produced stereo and mono versions of the original album and the twenty-three track Sketches for Odessa. Boasting alternate mixes and/or arrangements of sixteen of the seventeen album tracks, plus two unreleased songs, Sketches is a fascinating peek behind the curtain. With the possible exception of "I Laugh in Your Face", I don't believe the band (more likely Stigwood) made any errors in judgment in their choice of versions for the final album. But hearing these tracks stripped down, the unencumbered arrangements and half-finished lyrics demonstrate just how adept the brothers were at polishing rough ideas into infectious melodies. The focus also proves how invaluable Maurice Gibb's versatile musicianship was to the sound of the group. The new tracks, "Nobody's Someone", and "Pity" could have easily slid onto Idea or even 2 Years On. You can hear the genesis of their future hit "Lonely Days" in "Pity", a song Oasis should rush to cover before someone else does. The original felt/velvet gatefold cover is now a CD box containing a two-sided poster, track notes with photos and even a sticker featuring the period-era Bee Gees logo. After the music, it's icing on the cake.
And the original Odessa songs are wonderful; straight-ahead pop ballads like Sound of Love" and "First of May", Maurice's Moody Blues moment "Suddenly" and the infectious and charming "Marley Purt Drive". Perhaps the oddest track is a faux square dance country fiddle tune, but the playful "Give Your Best" is an underrated gem. While in context the arrangement might make it the "Rocky Raccoon" of Odessa, its core is pure catchy pop structure. Almost to cleanse the aural palate, the instrumentals "Seven Seas Symphony" and "With All Nations (International Anthem)" follow, reinstating the somber, almost cinematic tone set up with the album's first note. Oddly, the break separates the bulk of the album from the three tracks that most closely fit the mold of the band's prior hits. Had it not been for "The British Opera" bringing up the rear, one would almost think these songs were tacked on at the end to help the less adventurous radio stations isolate the featured singles. The sad truth is that with the exception of "First of May", I don't remember hearing any of Odessa on the radio, although it should have firmly established them as artists with a deeper creative vision. Instead the Bee Gees fell from the spotlight, although they did have a few more hits like "Run to Me" and "Lonely Days". With "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", Barry's breathy falsetto planting the seeds that would lead to their dramatic re-invention a few years later.
It might be difficult for Bee Gee fans who came of age during Saturday Night Fever to understand why those high, mouse-like disco vocals were so nauseating to older fans. One listen to the full-throated harmonies of "Lamplight" or "I Laugh in Your Face" on Odessa should answer that question once and for all; imagine The Beatles forsaking their sound to make Chipmunks singles. But in fairness, even on the early albums, some of Robin Gibb's goat-quiver vibrato vocals ("Black Diamond") can send a twinge up one's spine. And in 1969, is a lyric like "the circus is coming to see you / the elephant smiles" any more absurd than "yellow matter custard / dripping from a dead dog's eye"?
The brothers' majestic aural arrangements were not limited to orchestration and melody; their pitch-perfect harmonies were equal to their best competition at the time, The Beach Boys. And while Odessa might not have followed Smile or Sgt. Pepper or Tommy into the public consciousness, it wasn't for lack of ambition...or lack of good songs. It's hard to believe that Barry turned twenty-one during the sessions for this experimental album, and twins Robin and Maurice were still only nineteen years old. While far from their most popular recording, it's arguably their best, and longtime fans will savor both the variety of versions and the pristine production. Those taking their maiden voyage on Odessa might not value the volume of tracks as much as they will the discovery of a half dozen hits that should have been.
Standout Tracks: "Melody Fair," "Give Your Best," "You'll Never See My Face Again," "Suddenly." BILL HOLMES
