(#2005-1242) - Topics this issue: 1) Guilty too, 2) New York Times review/verbosity, 3) de-OPped using an auto-kick'n'ban feature, 4) IMHO, 5) IMHO, 6) New York Times review/verbosity, 7) Letting Go, 8) WYWH (was More Barbra), 9) Raining on Babs Parade-A Review, 10) How to tell a good song from a technicolor dream, 11) One of the millions (opinion on Guilty Pleasures), 12) What IS the big deal?!, 13) THIS IS NOT A BEE GEES SITE, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:07:11 -0400 From: "Anne Simpson" Subject: Re: Guilty too I would have liked to see the obvious - "Not Guilty" - since neither the US nor the UK title seems particuarly clever to me. Anne ----- Original Message ----- > This is due to the fact that there is already a brand called Guilty > Pleasures in the UK. > > A. > > -----Original Message----- > > > Any clue about why the british new BB's album will be called "Guilty > Too" and not "Guilty Pleasures"? > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:26:30 -0400 From: Joseph Brennan Subject: Re: New York Times review/verbosity --On Saturday, September 24, 2005 6:28 PM -0400 Anne Simpson wrote: > Or, maybe it was inspired by a comment long ago which that the Bee Gees' > "ornate orchestrations and tremulous romanticism scarcely concealed a > solipsistic nightmare in which the obsessed singer (most often Robin Gibb > with his choked, inconsolable quaver) floated or flew in frightening > isolation as everything dissolved into tears and rain and nothing tangible > remained." That's great! It's over the top, but it is actually meaningful. Stephen Holden sounded like he could not say anything good without qualifying it with the equivalent of "if you like this sort of thing". It occurs to me what a hard job these reviewers have. In a listen or two anyone knows whether they like it or not, but translating that into words is harder. It makes me appreciate all the points of view we've been able to read here. Joe Brennan ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:32:49 -0400 From: "Anne Simpson" Subject: Re: de-OPped using an auto-kick'n'ban feature OMG David, you have me in tears of laughter (again). Thank you! Anne ----- Original Message ----- > > David Garcia, waiting for that momentous day when > Robin Gibb logs onto the Barry Gibb chat room in > Staten Island, NY > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:43:29 -0400 From: Joseph Brennan Subject: Re: IMHO LAgerg@aol.com wrote: > I often wonder if I post just to > see myself post-often times I feel ignored in favor of those true > "experts" who for whatever reason claim to know the brothers' every > motivation in every situation and are taken at face value. I am just a > humble fan of 35 years who has never met the brothers but tries to keep > an open mind through the roller coaster that has been their career-for > the most part it has been a wonderful ride. If that's supposed to refer to me, please feel free to ramble on about the brothers talents and motivations as much as I do. I wish more people would. Your humble fan of 36 years who spoke with two of them once for 20 minutes and tries to keep an open mind, etc... Joe Brennan ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 22:38:57 EDT From: LAgerg@aol.com Subject: Re: IMHO No it was not pertaining to you Joe-I know you are very knowledgeable and I respect your opinions. I respect all opinions-what frustrates me is the name calling in reference to Barry and Robins' motivations. In addition, I think there are many lurkers on this board who would rather keep silent than express their opinions for fear of drawing "flames". I know I have bitten my tongue quite a few times because of this or that my humble reasonings would be knocked down. I really like this forum because of all the factual information that is shared, I think sometimes some of the posters take themselves too seriously to the detriment of other members. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 23:33:00 -0400 From: "Anne Simpson" Subject: Re: New York Times review/verbosity Yes, it's over the top, but no other description has burned itself into my brain with as much intensity! As for reviewers, almost all the reviews I've seen of Bee Gees' work, even if they can find nothing critical to say, end with something that amounts to a "but..." No wonder they've felt they didn't get fair treatment from the media over the years. It's as if they *want* to like it, but are afraid to. Maybe a reviewer's job is just to straddle the fence when unsure. And I DO appreciate the points of view expressed here, unless expressed with distain, contempt (for a Gibb or another list member), or sheer arrogance. I've finally learned that despite the wonderful personal qualities we've witnessed and experienced over the years, the Gibbs are NOT perfect but flawed like the rest of us. No wonder we relate to them so well on a one-to-one basis! Goodnight, Anne ----- Original Message ----- > > It's over the top, but it is actually meaningful. > > Stephen Holden sounded like he could not say anything good without > qualifying it with the equivalent of "if you like this sort of thing". > > It occurs to me what a hard job these reviewers have. In a listen or > two anyone knows whether they like it or not, but translating that into > words is harder. It makes me appreciate all the points of view we've > been able to read here. > > Joe Brennan > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 23:41:36 -0400 From: "Anne Simpson" Subject: Re: Letting Go Where can one find Barry's version of "Letting Go?" Anne ----- Original Message ----- > I agree with your last comment. But anyway Barbra's attemp shows how > outstanding a performer Barry is. Despite Barbra's voice control he gets > much more out of this song. But as I have claimed before, Letting Go is one > of Barry's best vocal performances ever. Very emotional. > > > Per > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 12:04:50 +0800 From: Carole Moore Subject: Re: WYWH (was More Barbra) At 03:08 AM 25/09/2005, you wrote: >What I don't understand is why he should have been. (Putting aside for the >moment any issue of the quality of Robin's recording, which I suspect is not >what Barry was referring to.) Can someone enlighten me? > >Anne > >----- Original Message ----- > > > > He actually said he was devasted when Robin re-did WYWH. > > > > sal > > > > >Hi Anne, For me personally, I think Grant's post on the 20th put it perfectly. As a fan, I held WYWH as a tribute to Andy, and even now I find listening to it can still sometimes bring a tear to my eye. I found Robin's choice of remaking it...well, I can't really say without donning an asbestos suit. Just my opinion, of course. >Carole >************************************************** >You have junk mail. > >************************************************** > >"Words & Music", Fans Of The Brothers Gibb ( Bee Gees ) >http://www.brothersgibb.com > >To change any of your list options, >please go to website listed above. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 00:11:25 EDT From: Compoccias@aol.com Subject: Re: Raining on Babs Parade-A Review In a message dated 9/24/2005 4:49:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, dewilson@sbcglobal.net writes: Sal, responding to Andrew (at least I think that's the case . . . with Sal, it's hard to determine where he's quoting someone else or offering his own thoughts - come on Sal, reconfigure your email options): >I thought I fixed that by putting in the >symbol before writing. I guess not. Any suggestions Doug? Andrew: > These two really need to see that to come up with really > great product, they need each other! One of them knows it > and wants it - the other doesn't want to know! > Sal: > I'm still inclined to believe that also. With one caveat: Robin > probably needs Barry more than Barry needs Robin. > So it appears that you aren't really inclined to believe that, after all? > No, I am. It's funny, but after I wrote it I thought someone observant, like you Doug, would interpret it as a contradiction, but I didn't want to expand on the statement since the post was long enough. Well, now I will. >I think Barry needs Robin less because he has more of a reputation within the industry and as a result can get better and more high-profile offers and projects on his own, while Robin has to struggle on his own more. Musically, I do believe the "greatness" or the uniqueness or whatever you would call it regarding the Bee Gees was the result of all three brothers. I keep thinking about certain quotes from the book such as Colin Peterson saying the brothers are a "tripod, you need all three." And Tom Kennedy saying that Barry could not have done it without R&M and that they were "indispensable to him". >The work Barry did on GP is very good and I think a few songs are terrific. I do not believe, however, that this necessarily changes my belief that the Bee Gees were more about all three brothers than just mainly Barry. I also think whatever they do in the future separately will most likely not be as good as if they were together and that goes for Barry, too. Lastly, something to look for in the coming days is for the "Barry-heads" to push the notion that GP proves that Barry doesn't need Robin, especially if GP is a big success. I'm tending to agree with you on this one Sal. I "think" Robin "knows" that to come up with really great product, he needs someone (be it Barry, Mo, Babyface, Suzi Quatro, Peter John Vettesse, or Alistair whats-his-name) to even have a shot. Not that he lacks talent (he's got plenty of it, but not necessarily the complete package), but maybe it's a question of "direction". In Barry's case, it strikes me that he has a clearer idea of what he wants to do and finds the people that can augment his skills to achieve what he's looking for. In Robin's case, it seems he's always trying to convince people that he's "contemporary", even at the risk of getting his "freak on" (what exactly does that mean . . . I make no claims to being contemporary). > Neither do I, and I hope Robin begins to let go of placing so much importance on staying contemporary. While that probably worked very well for the Bee Gees in the past and enabled them to have some more hits late into the 90's I think Robin needs to re-evaluate how important that is at this stage of his career. I think Barry has already done that and is better off for it. Robin should do the same. Maybe that difference caused some of the problems the last few years? Doug (who's somewhat surprised that Sal has disagreed with both Joe and Andrew in the same week) Yes, but I didn't disagree with you Doug! Maybe next week. Sal ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 01:28:26 -0400 From: Edward Vlasov Subject: How to tell a good song from a technicolor dream To me it's always very simple: if I play a song over and over and over from the first time I hear it - it is a good song. I don't need to give it another try, I don't need to get used to it, I don't need it to grow on me, I already know it's a match. It has to inspire not expire. It has to give me energy, not suck it away. The last Bee Gees' songs that provided me with the thrill were "This Is Where I Came In" and "Deja Vu". I also enjoyed the Robin's self-cover version of "Another Lonely Knight In New York". Now this new album is like a new bottle of flat and warm Pepsi when I have nothing else to drink. So I give it a try. It just doesn't grow. It's flat and it stays flat no matter how long I shake it. Barbra is not the last woman on the Earth, and this is not the only album coming out. The point of "Guilty" LP was that Barbra sang a few Barry's good songs. The point of "Guilty Pleasures" CD is that Barbra and Barry record together after so many years again. Now, what reason can be less musical? Eddy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 00:29:43 -0500 From: "Simon Husin" Subject: One of the millions (opinion on Guilty Pleasures) Fellow Fans, The following is my opinion of the album "Guilty Pleasures". Brilliant: All The Children (refreshing, playful, addictive). For comparison purposes, some other Gibbs' creations I consider brilliant: Seven Seas Symphony, Stayin' Alive, Be Who You Are. Samples of other's creations in this league are Child In Time (Deep Purple), From The Beginning (ELP), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton). Excellent: Hideaway, Letting Go, Golden Dawn. In the same class as: If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else, Woman In Love, Subway, Rings Around The Moon, Wish You Were Here, How Deep Is Your Love. Good: Come Tomorrow, Our Love Don't Throw It All Away, Without Your Love, Above The Law, Stranger In A Stranger Land, Night Of My Life. Additional remarks: 1. Barbra Streisand's voice is superb and very expressive, especially in "Letting Go". 2. I wished that Barry would sing clearer and stronger, like his voice in "If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else" and "Stayin' Alive". Throughout this album, his voice is kind of too "juicy" to these old ears of mine. 3. "It's Up To You" has recognizable elements of two non-Gibb creations, a short portion of the Jacksons', and a longer portion of a much older song, which I cannot directly pinpoint (Nat King Cole's, or Johnny Mathis'?). So, if it's up to me(?), this should never be published. 4. Several of the songs remind me fondly of Charles Aznavour and Neil Diamond for their grandeur, rich, and uplifting compositions. 5. Gato Barbieri and Viktor Lazlo also came up to mind in some songs. 6. If you like (watching) the show "Amazing Race", you will like this album. It sorts of "take" you to Latin-America, Asia, Europe, and North-America. 7. In "All The Children", Barry masterfully blends Western rock with Eastern (India's dance) music. Beyond compare! Among Gibb's creations, to me, this album is in the same league as "Living Eyes" and "Children Of The World" (still behind "Odessa" and "Main Course"), yet better than "Guilty". Simon H. in Nashville, Tennessee (one of the millions, decades-long fans of the Gibbs). ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 06:04:17 +0000 From: "gabriela duarte aguilar" Subject: RE: What IS the big deal?! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 06:40:09 +0000 From: "gabriela duarte aguilar" Subject: THIS IS NOT A BEE GEES SITE ------------------------------ End words@brothersgibb.com Digest [09/25/2005 03:01] ----------------------------------------------------