Bee Gees' 1st

1967年三人以Bee Gees为团名正式重返故土英格兰。自此，Bee Gees开始了以旋风之姿风靡英伦的音乐旅程。1967年推出的首张大碟《The Bee Gees First》不但让他们成为排行榜上的常客，他们运用文字描绘影像的歌词与让人无法抗拒的旋律，使得歌曲《New York Mining Disaster 1941》、《I Started A Joke》、《Massachusetts》成为代表那个年代的伟大歌曲，直到现在仍然是让人心潮澎湃的经典。早期的Bee Gees以充满深情的灵魂音乐为走向，指标作《To Love Somebody》便是献给Otis Redding这位对Robin唱腔影响极大的节奏蓝调大师，Bee Gees略带巴洛克民谣的曲风和灵魂蓝调音乐底蕴表现在那个让人头晕目眩的年代给人一点难得的清醒，让人在虚幻盛行的音乐潮流中得以回归现实和大地，Bee Gees一直唱现实中的情感歌谣，从不虚无飘渺。

by Bruce Eder

The debut international long-player by the Bee Gees may shock anyone who only remembers them for their mid- to late-'70s disco mega-hits, or their quirky early-'70s romantic balladry. Up until 1966, they'd shown a penchant for melodic songs and rich, high harmonies, in the process becoming Australia's answer to the Everly Brothers. When the Bee Gees arrived in London late in 1966, however, they proved quick studies in absorbing and assimilating the progressive pop and rock sounds around them. In one fell swoop, they became competitors with the likes of veteran rock bands such as the Hollies and the Tremeloes, and this long-player, Bee Gees' 1st, is more of a rock album than the group usually got credit for generating. Parts of it do sound very much like the Beatles circa Revolver, but there was far more to their sound than that. The three hits off of Bee Gees' 1st, "To Love Somebody," "New York Mining Disaster 1941," and "Holiday," were gorgeous but relatively somber, thus giving Bee Gees' 1st a melancholy cast, but much of the rest is relatively upbeat psychedelic pop. "In My Own Time" may echo elements of the Beatles' "Dr. Robert" and "Taxman," but it's difficult to dislike a song with such delicious rhythm guitars and a great beat, coupled with the trio's soaring harmonies; "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" was close in spirit to the Moody Blues of this era, opening with a Gregorian chant backed by a Mellotron, before breaking into a strangely spaced-out, psychedelic main song body. Robin Gibb's lead vocals veered toward the melodramatic and poignant, and the orchestra did dress up some of the songs a little sweetly, yet overall the group presented themselves as a proficient rock ensemble who'd filled their debut album with a full set of solid, refreshingly original songs. [In 2006, as part of the shift of the group's back catalog to Reprise Records, Bee Gees' 1st was reissued in remastered form, with seriously improved sound and expanded to two CDs with a brace of chronologically-related outtakes -- comprising some of the most fascinating material of their history -- initially as part of the collection The Studio Albums 1967-1968.]