Brilliant from Birth

• Artist: Bee Gees
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 25, 1998
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

At last, a comprehensive collection of everything the group recorded in their "Australian years," from 1963 to 1966, before their move to England and rapid ascent to international stardom. These two CDs -- an entirely different package from the similarly titled, but much shorter, compilation 1963-1966: Birth of Brilliance -- include 63 songs, some of which are quite familiar to Bee Gees fans via numerous reissues, but some of which were hard to find outside of Australia, or indeed anywhere. Actually, this turns out to be a mixed blessing, since the rarer tracks are usually way less interesting than the numerous fine Beatlesque ones (such as "Peace of Mind," "Wine and Women," "I Want Home," "All of My Life") that have been pretty easy to acquire on U.S. repackages. There are, for instance, a bunch of fairly horrible MOR pop and country covers, presumably dating from circa 1963. Although it has sometimes been claimed that the Bee Gees sounded like the Beatles by coincidence because they grew up in Manchester, on the basis of this evidence, it seems unquestionable that they deliberately revamped their sound into a Fab Four vein after the Beatles became huge. There are some cool rarities like the moody, folk-rockish "Lonely Winter" and good quality TV broadcasts of Beatles, Lovin' Spoonful, and Dave Clark Five covers (their take on the DC5's "Can't You See That She's Mine" is surprisingly good). It's also good to have comprehensive (and typo-filled) liner notes covering the Australian period, but the utter lack of specific recording/release dates and sources for any of the tracks is exasperating. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Battle of the Blue and Grey	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:05)
The Three Kisses of Love	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(1:48)
Timber	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(1:47)
Take Hold of That Star	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:40)
Peace of Mind	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:21)
Don't Say Goodbye	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:21)
Claustrophobia	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:14)
Could It Be	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:06)
Turn Around, Look at Me	Jerry Capehart	Bee Gees	(2:19)
Theme from Jamie McPheeters	Jerry Capehart	Bee Gees	(1:52)
Every Day I Have to Cry Some	Arthur Alexander	Bee Gees	(2:09)
You Wouldn't Know	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:00)
Wine and Women	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:52)
Follow the Wind	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:10)
I Was a Lover, A Leader of Men	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:32)
And the Children Laughing	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:20)
I Don't Think It's Funny	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:55)
How Love Was True	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:19)
To Be or Not to Be	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:10)
Cherry Red	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:07)
I Want Home	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:25)
The End	Jimmy Krondes, Sid Jacobson	Bee Gees	(2:54)
Hallelujah, I Love Her So	Ray Charles	Bee Gees	(2:15)
I Love You Because	Leon Payne	Bee Gees	(2:30)
Somewhere	Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim	Bee Gees	(3:04)
The Twelfth of Never	Jerry Livingston, Paul Francis Webster	Bee Gees	(2:41)
You're the Reason	Terry Fell, Bobby Edwards, James F. Hanley, Mildred Imes	Bee Gees	(2:23)
You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You	Russ Morgan, Larry Stock, James Cavanaugh	Bee Gees	(1:57)
All by Myself	Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:25)
Butterfly	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:13)
Can't You See That She's Mine	Dave Clark, M. Smith	Bee Gees	(2:17)
From Me to You	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Bee Gees	(1:54)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Monday's Rain	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:00)
All of My Life	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:39)
Where Are You	Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:13)
Playdown	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:55)
Big Chance	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(1:42)
Glasshouse	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(1:57)
How Many Birds	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(1:59)
Second Hand People	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:06)
I Don't Know Why I Bother With Myself	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:47)
Jingle Jangle	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:13)
Tint of Blue	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:07)
Born a Man	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(3:12)
Spicks & Specks	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:56)
I Am the World	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:35)
Daydream	John Sebastian	Bee Gees	(2:23)
Forever	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:48)
Coalman	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:53)
Exit, Stage Right	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:29)
Paperback Writer	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Bee Gees	(2:12)
I'll Know What to Do	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:19)
In the Morning	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:52)
Like Nobody Else	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:35)
Lonely Winter	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:33)
Lum-De-Loo	Robin Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:05)
Storm	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:31)
Terrible Way to Treat Your Baby	Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:51)
Yesterday's Gone	Chad Stuart, Wendy Kidd	Bee Gees	(2:28)
You Won't See Me	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Bee Gees	(3:15)
Top Hat	Barry Gibb	Bee Gees	(2:16)
Just One Look		Bee Gees	(1:58)
Ticket to Ride	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Bee Gees	(3:16)

Credits

Bee Gees (Main Performer), Glenn A. Baker (Liner Notes), Glenn A. Baker (Photography), Warren Barnett (Producer), Warren Barnett (Technical Producer), Warren Fahey (Producer), Warren Fahey (Executive Producer), Warren Fahey (Photography), Louis Cook (Art Direction), Albert Zychowski (Mastering)