Spirits Having Flown
| Spirits Having Flown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by the Bee Gees | ||||
| Released | 5 February 1979[1] | |||
| Recorded | March-November, 1978 Criteria Studios, Miami | |||
| Genre | Rock, euro disco, pop, funk, reggae, soft rock, R&B, soul, ballad | |||
| Length | 45:53 | |||
| Label | RSO/Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | The Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson | |||
| the Bee Gees chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Robert Christgau | (B-) link |
Spirits Having Flown is the Bee Gees' fifteenth original album, released in 1979. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles which all went to no.1 in the US. It was also the first Bee Gees album to make the UK top 40 in ten years (not counting the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever), as well as being their first and only UK no.1 album. It has sold 30 million copies worldwide.[2]
The title track (which, unlike the album title, includes parentheses) was also released as a single in the UK and a few other countries in December 1979. It reached No. 16 in the UK chart in January 1980, but its relatively low chart position and its somewhat limited release means that, although it is a well known track, it is often absent from Bee Gees Greatest Hits compilations. The exception is Bee Gees Greatest released in 1979 (for which the single was issued to promote).
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[edit] Recording sessions
The Bee Gees spent much of 1978 on Spirits Having Flown, the most time they had ever spent on one album. Barry said that he felt it had to live up to the sensational success of Saturday Night Fever. This only heightened any tendencies the Bee Gees had toward perfectionism, Barry in particular. No doubt each song has many, many recording dates, as they carefully recorded and re-recorded each nuance, but none of the actual dates are known. There was a break from about the second week of May to the last week of July.
Co-producer Albhy Galuten recalls Spirits Having Flown as being created primarily by Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson and himself putting in long days and nights at Criteria Studios. Blue Weaver recalls others being involved. Both agree that Robin Gibb was active behind the scenes in songwriting and offering feedback to the recording process, but Maurice Gibb contributes probably the least he did on any Bee Gees album. Not only was his alcoholism sapping his creativity, but he was having back pains finally diagnosed in 1980 as caused by a bad disk.
In the recording phase Robin and Maurice now mainly played the role of backing and harmony vocalists, and even in that capacity Barry did many of the vocal dubs himself as he went over and over the recorded work. Robin contributed one lead vocal ("Living Together") which was sung in falsetto with Barry providing alternating lead vocals in his normal register. This was Robin's lowest amount of lead vocals on any Bee Gees album with the exception of 1970's Cucumber Castle, for which he was not part of the group at that time. As with the last five Bee Gees albums, Maurice did not have any lead vocals.
The horn section from Chicago (James Pankow, Walt Parazaider and Lee Loughnane) made a guest appearance on this album. At the time, they were next door working on the Chicago album Hot Streets.
[edit] Track listing
- "Tragedy" – 5:05
- "Too Much Heaven" – 4:57
- "Love You Inside Out" – 4:13
- "Reaching Out" – 4:07
- "Spirits (Having Flown)" – 5:21
- "Search, Find" – 4:16
- "Stop (Think Again)" – 6:41
- "Living Together" – 4:23
- "I'm Satisfied" – 3:55
- "Until" – 2:27
All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
[edit] Singles
| Date | Single | Notes | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 1978 | "Too Much Heaven" | Released worldwide | #1 US, #1 Norway, #3 UK, #1 Brazil , #2 France, #1 Italy, #1 New Zealand, #1 Canada |
| February 1979 | "Tragedy" | Released worldwide | #1 US, #1 Brazil, #1 UK, #1 Canada, #1 Spain, #2 Germany, #1 Italy, #1 France, #1 Brazil, #1 Ireland, #1 Nepal, #1 Peru |
| April 1979 | "Love You Inside Out" | Released worldwide | #1 US, #13 UK, #1 Canada, #3 Chile, #6 Ireland, #17 Italy |
| November 1979 | "Spirits (Having Flown)" | Released in conjunction with Bee Gees Greatest | #16 UK, #14 Ireland, #30 Nepal |
[edit] Rejected material
The Bee Gees also recorded "Desire" for the album but it was rejected and instead released as an Andy Gibb solo single.
[edit] Awards
Sprits Having Flown was voted Best Pop/Rock Album of 1979 at the 1980 American Music Awards ceremony.
[edit] 1979 North American tour
[edit] Personnel
- Barry Gibb - Guitar, Vocals
- Robin Gibb - Vocals
- Maurice Gibb - Bass, Vocals
- Blue Weaver - Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards, Vibraphone, Arp
- Alan Kendall - Bass, Guitar
- Dennis Bryon - Drums
- Neal Bonsanti - Horns
- Gary Brown - Saxophone
- Harold Cowart - Bass
- Kenneth Faulk - Horns
- Albhy Galuten - Synthesizer, Bass, Conductor
- Peter Graves - Horns
- Joe Lala - Percussion, Conga
- Lee Loughnane - Horns
- Herbie Mann - Flute
- James Pankow - Horns
- Walter Parazaider - Horns
- Bill Purse - Horns
- Whit Sidener - Horns
- George Terry - Guitar
- Stanley Webb - Horns
- Daniel Ben Zubulon - Percussion, Conga
[edit] Chart performance
| Country | Peak Chart Position |
Weeks On Chart |
| US | 1 | 55 |
| US CB | 1 | 55 |
| US RW | 1 | 55 |
| FR | 1 | 48 |
| CA | 1 | 37 |
| UK | 1[3] | 33 |
| AU | 1 | 30 |
| ES | 1 | 28 |
| NZ | 1 | 20 |
| NL | 1 | 19 |
| NO | 1 | 17 |
| SE | 1 | 15 |
| JP | 2 | 59 |
| AT | 2 | 28 |
[edit] Audio sample
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The Bee Gee's ninth US number one single from 1979. It topped the chart for three weeks.
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ ("...being released world-wide tomorrow...") Green, Gavin (4 February 1979). "The Bee Gees Latest Album Less Feverish But A Goer". The Sydney Morning Herald: 88. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3p9WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=966,1428348&dq=spirits-having-flown&hl=en. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
- ^ ""The Bee Gees on MSN Music"". http://music.msn.com/music/artist-biography/bee-gees/.
- ^ "Number 1 Albums – 1970s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209095720/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php?show=3. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
| Preceded by Blondes Have More Fun by Rod Stewart |
Billboard 200 number-one album March 3 - April 6, 1979 April 21–27, 1979 |
Succeeded by Minute by Minute by Doobie Brothers |
| Preceded by Blondes Have More Fun by Rod Stewart |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album March 12 - April 15, 1979 |
Succeeded by Breakfast in America by Supertramp |
| Preceded by Parallel Lines by Blondie |
UK Albums Chart number one album 17–24 March 1979 |
Succeeded by Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 by Barbra Streisand |
