Spirits Having Flown

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Spirits Having Flown
Studio album by the Bee Gees
Released 5 February 1979 (1979-02-05)[1]
Recorded March–November, 1978 Criteria Studios, Miami
Genre Soft rock, disco[2]
Length 45:53
Label RSO, Warner Bros.
Producer The Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
the Bee Gees chronology
Saturday Night Fever
(1977)		 Spirits Having Flown
(1979)		 Bee Gees Greatest
(1979)

Spirits Having Flown is the Bee Gees' fifteenth original album (thirteenth internationally), released on 5 February 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 giving them an unbroken run of six US chart-toppers tying with The Beatles. 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 20 million copies worldwide.[3]

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).

Although the band was unaware of it at the time, Spirits Having Flown would mark a turning point in their career, the high point before a severe downturn from which they would never fully recover. They would never again experience the same level of success; in fact, they would endure a near-total radio blackout that Robin Gibb would refer to as "censorship" and "evil" in interviews.

Contents

Recording sessions[edit]

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"Love You Inside Out", by The Bee Gees
The Bee Gee's ninth US number one single from 1979. It topped the chart for three weeks.
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Spirits Having Flown was the most complex and ambitious album the Bee Gees ever worked on, taking much of 1978 to complete. 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. Production was much more advanced than the group's previous albums, with heavy use of studio effects and multi-layered vocal harmonies. On the other hand, it meant that most of the songs on Spirits Having Flown were unsuitable for live performance.

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 four Bee Gees albums, Maurice did not have any lead vocals.

The Bee Gees had been effectively typecast as a disco group after Saturday Night Fever, and in a 1978 interview Barry remarked "People think we're just about disco now. Of course that's not true. If you look at the SNF soundtrack, there's some dance music, but we also have ballads like More Than A Woman." In an effort to break away from this stigma, Spirits Having Flown contained no disco tracks,[citation needed] though the heavy use of Barry's falsetto lead on the majority of the album draws comparison to the tracks from Saturday Night Fever and therefore is erroneously considered a disco album.

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. Thus the Bee Gees would return the favour as they appeared on Chicago's song "Little Miss Lovin'" and their keyboardist Blue Weaver appeared on "No Tell Lover"

Release and reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars [2]
Robert Christgau B− [4]

The eagerly-anticipated Spirits Having Flown was released in February, 1979, with full page ads in Billboard magazine and Rolling Stone, which gave the album a lengthy, but positive review. It topped the album charts in several countries, including both the U.S. and the U.K. Its three singles "Tragedy", "Too Much Heaven" and "Love You Inside Out" all topped the charts in the US. It was also the first Bee Gees album to make a noticeable presence on the UK charts in a decade. In the US, it notably got airplay on black music stations, vindicating the group's stated mission of "blue-eyed soul". They also embarked on a lavish US tour in 1979 to promote the album, which marked the final climax of their commercial success before declining in popularity during the coming years. The album is claimed to have sold 20 million copies worldwide.[3]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb

Side one
  1. "Tragedy" – 5:08
  2. "Too Much Heaven" – 5:02
  3. "Love You Inside Out" – 4:13
  4. "Reaching Out" – 4:07
  5. "Spirits (Having Flown)" – 5:21
Side two
  1. "Search, Find" – 4:16
  2. "Stop (Think Again)" – 6:41
  3. "Living Together" – 4:23
  4. "I'm Satisfied" – 3:55
  5. "Until" – 2:27

Singles[edit]

Date Single Notes Peak positions
November 1978 "Too Much Heaven" Released worldwide #1 US, No. 1 Norway, No. 3 UK, No. 1 Brazil, No. 2 France, No. 1 Italy, No. 1 New Zealand, No. 1 Canada
February 1979 "Tragedy" Released worldwide #1 US, No. 1 Brazil, No. 1 UK, No. 1 Canada, No. 1 Spain, No. 2 Germany, No. 1 Italy, No. 1 France, No. 1 Brazil, No. 1 Ireland, No. 1 Nepal, No. 1 Peru
April 1979 "Love You Inside Out" Released worldwide #1 US, No. 13 UK, No. 1 Canada, No. 3 Chile, No. 6 Ireland, No. 17 Italy
November 1979 "Spirits (Having Flown)" Released in conjunction with Bee Gees Greatest #16 UK, No. 14 Ireland, No. 30 Nepal

Rejected material[edit]

The Bee Gees also recorded "Desire" for the album but it was rejected and instead released as an Andy Gibb solo single.

Awards[edit]

Sprits Having Flown was voted Best Pop/Rock Album of 1979 at the 1980 American Music Awards ceremony.

1979 North American tour[edit]

Main article: 1979 Spirits Having Flown Tour

Personnel[edit]

Bee Gees
Bee Gees Band
Additional personnel
  • 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

Charts[edit]

Album[edit]

Chart (1979) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[5] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[6] 2
Canadian Albums Chart[7] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[8] 3
French Albums Chart[9] 1
Italian Albums Chart[10] 1
Japanese Albums Chart[11] 2
New Zealand Albums Chart[12] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[13] 1
Swedish Top 60 Albums[14] 1
UK Albums Chart[15] 1
US Billboard 200[16] 1
West German Albums Chart[17] 1

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (1979) Position
Australian Albums Chart[5] 6
Austrian Albums Chart[18] 4
Canadian Albums Chart[19] 3
French Albums Chart[20] 21
Italian Albums Chart[10] 5
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 25
UK Albums Chart[22] 7
U.S. Billboard 200[23] 2

Certifications and sales[edit]

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[24] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[25] Gold 25,000[25]
France (SNEP)[26] Gold 879,900[27]
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[28] Platinum 15,000*
Japan (Oricon Charts) 259,000[11]
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[30] Platinum 4,000,000+[31]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart procession and succession[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ("...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. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Allmusic review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17. 
  3. ^ a b White, Timothy (1997-02-15). Billboard Vol. 109, No. 7: Bee Gees: 'Still' Tking Chances. Billboard. Retrieved 2012-08-11. 
  4. ^ "CG: Bee Gees". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-08-17. 
  5. ^ a b Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 
  6. ^ "Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (ASP). Austrian Charts (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  7. ^ "100 Albums" (PHP). RPM 31 (9). 26 May 1979. Retrieved 25 May 2011. 
  8. ^ "Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (ASP). Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien, MegaCharts. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  9. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  10. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1979" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  11. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9. 
  12. ^ "Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (ASP). Charts.Org.NZ. Hung Medien, Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  13. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (ASP). Retrieved 16 January 2012. 
  14. ^ "Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (ASP). Swedish Charts (in Swedish). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  15. ^ "Chart Stats – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 7 February 2012. 
  16. ^ Allmusic – Bee Gees > Spirits Having Flown> Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  17. ^ "Album Search: Bee Gees > Spirits Having Flown" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 16 January 2012. 
  18. ^ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1979" (ASP) (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2011. 
  19. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1979". RPM. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  20. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1979 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  21. ^ 1979年アルバム年間ヒットチャート "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1979" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  22. ^ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 4 October 2011. 
  23. ^ Billboard.com – Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200. Retrieved 4 October 2011. 
  24. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown". Music Canada. 
  25. ^ a b "Finnish album certifications – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 29 November 2011. 
  26. ^ "French album certifications – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown" (in French). InfoDisc.  Select BEE GEES and click OK
  27. ^ "Les Albums Or" (PHP). infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  28. ^ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1979". IFPI Hong Kong. 
  29. ^ "British album certifications – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown". British Phonographic Industry.  Enter Spirits Having Flown in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  30. ^ "American album certifications – Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  31. ^ Kendall Agee, Warren; Phillip H. Ault and Edwin Emery (1982-01-01). Perspectives on mass communications. Harper & Row. Retrieved 2012-08-11. 
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