Bee Gees - Odessa (1969)

So... Bee Gees. Everyone knows "Staying Alive" by Bee Gees, and everyone loves that one song by Bee Gees. So clearly there are two things that could make this listen and review a total disaster. First, are there actual Bee Gees fans out there that salivate over entire albums by this band? Not that popularity alone would legitimize whether or not an album or band were good. But a band that had such an Earth-smashing hit like "Staying Alive" you'd think would get some sort of fandom. I just never hear from such fans, unlike say people who love ABBA. Second, this album came out before "Staying Alive" and disco became big. What the hell is early Bee Gees going to sound like? Actually, since I only know that one song, and for all I know it's a total outlier, what the hell are Bee Gees going to sound like at all?

Of course Odessa has to start with a traditional acoustic folk/hymnal piece just to fuck with me. Whichever Bee Gee is singing lead is using a warbly nasal tenor, as opposed to the falsetto you might recognize. I like the arrangement and melody of "Odessa [City On The Black Sea]" but the vocals are a bit harsh, and the natural tremolo is pretty obnoxious.

Thus far, a few tracks in, the songs are plenty lovely, a pleasing mix of acoustic guitar with orchestral strings. The singing is pretty heavy-handed though. I feel like these melodies could have been handled better by someone with a fuller, more powerful voice, like a Scott Walker-type. "Marley Purt Drive" is an interesting development. It's a slow honky-tonk country number that feels like a rewrite of "The Weight" by The Band. It's strange because the shift in tone to a more relaxed down-home feel fits the vocals much better. The following track "Edison" is a bit sillier but works on similar lines.

I figured it out, kinda. Bee Gees are like a version of The Rolling Stones if they weren't so raunchy. Like Mick Jagger the lead vocalist has a gravely unremarkable voice. The band is crunchy and trying to create something impactful like The Beatles were doing in the late 1960s, sorta like how The Rolling Stones were constantly answering anything The Beatles did with something dirty and sexual. This is probably not the key reason Bee Gees existed, but if I were alive in the late 60s that's probably how I'd feel about Odessa.

Actually, this song "Give Your Best" sounds like it could have been written for one of The Beatles albums and been sung by Ringo. It reminds me of "What Goes On" off Rubber Soul or "Don't Pass Me By" from Revolver.

Odessa is short by double-album standards at just over one hour, and it's middle section is pretty pleasant, easy-going folkish fare. I still feel like the album went on a bit too long, and the orchestral sections and slow ballads dragged a little. I still kinda liked it. 3 stars.