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Product Description
1975's funk/disco 'comeback' album reissued at an excellent price, features "Jive Talkin" & "Nights on Broadway".
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Released after three hitless years, by the time Main Course came out in 1975 most people thought the Bee Gees were dead and gone. After recording some of the most startling pop music of the late 60s and early 70s the Gibb brothers were struggling to get hits when previously they had been dominating the charts with classics like NY Mining Disaster, To Love Somebody, Words, I've Gotta Get A Message and How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. They needed revitalisation and they got it with a move to Miami and famed Atlantic producer Arif Mardin.
On Main Course Mardin encouraged the Bee Gees to explore their soul roots without completely forgetting the balladeering that had taken them to the top in the first place. What began as Barry screaming in tune for adlibs became the famous Bee Gees falsetto in the process and before they knew the group was selling out concert halls across the States for the first time since the late sixties.
Main Course produced three immediate hits with an unmistakable R&B influence: Jive Talkin', Nights On Broadway and the joyous Fanny Be Tender. The wonderfully bizarre Edge Of The Universe was also to become a hit off their live album while the country Come On Over became a big hit for Olivia Newton-John. Five classics from one album was not a bad effort.
More than 25 years since its release Main Course still stands as the finest Bee Gees' album, a mighty achievement against the likes of the brilliant First, Odessa, Spirits Having Flown, One and Size Isn't Everything. It revitalised a stagnant band, encompassed every musical style from rock, to R&B, to country, to pop. Exquisitely sung in true Gibb style, this album is the definitive Bee Gees album and one of the landmarks of the 1970s.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In the spring of 1975, a producer named Robert Stigwood sent thousands of copies of a single with no artist's name on them, with a title called "Jive Talkin'". It was an immediate hit and people wanted more. Remember, that in 1967, Mr. Stigwood pulled this same stunt with "New York Mining Disaster 1941", teasing the public into thinking it was the Beatles trying to see if they could make it under a different band title. The resulting surprise was that it was the Bee Gees; that tear-jerking, ballad writing trio that had faded into an old record collection that millions of record buyers owned. "Jive Talkin'" went to #1. "Night On Broadway" followed with two versions - one with the slow bridge and one without. "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)" was the third hit off the album. This latter one being a studio gem, but virtually UN-singable in public due to the intense over layered vocal work. Being a 'single' oriented group in the past, the Bee Gees had finally crafted an album worthy of all ten songs being memorable. "Wind Of Change" was actually the first demo sent to Stigwood, but became a concert staple instead with it's strong beat and funky rhythm. If you still longed for the old Bee Gees sound, "Songbird" fits the bill (no pun intended). It's as strong a love ballad as any they have had in the past. "Country Lanes" is nearly an anthem in it's perseverance of commitment to a lover. "Edge Of The Universe" and "All This Making Love" are, admittedly, novelty songs, but "Baby, As You Turn Away" is a grand finale. What better way to also compliment your latest album production than to have another artist (Olivia Newton-John) make a hit out of "Come On Over"? Given the times, the music and the variety, Main Course is no doubt one of the most important albums the Bee Gees have had in their roller coaster career.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is an important album for those seeking to understand the Bee Gees' musical progression. This is the crossover album where songs which remain faithful to their late sixties and early seventies periods meet the new R&B sound, as they called it in the mid seventies.
Without doubt 'Jive Talkin' is the show stopper which along with 'Nights on Broadway' really made the public sit up and take notice of the change. Whereas 'Come On Over' and 'Country Lanes' are examples of the country-inspired ballads the Bee Gees favoured on previous releases.
'Songbird', 'Fanny' and 'Baby As You Turn Away' are as beautiful today, as they are timeless; and stand as testimony to the talents of the Bee Gees. Is it any wonder that their records go on selling years after they were made?
Buy 'Main Course' to hear the songs in their original context. It's well worth reliving the experience!
Without doubt 'Jive Talkin' is the show stopper which along with 'Nights on Broadway' really made the public sit up and take notice of the change. Whereas 'Come On Over' and 'Country Lanes' are examples of the country-inspired ballads the Bee Gees favoured on previous releases.
'Songbird', 'Fanny' and 'Baby As You Turn Away' are as beautiful today, as they are timeless; and stand as testimony to the talents of the Bee Gees. Is it any wonder that their records go on selling years after they were made?
Buy 'Main Course' to hear the songs in their original context. It's well worth reliving the experience!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
main course
The disc was faulty, keep skipping track. Same problem with the replacement disc. Customer services agreed to check if the batch was faulty and advised me to leave a six to eight... Read more
Published 3 months ago by jay claw
'Main Course' - The Bee Gees At A Crossroad
In many ways 'Main Course' marks a meeting of the old big ballad influenced Bee Gees with the new R+B/soul style they were beginning to incorporate into their sound. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by Jervis
A Classic
I can't really add much to the comments already given here. Like many people I have grown up on the greatest hits albums of the Bee Gees and had no idea that the band had written... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2004 by "phyllisasious"
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