Final album by Bee Gee Robin Gibb due next month

Having recently seen Barry Gibb live for the first time at the Hollywood Bowl and reviewed one of their reissues, I've been a Bee Gees mode lately. Here's more news...

 

On Sept. 30, Reprise/Warner/Rhino will release 50 St. Catherine’s Drive, the last solo album by the legendary songwriter, performer and founding Bee Gee, Robin Gibb, who died in May 2012.

 

The album was compiled by his wife Dwina Gibb and son RJ Gibb, and includes most of the tracks originally recorded for the album, plus the last tracks written and recorded by Robin Gibb. 

 

Named 50 St. Catherine’s Drive – the address of the house where Robin was born in Douglas on the Isle of Man – the 17-track album is a reflective, sometimes autobiographical collection of songs mainly recorded between 2006 and 2008, but never released.

 

With the addition of some of the final recordings by Robin Gibb, the album is a unique insight into the genius songwriting talent of this much-loved and greatly missed globally renowned musician. The album also includes three tracks co-written with his son RJ Gibb, and was produced by Peter-John Vettese.

 

The final track on the album, “Sydney,” is also the very last track recorded by Robin. As a demo recording, it is not as produced as the other tracks on the album, and Robin’s wife, Dwina Gibb, explains the inclusion of the track:

 

“Robin composed this late at night, end of July 2011, at our home, The Prebendal. He used the bedroom keyboards and then GarageBand on an iPad. He wished to finish this song in a studio with Barry, for a new album he hoped they would record together, but his health prevented this. He missed his twin brother Maurice, who had passed away; but when he closed his eyes, the three young brothers were back in Sydney, Australia, happy together with their dreams and hopes for the future. Their future creations of course affected the world. This fragment of song is poignant, wistful, beautiful and unfinished. It belongs on this album as one of his last works. He cried when he wrote it, and I wept when I heard it.”

 

Track listing:

 

1.     Days Of Wine & Roses

2.     Instant Love

3.     Alan Freeman Days

4.     Wherever You Go

5.     I Am The World (New Version)

6.     Mother

7.     Anniversary

8.     Sorry

9.     Cherish

10.   Don’t Cry Alone

11.   Avalanche

12.   One Way Love

13.   Broken Wings

14.   Sanctuary

15.   Solid

16.   All We Have Is Now

17.   Sydney