Still Waters (Bee Gees album)

Still Waters is the twenty-first studio album by the pop group the Bee Gees, released on 10 March 1997 in the UK by Polydor, and on 6 May the same year in the US by A&M.

Still Waters
Studio album by
Bee Gees
Released10 March 1997 (UK)
6 May 1997 (US)
RecordedOctober 1995 – August 1996
StudioMiddle Ear Studios, Miami Beach
GenreContemporary R&B, new jack swing, pop rock
Length53:40
LabelPolydor (UK)
A&M (USA)
ProducerBarry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Russ Titelman, David Foster, Hugh Padgham, Raphael Saadiq, Arif Mardin
Bee Gees chronology
Size Isn't Everything
(1993)		 Still Waters
(1997)		 One Night Only
(1998)

Background

In 1994, the Bee Gees and Polydor Records had planned a major tour to promote Size Isn't Everything (1993) but it was postponed in February the same year due to Barry Gibb's trouble with arthritis in his back, right hand and right knee. Following the cancellation of the tour, Robin Gibb told the press that the group was working on an album of acoustic versions of songs they had written for other artists. The project was later called Love Songs, which featured some new recordings and was announced as the Bee Gees' new album in September 1994 and planned for release on 14 February (Valentine's Day) of 1995. However, their record company rejected the album.[1]

Around 1994, the Bee Gees did record six songs, one of which was called "Miracles Happen" which was written and recorded to be the title song for a new film version of Miracle on 34th Street; the Bee Gees got the job in June 1994 and quickly returned this recording, with a boys’ choir and a big string section backing them. The filmmakers however decided later to use only old Christmas songs. On the same session, they also did their own version of their compositions such as "Emotion" (Samantha Sang), "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick), "Love Never Dies" and "Rings Around the Moon", which were later released as B-sides.[1]

Recording

In July 1995, they started with seven demos for what would become included on the album, along with four demos recorded in the second quarter of 1995. In the October 1995 sessions they recorded their rendition of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for a Carole King tribute album Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King.[2]

In March 1996, they relocated to The Hit Factory in New York to record two songs. Around 1996, the Bee Gees used session musicians to complete the entire album, produced by Russ Titelman. Also in 1996, the Bee Gees recorded two songs with two members of P.M. Dawn, Attrel Cordes and Jarett Cordes. The producer on "With My Eyes Closed" was Raphael Saadiq. "Still Waters (Run Deep)" was produced by Hugh Padgham. The last song recorded for the album was "Closer than Close" which features Maurice Gibb's lead vocals produced by the brothers themselves.[3]

Release
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
Chicago Tribune[5]
Entertainment Weekly(C)[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
Rolling Stone[8]

The Bee Gees recorded further new songs in 1996 and 1997, and Still Waters was released in March 1997. Though receiving lukewarm reviews from critics, the album was their most successful album in almost twenty years; it was released at a time when the Bee Gees were being awarded for lifetime achievements, had recently been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were regaining high exposure on television, particularly VH1. The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide, peaking at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and reaching No. 11 in the United States. The Bee Gees made the album with a variety of top producers, including Russ Titelman, David Foster, Hugh Padgham, and Arif Mardin. The first single off the album, "Alone", was a worldwide hit, peaking at No. 5 in the UK and No. 28 in the United States, where it began as a "hot shot debut" at No. 34. "I Could Not Love You More" and "Still Waters (Run Deep)" also reached the UK top 20.

In a special agreement with Target, Polydor also sold a special edition of the album which included a bonus CD of songs from their VH1 Storytellers concert. This CD has never been made commercially available outside of the Target agreement.

Reception

“There is life in the old dog yet! The water is still flowing in the river under the family name of Bee Gees! The brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb did their best once again, for the umpteenth time, or rather to be even said, in their own style, as always,” the album left a very good impression on the stuff of the newspaper “Muzykalnaya Gazeta”.[9]

Aftermath

In 2003 Robin Gibb re-recorded the track "My Lover's Prayer" as a duet with Alistair Griffin. This reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart as a double A-side single with Griffin's solo recording of "Bring It On". It also appears on Griffin's debut album Bring It On, which reached No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart.

The album became one of the first of the Bee Gees' catalogue to be re-released on Reprise Records after the group regained the rights to all of their recordings in 2006.

Track listing

All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.

  1. "Alone" – 4:49 (Lead Vocal: Barry and Robin)
  2. "I Surrender" – 4:18 (Lead Vocal: Barry)
  3. "I Could Not Love You More" – 3:43 (Lead Vocal: Barry)
  4. "Still Waters Run Deep" – 4:08 (Lead Vocal: Barry and Robin)
  5. "My Lover's Prayer" – 4:00 (Lead Vocal: Barry and Robin)
  6. "With My Eyes Closed" – 4:19 (Lead Vocal: Barry)
  7. "Irresistible Force" – 4:36 (Lead Vocal: Robin and Barry)
  8. "Closer Than Close" – 4:34 (Lead Vocal: Maurice)
  9. "I Will" – 5:08 (Lead Vocal: Barry and Robin)
  10. "Obsessions" – 4:43 (Lead Vocal: Barry)
  11. "Miracles Happen" – 4:12 (Lead Vocal: Barry)
  12. "Smoke and Mirrors" – 5:00 (Lead Vocal: Robin)

Bonus tracks

  1. "Rings Around the Moon" – 4:30 (Lead Vocal: Robin)
  2. "Love Never Dies" – 4:07 (Lead Vocal: Robin and Maurice)

Personnel
Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[39] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[40] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[41] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[42] Gold 225,100[43]
Germany (BVMI)[44] Platinum 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[45] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[46] 2× Platinum 30,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[47] Gold 50,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[48] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[50] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[51] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1994". Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  2. Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1995". Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  3. Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1996". Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Still Waters at AllMusic
  5. Caro, Mark (6 June 1997). "Review: Bee Gees Still Waters". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. Schinder, Scott (9 May 1997). "Still Waters Review". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  7. Gardner, Elysa (10 May 1997). "Bee Gees Show Just a Glimmer of Old Magic". articles.latimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  8. Moon, Tom (22 April 1997). "Music Review: Still Waters by the Bee Gees". Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  9. "Обзор Bee Gees Still Waters" [Review of Still Waters by Bee Gees]. Muzykalnaya Gazeta (in Russian) (26). 1997 [1997]. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  10. "australian-charts.com Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  11. "austriancharts.at Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  12. "ultratop.be Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  13. "ultratop.be Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  14. and Archives Canada. Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 February 2012
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  17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (5 April 1997). Billboard – 5 April 1997. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  18. "lescharts.com Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). lescharts.com. SNEP. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  19. "Album Search: Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  20. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1997" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
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  26. "allmusic ((( Still Waters > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
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  29. "Jaaroverzichten 1997". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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  34. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
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  41. "Canadian album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  42. "French album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  43. "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  44. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bee Gees; 'Still Waters')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  45. "Dutch album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 29 October 2011. Enter Still Waters in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  46. "New Zealand album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  47. "Polish album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
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  49. "British album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 January 2015. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Still Waters in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  50. "American album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 February 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  51. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
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