Because they got so massively popular for a stretch in the late ‘70s by leaning into the sound that was prevalent at the time, the Bee Gees are often pigeonholed as disco artists—at least by those who don’t know better. In actuality, they were churning out hits with regularity long before that. Those hits tended to be lush pop songs that displayed the band’s gifts for melodic songwriting and otherworldly fraternal harmonies.
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We’re going to count down the eight greatest Bee Gees pre-disco songs. For the purpose of the rankings, anything recorded before “Jive Talkin’,” the 1975 single that marked the band’s first foray into Discotown, is game. Let’s see what makes the cut as we look at the Brothers Gibb’s early-career brilliance.
8. “First of May” (1969)
This song actually created a rift among the brothers, as Robin was upset that a song he had written (“Lamplight”) was passed over as the A-side of the single in favor of “First of May,” written by Barry and Maurice. Robin actually left the band briefly, in part because of that decision. But it’s hard to argue with the results, as this one tells a beautiful tale of memory and loss with a melody that keeps soaring ever-skyward. Great opening lines, too: When I was small / And Christmas trees were tall.
7. “To Love Somebody” (1967)
Barry Gibb was asked to write a song for the great Otis Redding, and he responded with this. Unfortunately, Redding died before he could record the beautiful tune, leaving the Bee Gees to put their own stamp on it. And did they ever. Barry takes the lead on this most soulful of numbers, while his brothers give supple support with their harmonies in the chorus. And such a clever chorus it is, as it reckons with the singer’s beloved not loving him as much as he loves her: You don’t know what it’s like / To love somebody, to love somebody / The way I love you.
6. “Massachusetts” (1967)
The narrator of this beauty keeps getting pulled back to the titular state, which is ironic because the Gibbs had never been there when they wrote the song. They just liked the sound of the word, and they certainly make it sound poetic when they’re coming at it from all angles in their harmonies. Robin sings lead on the track, and he sounds suitably torn about starting a new life and trying to get back to where he once belonged.
5. “Run to Me” (1972)
The Bee Gees had lost a bit of their commercial steam by the time they recorded this song in 1972. But they certainly recaptured some magic on the track. It’s a perfect match of sound and subject matter. After all, “Run to Me” is about a man pledging eternal support to someone he loves. And when the voices come piling on top of one another in the chorus, it’s like the aural equivalent of that support.
4. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” (1971)
The bad blood caused by “First of May” had healed in time for Barry and Robin Gibb to reconcile and write this one. Perhaps the brothers’ feelings concerning the reunion filtered into “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” which attempts to answer the unanswerable question posed by the title. Al Green later did an incredible version of this. But the original stands pretty tall, as well.
3. ”I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” (1968)
The early Bee Gees songs often featured high drama in the lyrics to match the swoops and swerves of the melodies. Nowhere was that more apparent than in “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” the story of a death row inmate desperate for one more chance to communicate with his love. We never find out if she gets the message, but it’s certain she would have been moved by the earnestness of the voices delivering it.
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Bee Gees’ “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You”]
2. “I Started a Joke” (1968)
It’s such a delicate melody, conjured by Robin, who also takes the lead vocal with no harmony help from his brothers. He delivers a command performance, all tremulous and wounded in the verses, urgent and potent in the middle-eights. The lyrics stay vague enough that you can make your own interpretation as to why everything this individual initiates eventually takes a 180-degree turn. Robin’s improvisational vocal runs as the song comes to a crashing close are as moving as it gets.
1. ”Words” (1968)
There’s a lot to love about this song. You have the cool compressed piano sound, the subtle strings, the wordless middle-eight. But it’s really about the message, as well as Barry Gibb’s overpowering performance. Whoever made the decision to let him sing the final repeat of the refrain a cappella should be knighted, because it’s one of those goosebump-inducing moments. It’s almost as if Barry’s vibrato mesmerizes the musicians for a beat or two before they remember to finish the song.
Photo by RB/Redferns
