Home » The Bee Gees and others: “Too Much Heaven” minus the falsetto

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The Bee Gees and others: “Too Much Heaven” minus the falsetto — 15 Comments

  1. Great song, one of my favorites. OMG, i love all their songs))
    And “One For All Tour”(1989) is BG`s best concert IMHO
    Thanks for sharing, dear Neo!

  2. I’ve gained a much deeper appreciation for the exquisite caliber of the Bee Gees singing, especially in harmony, thanks to you neo.

    Might I return the favor?

    I’m not a particular fan of opera but there are a few exceptions. Foremost is this rendition of Nessun Dorma: Russell Watson – Turandot: Nessun Dorma (Official Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsIGHkT6dZM

    Amazing voice. Discovered singing in a UK bar.

    Note: There’s a slight improvement in fidelity by clicking on the settings icon (spoked wheel) and raising it to the 720 – 1080p setting.

  3. “Too Much Heaven” is my favorite of their ballads. It is just a glorious song and recording.

  4. Neo, OMG! I’ve just had the craziest thought. Are the Bee Gees the P.G. Wodehouse of music? Their reputation forever tarnished for one bad move? Maybe we can petition The Queen to pardon them for the sin of disco…
    GB,
    re: Nessun Dorma. Finest piece of music ever written.

  5. Neo, Thanks, but my ears didn’t even want to listen to these covers! I tried….
    Maybe this a topic for another day, but my thoughts turned to Barry’s duet of “Heaven” (with Allison Krauss) on his new “Greenfields” album.
    To me it preserves the tender, warm tone of the original, with her vocal clarity substituting for the absent falsetto. Two very different/opposite voices combining…not unlike how the three different Bee Gee voices managed to make something beautiful…40-odd years ago.

    Greenfields Album: “Too Much Heaven” (B. Gibb & A. Krauss)
    https://youtu.be/WeyRuFAP–M

  6. Ruth:
    thanks for citing Alison Kraus, who, despite her singing “Heaven” is actually the longstanding greatest female Bluegrass vocalist ever.
    If you want to hear falsetto, listen to Bill Monroe, the father of Bluegrass, and many others in this genre.

  7. “The peasants are revolting”

    Of course.. who ever heard of the beautiful peasants or the handsome peasants
    Sometimes i wonder bout you guys…

    🙂

  8. Every time I watch that video I’m astounded that a voice that high and pure could come out of a man who’s the epitome of masculinity with his drop dead good looks and mustache/beard combo. But as good as Barry is, Robin and Maurice are just as integral to that magical Bee Gees sound. The collaboration of all three brothers is what knocks their songs/performances out of the park.

    And how can they sound that good in concert over a decade later? Their voices and harmonies were incredible, as Neo said.

    The fact that they donated the royalties (over $7 million) from the song to UNICEF endears them to me even more, if that’s possible.

    A few more interesting tidbits from songfacts.com:

    The horn section from the band Chicago played on this track, reciprocating for The Bee Gees singing on the 1978 Chicago song “Little Miss Lovin’” along with Chicago vocalist Peter Cetera.

    The Bee Gees – Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb – wrote this song on a very productive day when they also wrote “Tragedy” and “Shadow Dancing.” They had been working on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band movie, but were on a break from filming.

    Prolific songwriters, fabulous singers and all around good guys with intelligence and humor to boot. I’m in awe of their talent.

  9. Celadon:

    Yes, that’s one of the fun things about reaction videos to “Too Much Heaven.” It’s fun to watch people’s jaws drop and their eyes light up when the three start singing, and then again when Barry opens his mouth for the first solo, and then again when he really cuts loose later on.

    The song is unusual and stunning in a lot of ways, but one way is how it really emphasizes the threesome, starting at the very beginning not with a lead voice but with the chorus of three.

  10. Some of the reaction videos strike me as a bit posed, as when everyone is so stunned and amazed that the Bee Gees are (gasp, Kevin-McAllister-double-face- palm) white. They’re playing to an audience that wants to see white vocal talent acknowledged, which is a bit needy on all counts. But that’s tyooL 2021 for ya.
    At least everyone’s in a good mood about it.
    I have always loved the Bee Gees, even when people was destroying their records at lunch in the cafeteria, but I’ve never seen such close analysis of their style and I appreciate it. There’s a bit of a resurgence in interest about this group going on right now so you may have started something! They certainly did not get the respect they deserved when they were cranking out their own (and others’) hits. This from someone who’s a lifelong rocker. Some disco was just awful (though can still strikes a nostalgic note) but some was really great. I was first aware of the Bee Gees during the Saturday Night Fever era (I had to sneak in to see it), of course but independently discovered their earlier hits. Loooved Jive Talkin and Fanny be tender. And Lonely Days. Somehow the post-SNL hits just didn’t have the same interest level. Maybe Love you inside and out.

  11. AMartel —

    Apparently the Youtube recommendation algorithm really really likes videos (and especially thumbnails) featuring the double-facepalm and other expressions of over-exaggerated surprise. Whether or not those expressions actually appear in the video.

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