Still Waters (Bee Gees album)

Still Waters
Studio album by Bee Gees
Released	10 March 1997 (UK) 6 May 1997 (US)
Recorded	October 1995 – August 1996 at Middle Ear Studios, Miami Beach
Genre	Contemporary R&B, hip hop, new jack swing, pop rock
Length	53:40
Label	Polydor (UK) A&M (USA)
Producer	Barry 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)

Still Waters is the Bee Gees' twenty-first original album, released in March 1997.

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 were working on an album of acoustic versions of songs they had written for other artists. The project is later called Love Songs which featured some new recordings. However, their record company rejected the album and the new songs were included on a new studio album instead, announced in September 1994 and releasing it on 14 February (Valentine's Day) of 1995.^[1]

Around 1994, the Bee Gees did record six songs, one of the tracks called "Miracles Happen" which was written and recorded to be the title song for a new film version of Miracle on 34th Street and 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) and "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick), "Love Never Dies" and "Rings Around the Moon" were later released as B-sides.^[1]

Recording

In July 1995, they started with seven demos for what would become included on the album. Also, a four demos recorded in the second quarter of 1995. On 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 in The Hit Factory in New York to record two songs. Around 1996, the Bee Gees used session musicians to complete the entire album which was, the session was produced by Russ Titelman. Also in 1996, the Bee Gees recorded two songs on which two members of P.M. Dawn, Attrel Cordes and Jarett Cordes. While the producer on "With My Eyes Closed" is 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
Source	Rating
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, which 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.

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

Bonus tracks

13. "Rings Around the Moon" – 4:30
14. "Love Never Dies" – 4:07

Personnel

• Barry Gibb – vocals, guitar, drum programming
• Robin Gibb – vocals
• Maurice Gibb – vocals, keyboards, guitar

Additional personnel

• Alan Kendall – guitar
• David Foster – keyboards
• Michael Thompson – guitar
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Steve Skinner – keyboards, synthesiser
• Robbie Kondor – keyboard
• Jeff Bova – synthesiser bass, keyboard
• Alan Clark – keyboard
• Rob Mounsey – keyboard
• Marc Schulman – guitar
• George "Chocolate" Perry – bass
• Anthony Jackson – bass
• Jimmy Bralower – programming, percussion
• Dave Halpem – percussion
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Russ Titelman – programmer
• David Elliot – drums
• Raphael Saadiq – programming, bass, guitar, vocals
• Kelvin Wooten – keyboard
• Spanky Alford – guitar
• Carl Verhyn – guitar
• Joe Mardin – drum programming
• Mike McAvoy – keyboard, guitar
• Pino Palladino – bass
• Peter John Vettese – keyboard, programming
• Manu Katché – drums

Certifications

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Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[9]	2× Platinum	140,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[10]	Gold	25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[11]	Platinum	100,000
France (SNEP)[12]	Gold	225,100[13]
Germany (BVMI)[14]	Platinum	500,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[15]	Gold	50,000
Poland (ZPAV)[16]	Gold	50,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[17]	Platinum	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[18]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[19]	Platinum	1,000,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[20]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1997) Peak position Australian ARIA Album Chart[21] 4 Austrian Albums Chart[22] 4 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[23] 7 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[24] 9 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[25] 11 Dutch Albums Chart[26] 3 Finnish Albums Chart[27] 23 European Albums Chart[28] 4 French SNEP Albums Chart[29] 5 German Media Control Albums Chart[30] 2 Irish Albums Chart[28] 8 Italian Albums Chart[31] 19 New Zealand Albums Chart[32] 1 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[33] 16 Swedish Albums Chart[34] 26 Swiss Albums Chart[35] 1 UK Albums Chart[36] 2 US Billboard 200[37] 11

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Australian Albums Chart[38] 21 Austrian Albums Chart[39] 29 French Albums Chart[40] 47 Italian Albums Chart[31] 113 Swiss Albums Chart[41] 10 UK Albums Chart[42] 52 US Billboard 200[43] 142

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 (Bee Gees album) 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. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
10. "Austrian album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 16 February 2012. Enter Bee Gees in the field Interpret. Enter Still Waters in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
11. "Canadian album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
12. "French album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
13. "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bee Gees; 'Still Waters')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
15. "Dutch album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
16. "Polish album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
17. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Bee Gees; 'Still Waters')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
18. "British album certifications – Bee Gees – Still Waters". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 Jan 2015. Enter Still Waters in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
19. "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
20. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
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25. and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2012
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28. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (5 April 1997). Billboard – 5 April 1997. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
29. "lescharts.com Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). lescharts.com. SNEP. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
30. "Album Search: Bee Gees – Still Waters" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
31. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1997" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
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33. "norwegiancharts.com Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
34. "swedishcharts.com Bee Gees – Still Waters" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 February 2012.
35. "Bee Gees – Still Waters – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
36. "Chart Stats – Bee Gees – Still Waters" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
37. "allmusic ((( Still Waters > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
38. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 1997". aria.com.au. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
39. "Austriancharts.at – Jahreshitparade 1997". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
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