The planned album Love Songs was scrapped around the start of the year, for reasons unknown.
In March the Bee Gees announced that they were starting on an all-new album. They wrote seven songs for it by July and five more by December. This new album Still Waters was not released until 1997.
Maurice began an outside project that lasted the rest of his life, producing recordings of his daughter Samantha.
IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright July 1995
OBSESSIONS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997;
B side by Bee Gees, October 1997.
US copyright July 1995
ALONE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Bee Gees, February 1997;
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright July 1995
I COULD NOT LOVE YOU MORE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997;
A side by Bee Gees, June 1997.
US copyright July 1995
STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997;
A side by Bee Gees, October 1997.
US copyright July 1995
MY LOVER’S PRAYER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright July 1995
ANGEL OF MERCY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Carola, 2001; album cut by Bee
Gees, 2010. US copyright July 1995
FIRE WITH FIRE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
no record
I WILL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright December 1995
I SURRENDER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright December 1995
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
no record.
US copyright December 1995
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1997.
US copyright December 1995
Most of the songs for the 1997 album Still Waters were written in 1995.
Bee Gees
Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar, drum programming
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, keyboard, guitar
engineer: John Merchant
producer: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb
first half of 1995, Middle Ear, Miami Beach
Demos for Still Waters.
IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased
OBSESSIONS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
ALONE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
I COULD NOT LOVE YOU MORE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo 3:55, lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, October 1997
MY LOVER’s PRAYER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
ANGEL OF MERCY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased
These demos were recorded by July 1995. One of them, ‘Still Waters Run Deep’, was released as a B side in 1997. It was recorded by Barry and Maurice without the Robin vocal heard in the finished recording. The arrangement is otherwise almost identical to the finished version, raising the question of what was gained from working with another producer. But it is only one song.
The songs for the Still Waters album were re-recorded from scratch with session musicians in 1996 and 1997. All of this group of songs were used on the album except ‘Angel of Mercy’ which would be recorded a few times for other projects.
Bee Gees
Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar, drum programming
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, keyboard, guitar
engineer: John Merchant
producer: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb
second half of 1995, Middle Ear, Miami Beach
Demos for Still Waters.
I WILL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased
I SURRENDER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal unknown
unreleased
More demos by the three brothers. Three of these were used on Still Waters. ‘The Girl Next Door’ was not recorded further.
Bee Gees
Barry Gibb — vocal
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal
Steve Skinner — keyboards, synthesizer
Ira Siegel — guitar (‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’)
Joe Mardin — drum programming
orchestra arranged by Arif Mardin, Steve Skinner;
concertmaster: Gene Orloff
engineer: Michael O’Reilly (instrumental); John Merchant (vocal)
producer: Arif Mardin
October 1995, Unique Recording Studios, New York; Mayfair Studios, London;
The Hit Factory, New York
WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW
Gerry Goffin, Carole King (1961)
undated 1995
stereo 5:02, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
Tapestry Revisited, 1995
I WILL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo 5:08, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
Still Waters, 1997
OBSESSIONS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo 4:43, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Still Waters, 1997; B side, October 1997
The Bee Gees recorded the Carole King classic ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ for a tribute album called Tapestry Revisited, for which various artists each recorded one song from her Tapestry album. Arif Mardin produced.
Possibly this is when they recorded the first two songs for Still Waters. They have the same two musicians, Steve Skinner and Joe Mardin, and the same engineer, Michael O’Reilly. ‘I Will’ tells a story of love lost, but the singer promises to stick around, a little like ‘When He’s Gone’. ‘Obsessions’ takes the stalker concept a bit further. Both therefore follow on the themes in High Civilisation: an interesting start.
Samantha Gibb
Samantha Gibb — vocal
Majandra Delfino — vocal (‘Angel of Mercy’,
‘Here, There and Everywhere’)
Maurice Gibb — synthesizer, keyboard, programming
engineer: John Merchant
producer: Maurice Gibb
December 1995, Panther House, Miami Beach
ANGEL OF MERCY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 1995
stereo 4:55, lead vocal Samantha Gibb
unreleased
HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
John Lennon, Paul McCartney (1966)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Samantha Gibb
unreleased
WITHOUT YOU
Adam Gibb, Fred ? (1995)
undated 1995
stereo, lead vocal Samantha Gibb
unreleased
These are the first known recordings by Maurice’s daughter Samantha, born in 1980. She and friends had started singing at charity events as the China Dolls in 1992. Now at age 15, Samantha made her first serious recordings with her friend Majandra Delfino (later known as an actor). Their versions of the new Gibb song ‘Angel of Mercy’ and the Beatles’ ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ were vaguely considered for a single, but they were still very young and nothing came of it. Maurice and John Merchant recorded them and Maurice played instrumental tracks. A promo CD of ‘Angel of Mercy’ was sent to radio stations in January 1997 (over a year later) with the artist listed as Nymph.
Around the same time Samantha sang on a recording of a song written by her older brother Adam and his friend Fred (last name unknown) called ‘Without You’.
Bee Gees : Love Songs
proposed, February 1995
RINGS AROUND THE MOON
MIRACLES HAPPEN
EMOTION
HEARTBREAKER
The running order of Love Songs was never announced, but it was to include the two new songs ‘Rings Around the Moon’ and ‘Miracles Happen’ and the two new recordings of older songs ‘Emotion’ and ‘Heartbreaker’, all recorded in 1994. The rest of the album was to be previously released Bee Gees songs. Release date was to be Valentine’s Day 1995.
Tapestry Revisited
US: Lava, November 1995
WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW
The Bee Gees sang one song on a tribute version of Carole King’s classic album Tapestry. The Lifetime cable network ran one-hour television special showing the artists performing their songs, including the Bee Gees, first shown on October 29. The CD was released a few weeks later.