BEE GEES - ODESSA - CLASSIC PROG DOUBLE ALBUM - RARE GATEFOLD FELT COVER (1969)

	£		26
	$		34

From 1969, I'm offering the BEE GEES prog classic 'ODESSA'  - POLYDOR 582049.
It's the ultra-rare red felt covered, gold embossed version of the double album!
All in very good condition with some age related edge wear and minor ringwear as in photos!
There is some slight staining to front cover but that's felt for you!!
A record that's very hard to find in this condition - GOOD LUCK!
Odessa Studio album by Bee Gees Released 30 March 1969
September 1976 (RSO single disc version)
13 January 2009 (reissue) Recorded 12 July – December 1968 Studio IBC Studios, London, Atlantic Studios, New York and Trident Studios, London[1] Genre Pop,[2] baroque pop[3] Length 63:49 Label Polydor
Atco Records (US)
RSO Records Producer Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees Bee Gees chronology Idea
(1968) Odessa
(1969) Cucumber Castle
(1970) Singles from Odessa

1. "First of May"
   Released: January 1969

Odessa is the sixth studio album by the Bee Gees, originally released on 30 March 1969. Regarded as the most significant of the group's Sixties albums, it was released as a double vinyl record initially in an opulent red flocked cover with gold lettering. An ambitious project, originally intended as a concept album on the loss of a fictional ship in 1899, it created tension and disagreements in the band regarding the album's direction; finally, a dispute over which song to release as a single led to Robin Gibb temporarily leaving the group.[4][5] The album was not well received by the public or the music press on release, and led to a decline in the group's fortunes until their disco period in the mid 1970s.

Released in March 1969 by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records in the US, it was the group's fourth album released internationally, their sixth overall, and their only double album of original music. Odessa would be the final album for the band's original incarnation, and this was the last album to include guitarist Vince Melouney. The album contains "First of May", "Lamplight", "Marley Purt Drive" and "Melody Fair".

The album was reissued as a single-disc in 1976 when interest was revived in the Bee Gees career, since then the album has gained increasing critical acclaim; it was reissued again in 2009 as a deluxe 3 disc set, and is included in 1001Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Odessa was initially released on Atco Records in a red flocked cover with a gold lettering to the group's name and label symbol stamped in gold on the front and nothing but the flocking on the back. The gatefold has a large dotted image of people leaving a ship in a lifeboat. There are no photographs of the group and they are not named except as to all songs being written by B, R & M Gibb. Due to the high cost of production, as well as allergic reactions among workers during assembly, this design was discontinued.[6]

Prior to release, there were disagreements over which song was to be released as a single, when the Robin-led "Lamplight" lost out to "First of May," a Barry solo vocal. This ultimately led to Robin Gibb leaving the group in early 1969,[10] though he would rejoin the group in August 1970. The split was a result of months of animosity, which concurred to the album's final mix. As Barry explained:

The last performances of the group including Robin were in early 1969, when they performed "First of May" (they also performed "I Started a Joke") on The Tom Jones Show (21 February[11]) and Top of the Pops (6 March[12]). Robin left the band on 15 March[7] and made his decision public on 19 March.[13] Robin told Mojo magazine in 2003 about his departure from the band after the release of Odessa saying "We had egos".[14]

Maurice later described the album as 'heavy'. "People thought it was an in-depth album", he recalled, "like, 'What do they mean by those lyrics?' and 'What's this all about?' There's all sorts of different areas on it. It went up and down in places, but a lot of people regard it as our Sgt. Pepper. To us, I don't think it was the best album we made, but the main title 'Odessa' I loved". Barry responded to Maurice saying, "I guess I have strong personal feelings about it because it was a time when the group was splitting up".[8]

In July 1969, "Marley Purt Drive" was released as a single, backed with "Melody Fair" only in South Africa.[15]