THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
484) The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself”
“I Don’t Know Why”, an album track off of Spicks and Specks (‘66) (the Bee Gees’ second studio album) was the first song credited to Robin Gibb. It is a wonderful Beatlesque ballad that wouldn’t seem out of place on Rubber Soul. (https://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/musician/12020504912aea207b22cb3a8cb97aa34d75c/biography).
It was all made possible by the song “Spicks and Specks.” BeeGees.com says:
Spicks and Specks . . . [is] laden with rich harmonies and bittersweet lyrics, backed by delicate, predominantly acoustic instrumentation. Originally presented as ‘Monday’s Rain,’ the album’s title was ultimately changed to capitalize on the success of single “Spicks and Specks.” . . . the[ir] first hit . . . in Australia . . . . Yet by that point, The Bee Gees had already decided to uproot and move their career to the U.K.
https://www.beegees.com/music/discography/spicks-and-specks/
“Whilst at sea in January, 1967, they heard that “Spicks and Specks”, a song they had recorded in 1966, had gone to #1 in Australia.” (https://www.last.fm/music/Bee+Gees/+wiki)
And as Joe Marchese elaborates:
The catchy track made it to No. 3 in Sydney, staying in the Top 40 for 19 weeks, and in other areas of Australia reached pole position. . . . . [It] made such an impression that its release led to the group’s signing with Polydor in the U.K.; it became the group’s first single there. The Bee Gees’ new album, naturally, was titled after the hit song. Spicks and Specks used most of the tracks intended for an aborted LP entitled Monday’s Rain. This album was never issued outside Australia . . . . On January 3, 1967, the Bee Gees began their journey back to England. It’s hardly an exaggeration to state that “the rest is history” once they arrived.
https://theseconddisc.com/2013/01/18/morning-of-their-lives-bee-gees-original-australian-albums-reissued-on-cd-by-festival-label/
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