Cucumber Castle - THE BEE GEES***

If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else/IOIO/Then You Left Me/The Lord/I Was The Child/I Lay Down & Die/Sweetheart/Bury Me Down By The River/My Thing/The Chance Of Love/Turning Tide/Don't Forget To Remember

Cucumber Castle was released at the bleakest moment for The Bee Gees when they were reduced to the duo of Barry and Maurice Gibb. Searching for a new direction they started to dabble in some country & western. (US:94 UK:57)

“Despite a missing Robin and a horrible album cover, this is a great record. Barry and Maurice's country & western abilities are first realized here, and there are some strange but interesting pop gems as well.”

“Other than the absence of Robin's unique quivery falsetto, the overall results seldom strayed from the brothers' patented sound which meant lots of mid-tempo, heavily instrumented ballads.”

“Two Bee Gees are better than none, and although it is a little ballad heavy, Cucumber Castle is still a must for any fan of their early music.”

“A stop-gap album, which contains not-so-wonderful songs from the Brothers Gibb, as well as some genuine classics.”

“Cucumber Castle was the only album done by only two brothers. After a rift during the making of Odessa, Robin went solo. It is mainly a country style broken hearted sound, with a few stand outs.”

“Written and recorded by Barry and Maurice after Robin briefly left the group, this collection of songs showcases Maurice's skills as a musician, songwriter, arranger and a harmonist. It allows us to hear the beautiful but seldom heard blend of Barry and Maurice's voices. Not all of these songs rank among the strongest in the vast Bee Gees catalogue, but the harmonies are magical.”

“These sessions produced an odd combination of country-pop tunes and meandering MOR offerings, with little of the inspiration of previous Bee Gees music. Don't Forget To Remember has a memorable chorus, but you must suffer Barry's hillbilly-inflected vocals to get to it, and it's barely worth the bother.”