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High Civilization
Studio album by
the Bee Gees
Released25 March 1991
RecordedAugust – December 1990
StudioMiddle Ear Studios (Miami Beach, Florida)
Genre
Length60:12
Label
ProducerBarry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
The Bee Gees chronology
The Very Best of the Bee Gees
(1990) 		High Civilization
(1991) 		Size Isn't Everything
(1993)
Singles from High Civilization
  1. "Secret Love"
    Released: February 1991
  2. "When He's Gone"
    Released: May 1991
  3. "The Only Love"
    Released: August 1991

High Civilization is the nineteenth studio album by British-Australian pop group the Bee Gees, released on 25 March 1991 in the United Kingdom and 14 May 1991 in the United States. It was their third and final album Warner Bros. Records, following the release of the successful comeback albums E.S.P. (1987) and One (1989), and was self-produced by the group.

Recorded with a small group of musicians, High Civilization was the first of two Bee Gees albums recorded with Prince's engineer Femi Jiya, whose preference for hard, loud percussion ensured that the drums and beats are loud in the mix, pushing the Bee Gees' vocal harmonies further back. The album favours a dance style with electronic instruments and studio effects, such as programmed drums and synthesisers, and features an eclectic array of material including art rock songs and love ballads. The record features high concept lyrical imagery and themes of romance.

On release, the album reached number 24 on the UK Albums Chart and was also successful in Germany, where it was heavily promoted. However, it did not chart in the United States. The Motown tribute "Secret Love" was issued as the lead single and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Music critics commented on the album's dense production and lengthy songs, which some Bee Gees biographers have dismissed. The Bee Gees promoted the album with a 1991 European tour that spanned 23 cities; it included several shows in Berlin that were filmed and a London concert that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1.

Stanley

Hillbilly Jazz

Style[1] Background[2]

Hillbilly Jazz was Vassar Clements' first solo album, although the musician had worked in recording studios for over 20 years prior to its production, and was his ideal opporunity to introduce audiences to the titular 'hillbilly jazz' music, a rhythmic and harmonic blend described by one critic as a "freewheeling bluegrass/jazz improv style" pioneered by Clements.[3] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post writes that Clements' 'hillbilly jazz' "[melds] the rhythmic riffs and bluesy swing of jazz and the virtuoso improvisation of bluegrass", noting it was previously brought to the fore on Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972), which prominently displays Clements' playing.[4] The Music critic Alex Henderson points out that jazz and hillbilly music had a storied history together, despite being a potentially oxymoronic combination, highlighting country singer Jimmie Rodgers using Louis Armstrong as a vocalist in the 1920s, and Western swing's emergence in the 1930s as a mix of jazz with country and bluegrass, as well as 1960s country pop artists Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson taking inspiration from jazz.[5]

Clements recorded the album with fellow acoustic players, such as drummer D.J. Fontana,[6] improvisational guitar picker David Bromberg and steel guitarist Doug Jernigan.[7] Hillbilly Jazz was the first record to exhibit Clements' jazz side.[8] It is considered a western swing album.[8][9] More specifically, Record World describes it as a "western swing jam session record".[10] The record prioritizes musical improvisation,[5] and is built around Clements' fiddle, Jernigan's steel guitar playing and Gordon Terry's fiddle playing and vocals.[9] Rick Cornell of Indy Week writes that Hillbilly Jazz showcases "the titular swing/country hybrid",[11] while the music critic Rich Henderson says draws on "jazz, bluegrass, Western swing, blues, and country."[5] Several of the album's tracks were written by Clements with Bromberg and mandolinist Michael Melford, two of the album's session musicians.[3]

Stacy Phillips notes that Clements' solos are unique for the musician's choice of bowings and skittering chromatic runs, adding that he "completes his musical sentences without the regard for bar lines."[12] Clements' solos on "Panhandle Rag" include double stops inspired by Dale Potter and riffs derived from rhythm and blues.[12] Another track, "Gravity Waltz", was composed in 1962 by pianist and comedian Steve Allen and Ray Brown, subsequently becoming a minor jazz standard with interpretations recorded by Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson and others. In the intro to the Hillbilly Jazz version, Clements improvises on fiddle as a counterpoint to Bromberg's melody line on guitar. "When Clements takes the melody at 1:28," opines PS Audio journalist Anne E. Johnson, "he wanders way off the path and back like a true jazzman."[3] In his book Western Swing Fiddle (1994), Stacy Phillips describes Clements' solos on "Panhandle Rag" as a tour de force, adding of the track: "There is such a stream of hot ideas that the whole piece is incandescent. Sometimes his playing is so slithery it might best be described as snake music."[12]

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarStar[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStar

Hillbilly Jazz was released by the label Flying Fish Records in 1974,[9] with whom Clements had a long association.[3] It was critically acclaimed,[11][13] and a commercial success.[9] The success of the album surprised the folk-oriented Flying Fish when it became the label's biggest seller.[8] The author Richard Carlin writes that Hillbilly Jazz "helped revive the Western swing style, while establishing Clements as a solo artist",[2] whereas musicologist Charles K. Wolfe comments that the album "would help redefine the role of the fiddle in country and bluegrass music."[14] Country Music contributor Rich Kienzle writes that the record "brought the Bob Wills/Spade Cooley sound to many for the first time."[9]

Alex Henderson of AllMusic named Hillbilly Jazz an "Album Pick", praising the talent of the players and adding that the album "successfully turns its attention" to an array of material.[5] Henderson also highlighted the crucial role of improvisation on the album, noting that a passion for improvisation "is one thing that jazz, bluegrass, and Western swing players have in common", concluding that Hillbilly Jazz is an obscure but rewarding album that reminds listeners that "jazz and 'hillbilly music' can fit together quite nicely."[5] Hillbilly Jazz is referred to in The Encyclopedia of Country Music (2012) as a "classic" double album and is the sole "representative recording" recommended for Clements' work.[1]

In 1977, cassette and 8-track tapes of various albums from the Chicago-based Flying Fish label, including Hillbilly Jazz, were manufactured by GRT Music Tapes.[10] Clements and Jernigan revisited the album's concept for Hillbilly Jazz Rides Again (1987), again issued by Flying Fish and featured a new band of musicians.[9]

Side one

  1. "San Antonio Rose" (Bob Wills) – 2:40
  2. "Texas Blues" (Jernigan, Michael Melford, Clements) – 4:23
  3. "Take Me Back to Tulsa" (Wills, Tommy Duncan) – 2:42
  4. "Delta Blues" (Bromberg, Melford, Clements) – 4:34
  5. "Fais Do Do" (Broomberg, Melford, Clements) – 2:19
  6. "Breakfast Feud" (Benny Goodman) – 3:47

Side two

  1. "Brown Ferry Blues" (Alton Delmore) – 2:38
  2. "It's Dark Outside" (Johnny Weis, Spade Cooley) – 2:38
  3. "Panhandle Rag" (Leon McAuliffe) – 2:56
  4. "Blues for Dixie" (O.W. Mayo) – 2:51
  5. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) – 5:02
  6. "Sentimental Journey" (Ben Homer, Bud Green, Les Brown – 3:30

Side three

  1. "Back Home in Indiana" (Ballard MacDonald, James F. Hanley) – 3:20
  2. "Sitting on Top of the World" (Wills, Walter Vinson) – 2:59
  3. "Crazy Cause I Love You" (Weis, Cooley) – 2:33
  4. "Hang Your Head in Shame" (Ed Nelson, Fred Rose, Steve Nelson) – 3:43
  5. "Vassar's Boogie" (Bromberg, Melford, Clements) – 4:04
  6. "Little Rock Getaway" (Herb Remington) – 4:13

Side four

  1. "Yellow Sun" (Bromberg, Melford, Clements) – 2:33
  2. "Gravity Waltz" (Steve Allen) – 2:42
  3. "C Jam Blues" (Duke Ellington) – 2:06
  4. "Tippin In" – 4:04
  5. "You All Come" – 2:23
  6. "Last Song for Shelby Jean" (Bromberg) – 5:06

Tom Jones

Tom Jones & Jools Holland
Studio album by
Tom Jones & Jools Holland
Released27 Sepetmber 2004
Genre
Length61:29
Label
Tom Jones & Jools Holland chronology
The Very Best of the Bee Gees
(1990) 		Tom Jones & Jools Holland
(2004) 		Size Isn't Everything
(1993)
Singles from High Civilization
  1. "Secret Love"
    Released: February 1991
  2. "When He's Gone"
    Released: May 1991
  3. "The Only Love"
    Released: August 1991

Rock and roll[15]

Roots rock, blues[16]

R&B[17]

Tom Jones & Jools Holland entered the UK Albums Chart at number five, and was the third highest-charting debut that week behind albums by Joss Stone and Marilyn Manson, respectively.[17] 27 Sep release (Evening Standard)

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b McCall, Michael; Rumble, John; Kingsbury, Paul, eds. (2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780199920839. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b Carlin, Richard (2005). Folk. New York: Facts On File, Incorporated. p. 37. ISBN 9780816069781. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Johnson, Anne E. (August 7, 2013). "Vassar Clements: Not Just Bluegrass Fiddle". PS Audio. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  4. ^ Harrington, Richard (August 17, 2005). "A Fiddler Who Could Raise The Roof". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Henderson, Alex. "Hillbilly Jazz Review by Alex Henderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  6. ^ Larkin 1998 p 749 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music_A_Band/K9j0AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=vassar+clements+hillbilly+jazz&dq=vassar+clements+hillbilly+jazz&printsec=frontcover
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2Carlin" was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c "Vassar Clements". Jazz (1–2). Stites-Oakey Incorporated: 68. 1976. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Kienzle, Rich (November 1987). "Essential Collector" (PDF). Country Music: 69. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Flying Fish, GRT Announce Tape Pact" (PDF). Record World: 30. September 24, 1977. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  11. ^ a b Cornell, Rick (August 31, 2005). "Vassar Clements, 77". Indy Week. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Phillips, Stacy (2014). "Panhandle Rag-1974". Western Swing Fiddle (2nd ed.). London: Oak Publications. ISBN 9781783234707. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  13. ^ https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music_A_Band/K9j0AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=vassar+clements+hillbilly+jazz&dq=vassar+clements+hillbilly+jazz&printsec=frontcover
  14. ^ Wolfe, Charles K. (2002). Classic Country: Legends of Country Music. Abindgon: Taylor & Francis. p. 46. ISBN 9781135957339. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  15. ^ H Green, Thomas (25 September 2004). "Reviews Music". The Daily Telegraph: Arts: 10–11. Retrieved 17 March 2025. {{cite journal}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  16. ^ Eggar, Robin (19 September 2004). "Tom Jones: Boyo's Got The Blues". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  17. ^ a b Billboard Staff (4 October 2004). "Soulful Stone Tops U.K. Album Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 17 March 2025.

Bibliography

  • Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook, Hector; Hughes, Andrew Môn (2011). "Lonely Days". The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb (New ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-8748-3.
  • Stanley, Bob (2023). "Manchester". Bee Gees: Children of the World. London: Nine Eight Books. ISBN 978-1-7887-0541-7.
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