2 Years On

2 Years On is a 1970 album released by the Bee Gees, which reached No. 32 on the US charts, and sold 375,000 copies worldwide. The album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after an earlier disagreement and subsequent split following Odessa. 2 Years On was the first album with drummer Geoff Bridgford, who remained a full-time member of the group until 1972 although he was not pictured on the sleeve. The best-known track is "Lonely Days". Released as the first single by the reunited brothers, it charted high in the US (No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the rival chart Cashbox), but peaked at No. 33 in the United Kingdom.

Background

On March 1969, Robin announced that he was leaving the band. In June, he released his debut solo single "Saved by the Bell", which reached No. 2 on the UK charts. In August, drummer Colin Petersen was fired and was replaced by Terry Cox to complete the album Cucumber Castle. Before the album was released, Barry and Maurice announced that the Bee Gees had split in December 1969. The pair released singles, "Railroad" by Maurice and "I'll Kiss Your Memory" by Barry, but their respective albums The Loner and The Kid's No Good remain unreleased until this day. During the temporary break-up of the group, Maurice appeared in London musical theatre production Sing a Rude Song. Maurice recalls: "We got fed up with all the lawyers fighting over our assets, so we walked out of this big summit meeting and started the group again".^[1]

Recording

Robin and Maurice reunited in June 1970 with new drummer Geoff Bridgford. They recorded four songs, including "Sincere Relation" and "Lay It on Me". "We Can Lift a Mountain" was also re-recorded, a song from 1968. After that, Maurice joined the supergroup The Bloomfields with Billy Lawrie, and worked with Tin Tin. In August, Maurice and Robin announced that the Bee Gees were back with or without Barry's participation, and fourteen songs were recorded including "Back Home" and "I'm Weeping". On 21 August, the three Bee Gees came together to continue recording as Barry announced, "The Bee Gees are there and they will never, ever part again". He continues, "If a solo record comes out, it will be with enthusiasm and great support of each of us. We are a musical establishment". While Maurice, on the other hand, recalls: "We just discussed it and re-formed".^[2]

Release

Around the same time, Barry's "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" was withdrawn at the last minute in the USA for single release, while Polydor planned to release "One Bad Thing" as a single by 2 October (probably in Europe and Asia). Despite Barry's longing to prove himself as a solo artist, it was decided instead that the next single should be performed by the Bee Gees as they reunited around the same time.^[2]

Despite the album marking the musical reunion of the Bee Gees, only three songs credited all three Gibb brothers as composers: the single "Lonely Days", its flip side "Man For All Seasons", and "Back Home". Maurice sings on all songs, but Barry and Robin are only on the ones they wrote or co-wrote.^[3] In the August sessions, they also recorded "You Got to Lose It In the End", "Little Red Train", "Sweet Summer Rain", "Melody Fair" (originally released on Odessa) and "Maybe Tomorrow". None of these were released.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[4]
Robert Christgau	C−^[5]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Lead vocal(s)	Length
1.	"2 Years On" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin	3:57
2.	"Portrait of Louise" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	2:35
3.	"Man For All Seasons" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry, Robin & Maurice	2:59
4.	"Sincere Relation" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin	2:46
5.	"Back Home" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry, Robin and Maurice	1:52
6.	"The 1st Mistake I Made" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	4:03

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocal(s)	Length
1.	"Lonely Days" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Barry, Robin & Maurice	3:45
2.	"Alone Again" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)	Robin	3:00
3.	"Tell Me Why" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	3:13
4.	"Lay It on Me" (Maurice Gibb)	Maurice	2:07
5.	"Every Second, Every Minute" (Barry Gibb)	Barry	3:01
6.	"I'm Weeping" (Robin Gibb)	Robin	2:45

Alternate track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"2 Years On"	3:57
2.	"Lonely Days"	3:45
3.	"Lay It on Me"	2:07
4.	"Portrait of Louise"	2:35
5.	"Man For All Seasons"	2:59
6.	"The First Mistake I Made"	4:03

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Weeping"	2:45
2.	"Every Second, Every Minute"	3:01
3.	"Sincere Relation"	2:46
4.	"Back Home"	1:52
5.	"Alone Again"	3:00
6.	"Tell Me Why"	3:13

Personnel

Barry Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocal, rhythm guitar
Robin Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocal
Maurice Gibb – bass guitar, electric and acoustic rhythm guitars, piano, harmony and backing vocal, lead vocal on "Lay It on Me"
Geoff Bridgford – drums

Additional personnel and production

Bill Shepherd – orchestral arrangement
Gerry Shury – orchestral arrangement
John Stewart – engineer

Chart positions

Chart	Position
Australia Kent Music Report Albums Chart^[6]	22
Canadian RPM Albums Chart^[7]	22
US Billboard 200^[8]	32

References

↑ "Bee Gees Aim for Peak Stellar Performance in All Areas". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 25 August 1973. p. 18. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
1 2 Andrew Môn Hughes. The Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
↑ Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1970". Retrieved 6 June 2013.
↑ Bruce Eder. "2 Years On – Bee Gees | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
↑ "CG: Bee Gees". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
↑ "Australian Albums". australian-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
↑ "Canadian Albums". RPM Canada. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
↑ "US Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-11-09.

Bee Gees

Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb Colin Petersen Vince Melouney Alan Kendall Dennis Bryon Blue Weaver

Studio albums	The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs Spicks and Specks Bee Gees' 1st Horizontal Idea Odessa Cucumber Castle 2 Years On Trafalgar To Whom It May Concern Life in a Tin Can Mr. Natural Main Course Children of the World Spirits Having Flown Living Eyes E.S.P. One High Civilization Size Isn't Everything Still Waters This Is Where I Came In

Extended plays	The Bee Gees New York Mining Disaster 1941

Soundtracks	Melody Saturday Night Fever Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Staying Alive

Live albums	Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live One Night Only

Compilation albums	Turn Around, Look at Us Rare, Precious and Beautiful Rare, Precious and Beautiful, Volume 2 Best of Bee Gees Inception/Nostalgia Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 Bee Gees Gold Bee Gees Greatest Tales from the Brothers Gibb The Very Best of the Bee Gees Their Greatest Hits: The Record Number Ones Love Songs Number Ones The Ultimate Bee Gees Mythology

Videography	Idea Cucumber Castle Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Bee Gees Special One for All Tour One Night Only The Ultimate Bee Gees In Our Own Time

Tours	The Bee Gees' concerts in 1967 and 1968 Spirits Having Flown Tour

Articles	Discography List of songs recorded List of unreleased material A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants The Barry Gibb Talk Show IBC Studios Hither Green rail crash

Bands	The Rattlesnakes Humpy Bong The Fut The Bloomfields Tin Tin The Groove Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs Toe Fat Amen Corner One World Project

People	Hugh Gibb Andy Gibb Steve Gibb Spencer Gibb Robert Stigwood Arif Mardin Ossie Byrne Steve Kipner Albhy Galuten

Book Category

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