The
Bee Geeswere originally a singing trio of
brothers —
Barry,
Robin, and
Maurice
Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their forty years of
recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional
success: as a harmonic "soft rock" act in the late 1960s and early
1970s, and as the foremost stars of the
disco music era in the late 1970s. The group
sang three-part
tight harmonies that
were instantly recognisable; brother Robin's clear
vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits,
while Barry's R&B
falsetto became a
signature sound during the disco years. The three brothers co-wrote
most of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several
major hits for other artists.
Born in
the Isle of Man to English
parents, the
family lived their first few years in Chorlton
, Manchester
, England and moved
while quite young to Brisbane
, Queensland
, Australia, where they
began their musical careers. After early chart success in
Australia, they returned to the United Kingdom where producer
Robert Stigwood promoted them to a
worldwide audience. It has been estimated that the Bee Gees' record
sales total more than 200 million, making them one of the
best-selling music
artists of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
in 1997; fittingly, the presenter of the award to
"Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, America's first family of rock
harmony. Their Hall of Fame citation says "Only
Elvis Presley,
The
Beatles,
Michael Jackson,
Garth Brooks and
Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee
Gees".
Following Maurice's sudden death on 12 January 2003, Barry and
Robin Gibb temporarily ended the group after forty-five years of
activity. On 7th September 2009, Robin Gibb revealed that he and
Barry Gibb had agreed that the Bee Gees would reform and perform
again.
History
Early years
The elder
Gibb brothers were born on the Isle of Man
, but the family returned to father Hugh Gibb's home
town of Chorlton cum
Hardy
, Manchester,
England, in the early 1950s where the boys began to sing in
harmony. On one occasion, the boys were going to
lip sync to a record in the local Gaumont cinema
(as other children had done on previous weeks), but as they were
running to get there Maurice dropped the record and it broke. Now
having no record, the brothers sang live and received such a
positive response from the audience that they decided to pursue a
singing career.
In 1958,
the Gibb family, including infant brother Andy (born 5 March 1958 in Manchester, England),
emigrated to Redcliffe in Queensland
, Australia. The
still very young brothers began performing where they could to
raise pocket change. First called
the Rattlesnakes, later
Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats, they were introduced
to radio DJ Bill Gates by racetrack promoter Bill Goode (who saw
them perform at Brisbane's Speedway Circuit). Gates renamed them
the "Bee Gees" after his and Goode's initials – thus the name was
not specifically a reference to "Brothers Gibb", despite popular
belief.
By 1960, the Bee Gees were featured on television shows, and in the
next few years began working regularly at resorts on the Queensland
coast. Barry drew the attention of Australian star
Col Joye for his songwriting, and Joye helped the
boys get a record deal with
Festival Records in 1963 under
the name "Bee Gees." The three released two or three singles a
year, while Barry supplied additional songs to other Australian
artists.
A minor hit in 1965, "Wine and Women", led to the group's first LP
The
Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By late 1966,
the brothers decided to return to England, while the rest of their
family stayed in Australia. They were not confident, however, of
success in England as Barry told a friend, Steven Spence, later of
Lloyds World, that they would be back next year. While at sea in
January, 1967, they heard that "
Spicks and Specks", a #1 hit in
October 1966 had been awarded Best Single of the Year by Go-Set,
Australia's most popular and influential music newspaper.
Late 1960s - first international fame
The original 5 member band.
Before their departure from Australia to England, Hugh Gibb sent
demos to
Brian Epstein who managed
The Beatles and was director of
NEMS, a British music store and
promoter. Brian Epstein had passed the demo tapes to
Robert Stigwood, who'd recently joined NEMS.
After an audition with Stigwood in February 1967, the Bee Gees were
signed to a five-year contract whereby
Polydor Records would be the Bee Gees'
record label in the United Kingdom, and
ATCO Records would be the United States
distributor. Work quickly began on the group's first international
album, and Robert Stigwood launched a promotional campaign to
coincide with its release.
Stigwood proclaimed that the Bee Gees were "The Most Significant
New Talent Of 1967" and thus began the immediate comparison to The
Beatles.
Their second British single (their first
UK
45 rpm
issued was "Spicks and
Specks"), "New York
Mining Disaster 1941", was issued to radio stations with a
blank white label listing only the song title. Some DJs
immediately assumed this was a new Beatles' single and started
playing the song in heavy rotation. This helped the song climb into
the Top 20 in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
No such
chicanery was needed to boost the Bee Gees' second single,
"To Love Somebody", into the
US
Top
20. Originally written for
Otis
Redding, "To Love Somebody" was a soulful ballad sung by Barry,
which has since become a pop standard covered by hundreds of
artists including
Gram Parsons,
Rod Stewart,
Janis Joplin,
The
Animals,
Nina Simone, and
Michael Bolton. Another single, "
Holiday" was released in the United
States, peaking at #16. The parent album, the erroneously titled
Bee Gees 1st, peaked at #7 in
the United States and #8 in the United Kingdom.
Following the success of
Bee Gees 1st, the band (which now
consisted of Barry on rhythm guitar, Maurice on bass,
Vince Melouney on lead guitar and
Colin Petersen on drums), began work on the
act's second album. Released in late 1967,
Horizontal repeated the success of
their first album, featuring the #1 UK single "
Massachusetts" (a #11 US hit),
and the #7 UK single "
World".
The sound of the album
Horizontal had a more "rock" sound
than their previous release, though ballads like "And The Sun Will
Shine" and "Really And Sincerely" were also prominent. The
Horizontal album reached #12 in the US, and #16 in the UK
promoting the record, the Bee Gees made their first appearances in
America, playing live concerts and television shows such as
The Ed Sullivan Show
and
Laugh In.
Two more singles followed in early 1968, the ballad "
Words" (#15 US, #8 UK) and the double
A-sided single "
Jumbo" b/w
"The Singer Sang His Song". "Jumbo" was the Bee Gees' least
successful single to date only reaching #57 in the US, and #25 in
the UK.
The Bee Gees felt that "The Singer Sang His
Song" was the stronger of the two sides, an opinion shared by
listeners in the Netherlands
, who made it a #3 hit. Further Bee Gees
chart singles followed: "
I've Gotta Get a Message to
You" (#8 US, #1 UK) and "
I Started
A Joke" (#6 US), both culled from the band's third album
Idea.
Idea was
another Top 20 album in the US (#17) and the UK (#4). Following the
tour and TV special to promote the album, Vince Melouney left the
group, feeling that he wanted to play more of a blues style music
than the Gibbs were writing. Melouney did achieve one feat while
with the Bee Gees—his composition "Such A Shame" (from
Idea) is the only song on any Bee Gees album not written
by a Gibb brother.
By 1969, the cracks began to show within the group. Robin began to
feel that Stigwood had been favouring Barry as the frontman. Their
next album, which was to have been a concept album called
Masterpeace, evolved into the double-album
Odessa. Most rock critics felt this was
the best Bee Gees album of the 60s, with its progressive rock feel
on the title track, the country-flavored "Marley Purt Drive" and
"Give Your Best", and signature ballads such as "Melody Fair" and
"
First Of May". The last of which
became the only single from the album, and was a minor hit. Feeling
that the flipside, "Lamplight" should have been the A-side, Robin
quit the group in mid-1969 and launched a solo career. Robin Gibb
saw brief success in Europe with the #2 hit "Saved By The Bell" and
the album
Robin's Reign.
Barry and Maurice continued as the Bee Gees, even recruiting their
sister Lesley to appear with them on stage.
The first of many Bee Gees compilations,
Best of Bee Gees was released,
featuring the non-LP single "
Words" plus the Australian hit
"
Spicks and Specks" The CD
release replaces "Spicks and Specks" with another non-LP single
"
Tomorrow
Tomorrow", because Polydor could no longer secure the rights to
the Australian track. "Tomorrow Tomorrow" was a moderate hit in the
UK reaching #23, but stalled at #54 in the US The compilation
reached the Top Ten in both the US and the UK.
While Robin was off on his own, Barry, Maurice, and Colin continued
on as the Bee Gees, recording their next album,
Cucumber Castle. There was also a TV
special filmed to accompany the album, which aired on the BBC in
1971. Colin Petersen played drums on the tracks recorded for the
album, but was fired from the group after filming began and his
parts were edited out of the final cut of the film. The leadoff
single, "
Don't Forget to
Remember" was a big hit in the UK reaching #2, but a
disappointment in the US, only reaching #73. The next 2 singles,
"
I.O.I.O." and "If I Only Had My Mind On
Something Else" barely scraped the charts, and following the
release of the album, Barry and Maurice parted ways. It seemed that
the Bee Gees were finished. Barry recorded a solo album which never
saw official release, though "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was released
as a single, without much interest.
Meanwhile, Maurice released the single
"Railroad", and starred in the West End
musical Sing A Rude Song.
Early 1970s
The three brothers reunited in the later part of 1970, penning a
series of songs about heartache and loneliness. Although they had
lost traction on the British charts, the Bee Gees hit #3 in America
with "
Lonely Days" (from the reunion LP
2 Years On) and had their first
US #1 with "
How Can You
Mend a Broken Heart" (from
Trafalgar). The trio's talents were
included in the soundtrack for the 1971 film
Melody as they performed several
songs for the title. In 1972, they hit #16 in America with "Run to
Me" from the LP
To Whom It May
Concern; the single also returned them to the British top
ten for the first time in three years.
By 1973, however, the Bee Gees were in a rut. The album,
Life in a Tin Can, and
its lead-off single, "Saw a New Morning," sold poorly with the
single peaking at #94. This was followed by an unreleased album
(known as
A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants).
A second compilation album,
Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2
was released in 1973, though it did not repeat the success of
Volume 1.
On the advice of
Ahmet Ertegün,
head of their US label
Atlantic
Records, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with famed
soul music producer
Arif Mardin. The
resulting LP,
Mr.
Natural, included fewer ballads and foreshadowed the
R&B direction of the rest of
their career. But when it too failed to attract much interest,
Mardin encouraged them to work with the soul music style.
The brothers attempted to assemble a live stage band that could
replicate their studio sound. Lead guitarist
Alan Kendall had come on board in 1971, but did
not have much to do until
Mr. Natural. For that album,
they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and they later added ex-
Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the
late 1970s "Bee Gees band". Maurice, who had previously performed
on piano, guitar, organ,
mellotron, and
bass guitar, as well as exotica like
mandolin and
Moog,
now confined himself to bass onstage.
At
Eric Clapton's suggestion, the
brothers relocated to Miami, Florida, early in 1975 to record.
After starting off with ballads, they eventually heeded the urging
of Mardin and Stigwood and crafted more rhythmic
disco songs, including their second US #1, "
Jive Talkin'", along with US #7 "
Nights on Broadway." The latter featured
Barry Gibb's first attempts at singing
falsetto based on
Arif
Mardin's suggestion, in the backing vocals toward the end.
Robin also began singing some passages in a falsetto pitch. The
band liked the resulting new sound, and this time the public
agreed, sending the LP
Main
Course up the charts. This was their second album to have
two US top-10 singles since 1968's
Idea.
Main
Course also became their first charting R&B album. Mardin
was unable to work with the group afterwards, but the Bee Gees
enlisted
Albhy Galuten and
Karl Richardson who had worked with Mardin
during the
Main Course sessions. This production team
would carry the Bee Gees through the rest of the 1970s.
The next album,
Children of
the World, was drenched in Barry's newfound falsetto and
Weaver's synthesizer disco licks. Led off by the single "
You Should Be Dancing," it pushed the
Bee Gees to a level of stardom they had not previously achieved in
the US. though their new R&B/disco sound was not as popular
with some die hard fans from the 1960s. The Bee Gees' band was now
closer to a rock act, with rhythm guitar and real drums behind the
falsetto.
Late 1970s: Saturday Night Fever
Following a successful live album,
Here at Last… The Bee Gees…
Live, the Bee Gees agreed with Stigwood to participate in the
creation of the
Saturday Night Fever
soundtrack. It would be the turning point of their career.
The cultural impact of both the film and the soundtrack was
seismic, not only in the United States but also in the rest of the
world, bringing the nascent
disco scene into
the mainstream.
The band's involvement in the film did not begin until
post-production. As
John Travolta
asserted, "The Bee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the
beginning... I was dancing to
Stevie
Wonder and
Boz Scaggs." Producer
Robert Stigwood commissioned the Bee Gees to create the songs for
the film.
The brothers wrote the songs "virtually in a
single weekend" at France's Château
d'Hérouville studio
. Barry Gibb remembered the reaction when
Stigwood and music supervisor Bill Oakes arrived and listened to
the demos:
Bill Oakes, who supervised the soundtrack, asserts that
Saturday Night Fever did not begin the
disco craze; rather, it prolonged it: "Disco had run its course.
These days,
Fever is credited with kicking off the whole
disco thing–-it really didn't. Truth is, it breathed new life into
a genre that was actually dying."
Three Bee Gees singles ("
How Deep
Is Your Love", "
Stayin' Alive",
and "
Night Fever") reached #1 in the
United States and most countries around the world, launching the
most popular period of the disco era. They also penned the song
"
If I Can't Have You" which
became a #1 hit for
Yvonne Elliman,
while the Bee Gees own version was the B-Side of "Stayin' Alive."
Such was the popularity of
Saturday Night Fever that two
different versions of the song "
More Than a Woman"
received airplay, one by the Bee Gees, which was relegated to being
an album track, and another by
Tavares, which was the hit. The Gibb sound
was inescapable. During an eight-month period beginning in the
Christmas season of 1977, the brothers wrote six songs that held
the #1 position on the US charts for 25 of 32 consecutive
weeks—three under their own name, two for brother Andy Gibb, and
the Yvonne Elliman single.
Fueled by the movie's success, the soundtrack broke multiple
industry records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording
history to that point. With more than 40 million copies sold,
Saturday Night Fever
is music's best selling
soundtrack. It is
currently calculated as the
7th highest-selling
album worldwide.
During this era, Barry and Robin also wrote "Emotion" for
Samantha Sang, who made it a Top Ten hit (the
Bee Gees sang back-up vocals). A year later, Barry wrote the title
song to the movie version of the Broadway musical
Grease for
Frankie Valli to perform, which went to #1.
During this period, the Bee Gees' younger brother
Andy followed his older siblings into a music
career, and enjoyed considerable success. Produced by Barry, Andy
Gibb's first three singles all topped the US charts. On the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart for April
8, 1978, five songs written by the Gibbs were in the US top ten at
the same time: "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive", "If I Can't Have
You", "Emotion" and "Love is Thicker Than Water". Such chart
dominance hadn't been seen since April 1964, when the Beatles had
all five of the top five American singles. Barry Gibb became the
only songwriter to have four consecutive number one hits in the US
breaking the John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1964 record. These
songs were “Stayin’ Alive”, “Love Is Thicker Than Water”, “Night
Fever”, “If I Can’t Have You”.
The three Bee Gees also co-starred with
Peter Frampton in the movie
Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band (1978) loosely inspired by the classic
1967 Beatles album. The film had been heavily promoted prior to
release, and was expected to enjoy great commercial success.
However, the disjointed film was savaged by the movie critics, and
ignored by the public. Though some of its tracks charted, the
soundtrack was a high-profile flop. Previously, the Bee Gees had
recorded three
Beatles covers—"
Golden Slumbers/
Carry That Weight", "
She Came in Through the
Bathroom Window" and "
Sun King"
—for the transitory musical documentary
All This and World War
II.
The Bee Gees' follow-up to
Saturday Night Fever was the
Spirits Having Flown
album. It yielded three more #1 hits: "
Too Much Heaven", "
Tragedy", and "
Love You Inside Out." This gave the act
six consecutive #1 singles in America within a year and a half (a
record surpassed only by
Whitney
Houston). "Too Much Heaven" ended up as the Bee Gees' musical
contribution to the
Music for
UNICEF Concert at the
United Nations General
Assembly in January 1979, a benefit organized by the Bee Gees,
Robert Stigwood, and
David Frost for
UNICEF that was broadcast worldwide. The brothers
donated the royalties from the song to the charity. Up to 2003,
this song had earned over $7 million for
UNICEF. During the summer of 1979, The Bee Gees
embarked on their largest concert tour covering the US and Canada.
The
Spirits Having Flown
tour capitalized on Bee Gees fever that was sweeping the
nation, with sold out concerts in 38 cities.
The Bee Gees even had a country hit in 1979 with "Rest Your Love On
Me", the flip side of their pop hit "
Too
Much Heaven", which made Top 40 on the country charts. In 1981,
Conway Twitty's version of "Rest Your
Love On Me" topped the
country
charts.
The Bee Gees' overwhelming success rose and fell with the disco
bubble. By the end of 1979, disco was rapidly declining in
popularity, and the backlash against disco put the Bee Gees'
American career in a tailspin. Radio stations around America began
promoting "Bee Gee Free Weekends". Following their remarkable run
from 1975–79, the act would have only one more top ten single in
the US, and that wouldn't come until 1989. The Bee Gees'
international popularity sustained somewhat less damage. Barry Gibb
considered the success of the
Saturday Night Fever soundtrack both a
blessing and a curse:
1980s and 1990s
Rough times: The Bee Gees in 1983
following the disco backlash.
Robin and Barry Gibb released various solo albums in the 1980s but
only with sporadic and moderate chart success. However, the
brothers had continuing success behind the scenes, writing and
producing for several artists - in
1982,
Dionne Warwick enjoyed a UK Top 5 and
US
Adult Contemporary
#1 with her comeback single, "
Heartbreaker". A year
later,
Dolly Parton and
Kenny Rogers recorded "
Islands in the Stream", which proved
to be a US #1 hit.
Diana Ross also hit #1
in the UK charts in
1986 with "
Chain Reaction". In addition,
Barbra Streisand recorded her entire 1980
album,
Guilty with the
assistance of Barry Gibb, and the single "
Woman in Love" - penned by the three brothers
- reached #1 both in the US and the UK. They became Streisand's
most successful album and single.
In 1981, the Bee Gees released the album
Living Eyes, but with the
disco backlash still running strong, the album failed to make the
US top 40. In 1983, the Bee Gees had greater success with the
soundtrack to
Staying Alive,
the sequel to
Saturday Night
Fever. The soundtrack was certified platinum in the US,
and included their Top 30 hit "Woman In You".
In 1983,
the band was sued by Chicago
songwriter Ronald
Selle, who claimed that the Gibb brothers stole melodic
material from one of his songs, "Let It End," and used it in
"How Deep Is Your
Love." At first, the Bee Gees lost the case; one juror
said that a factor in the jury's decision was the Gibbs' failure to
introduce expert testimony rebutting the plaintiff's expert
testimony that it was "impossible" for the two songs to have been
written independently. However, the verdict was overturned a few
months later.
The Bee Gees released the album
E.S.P. in 1987, which sold over
3 million copies. The single "You Win Again" went to #1 in numerous
countries, including Britain, but was a disappointment in the US,
charting at #75. The Bee Gees voiced their frustration over
American radio stations not playing their new European hit single,
an omission which the group felt led to poor sales of their current
album in the States.
On 10 March 1988, younger brother
Andy
died at the age 30 as a result of
myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle
due to a recent viral infection. His brothers acknowledge that
Andy's past drug and alcohol use probably made his heart more
susceptible to the ailment. Just before Andy's death, it was
decided by the group that Andy would join them, which would have
made the group a four piece. This did not come to pass, however.
The Bee Gees' following album,
One (1989), featured a song
dedicated to Andy, "Wish You Were Here". The album also contained
their first US top ten hit (#7) in a decade, "One". After the
album's release, they embarked on their first world tour in ten
years.
Following their next album,
High
Civilization, which contained the UK top five hit "Secret
Love," the Bee Gees went on a European tour. After the tour, Barry
Gibb began to battle a serious back problem, which required
surgery. In addition, he also suffered from arthritis, and at one
point, it was so severe that it was doubtful that he would be able
to play guitar for much longer. In the early 1990s, Barry Gibb was
not the only Bee Gee living with pain. Maurice had a serious
drinking problem, which he had battled for many years, but finally
began recovery with the help of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1993, they released the album
Size Isn't Everything, which
contained the UK top five hit "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Four years
later, they released the album
Still
Waters, which sold over four million copies, and debuted
at #11 in the US. The album's first single, "Alone", gave them
another UK Top 5 hit and a top 30 hit in the US.
Still Waters would be the band's most
successful US release of their post-RSO era.
One Night Only
On 14 November 1997, the Bee Gees performed a live concert in
Las Vegas called
One Night
Only. The show included a performance of "Our Love (Don't
Throw It All Away)" synchronized with a vocal by their deceased
brother Andy and a cameo appearance by
Celine Dion singing "
Immortality". The CD of the
performance sold over 5 million copies. This led to a world tour of
"One Night Only" concerts.
The tour included playing to 56,000 people
at London's Wembley Stadium
on 5 September 1998 and concluded in the
newly-built Olympic
Stadium
in Sydney, Australia
on 27 March 1999 to an audience exceeding
105,000.
In 1998,
the group's score for Saturday Night Fever was
incorporated into a stage
production produced first in the West End and then on Broadway
. They wrote three new songs for the
adaptation. Also in 1998 the brothers recorded
Ellan Vannin for Isle of Man charities.
Known as the unofficial national anthem of the Isle of Man, the
brothers performed the song during their world tour to reflect
their pride in the place of their birth.
The Bee Gees closed the decade with what turned out to be their
last full-sized concert, known as
BG2K, on 31 December
1999.
The "One Night Only" name grew out of the band's declaration that,
due to Barry's health issues, the Las Vegas show was to be the
final live performance of their career. After the immensely
positive audience response to the Vegas concert, Barry decided to
continue despite the pain, and the concert expanded into their last
full-blown tour.
Maurice's death
Maurice's son Adam, Barry & Robin accepting the Grammy Legend
Award in 2003
In 2001, they released what turned out to be their final album of
new material as a group,
This Is Where I Came In. The
album gave each member a chance to write in his own way, as well as
composing songs together. For example, Maurice's compositions and
leads are the "Man in the Middle" and "Walking on Air," while Robin
contributed "Déjà Vu," "Promise the Earth," and "Embrace," and
Barry contributed "Loose Talk Costs Lives," "Technicolour Dreams",
and "Voice in the Wilderness". The other songs are collaborative in
writing and vocals. They performed many tracks from
This Is
Where I Came In, plus many of their biggest hits, on the live
televised concert series
Live by
Request, shown on the
A&E
Network.
The Bee Gees' last concert ever was at the
annual Wango Tango concert festival at
Dodger
Stadium
on 1 June 2001.
Maurice, who had been the musical director of the Bee Gees during
their final years as a group, died suddenly on 12 January 2003 at
the age of 53 from a heart attack, prior to emergency surgery to
repair a
strangulated intestine.
Initially, his surviving brothers announced that they intended to
carry on the name "Bee Gees" in his memory. But as time passed they
decided to retire the group name, leaving it to represent the three
brothers together.
The same week that Maurice died, Robin's solo album
Magnet
was released. On 23 February 2003, the Bee Gees received the
Grammy Legend Award. Barry and
Robin accepted as well as Maurice's son, Adam, in a tearful
ceremony.
Although there was talk of a memorial concert featuring both
surviving brothers and invited guests, nothing materialised. Barry
and Robin continued to work independently, and both released
recordings with other artists, occasionally coming together to
perform at special events.
After the Bee Gees
In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and
Asia. During January 2005, Barry, Robin and several legendary
rock artists recorded "Grief Never
Grows Old," the official
tsunami relief record for the
Disasters Emergency Committee.
Later
that year, Barry reunited with Barbra
Streisand for her top-selling album Guilty
Pleasures, released as Guilty
Too in the UK
as a sequel
album to the previous Guilty. Robin
continued touring in Europe.
In February 2006 Barry and Robin reunited on stage for a Miami
charity concert to benefit the Diabetes Research Institute. It was
their first public performance together since the death of brother
Maurice. Barry and Robin also played at the 30th annual
Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on 20 May
2006.
In October 2008 Robin performed a couple of songs in London as part
of the
BBC Electric
Proms Saturday Night Fever performance. This involved
various other performers and the BBC Concert Orchestra and was
screened on the BBC and BBC interactive services.
According to
PerthNow, Barry and Robin will
travel to Australia in 2009 for a US documentary on how the Bee
Gees conquered the world.
They will then travel to Sydney
where they
will be handed the keys to the city and honoured at a star-studded
tribute.
On 1st September 2009 Barry Gibb, in an aired interview with
Easy Mix radio host Tim Roxborough while on
the subject of future tours, mentioned that "they will be back" but
in an agreement with Warner/Rhino they wouldn't make an
announcement yet.
Return to performing
On 7th September 2009, Robin Gibb disclosed to
Jonathan Agnew that he had been in touch with
Barry Gibb and that they had agreed that the Bee Gees would reform
and "perform again".
Barry and Robin performed "You should be dancing" on the
BBC's
Strictly Come
Dancing on 31 October 2009 and appeared on
ABC-TV's
Dancing With The Stars on 17
November 2009.
Songwriting success
The Bee Gees have sold in excess of 205 million records and singles
worldwide. "How Deep Is Your Love" is their most popular
composition, with nearly 400 versions by other artists in
existence.
At one point in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for
writing and/or performing 9 of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100.
In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with
12 making the Top 40.
Their songs have been covered by singers of all stripes including
Elvis Presley,
Janis Joplin,
Al Green,
Eric Clapton,
Lulu,
Elton John,
Tom Jones,
Nina Simone,
John
Frusciante (who has covered "How Deep Is Your Love" during
Red Hot Chili Peppers
concerts),
Feist,
Billy Corgan,
Michael
Bolton,
Robert Smith,
Ardijah,
Steps,
US5 and
Destiny's
Child.
Songs written by the Gibbs but largely better known through
versions by other artists include the following:
Many hit covers and album tracks of the Bee Gees' songs have been
recorded, and the band's music has also been sampled by dozens of
hip hop artists.
Awards and recognition
Inductions
- 1979 Hollywood Walk Of Fame
- 1994 Songwriters Hall Of Fame
- 1995 Florida's Artists Hall Of Fame
- 1997 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
- 1997 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Hall Of
Fame
- 2001 Vocal Group Hall Of Fame
- 2004 Dance Music Hall Of Fame
- 2005 London's Walk Of Fame
Grammy Awards
- 1977 Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Group - "How Deep Is Your
Love"
- 1978 Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group - "Saturday
Night Fever"
- 1978 Best Arrangement Of Voices - "Stayin' Alive"
- 1979 Album
Of The Year - "Saturday Night Fever"
- 1979
Producer Of The Year - "Saturday Night Fever"
- 1980 Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal -
"Guilty" (Barry Gibb with Barbra Streisand)
- 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2003 Legend Award
- 2004 Hall Of Fame Award - "Saturday Night Fever"
World Music Awards
American Music Awards
- 1979 Favorite Pop / Rock Band, Duo Or Group
- 1979 Favorite Soul / R&B Album - "Saturday Night
Fever"
- 1980 Favorite Pop / Rock Band, Duo Or Group
- 1980 Favorite Pop / Rock Album - "Spirits Having Flown"
- 1997 Life achievement Award
BRIT Awards
- 1997 Outstanding Contribution To Music
BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) Awards
Commemorative stamps
In October 1999 the
Isle of Man Post Office unveiled a set of 6 stamps
honouring their native sons' music. The official launch took place
at the London Palladium where the stage show of
Saturday Night Fever was
playing. A similar launch was held in New York shortly after to
coincide with the show opening across the Atlantic. The songs
depicted on the stamps are "Massachusetts", "Words", "I've Gotta
Get A Message To You", "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive" and
"Immortality".
Freemen of the Borough honour
On 10 July 2009, the Isle of Man's capital bestowed the Freemen of
the Borough of Douglas on Barry and Robin, as well as posthumously
on Maurice, thereby conveying the award of the town of their birth
to all three brothers.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Soundtrack releases
Catalogue Reissue
The Gibbs recently gained ownership rights to their back catalog,
and set up a new distribution arrangement with Warner/Rhino/Reprise
Records where they have since reissued digitally remastered
versions of
Saturday Night Fever, their later
Bee Gees
Greatest album, and a new boxed set:
The Studio Albums:
1967 - 1968. Incidentally,
ATCO,
the original US label of the group, is a sister label to the
aforementioned labels under the
Warner Music Group.
According to Robin Gibb's website, three more reissues were planned
for the 2008 holiday season:
Best
of Bee Gees,
Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2
and
Love Songs.
The double album
Odessa was
released on January 13, 2009 in a special 3-disc deluxe edition
complete with the original red velvet cover which will contain
remastered stereo and mono versions of the album as well as
alternate versions and unreleased tracks.
Limited edition
was recorded in 1997 as a 1,000 quantity limited edition single for Isle of Man charities. The song was featured in the Bee Gees World Tour and on ITV's "An Evening With…" but to date has not been released generally. The single was subsequently also available as part of the 1999 Bee Gees Stamp issue.
50th Anniversary Collections
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of The Bee Gees (when they
started calling themselves 'Bee Gees' in 1959), Rhino Records is
releasing two new collections.
Mythology is a four-disc
collection highlighting each brother, including Andy, with tracks
personally selected by Barry, Robin, Maurice's wife Yvonne (with
his children Adam and Samantha), and Andy's daughter Peta.
Maurice's disc contains two unreleased tracks called "Angel Of
Mercy" and "The Bridge". Andy's disc contains the unreleased track
"Arrow Through The Heart".
Mythology also features a
scrapbook of family photos, many never-before published, along with
tributes from artists such as
George
Martin,
Brian Wilson,
Elton John,
Graham
Nash and the band's longtime manager
Robert Stigwood.
The second collection,
The
Ultimate Bee Gees is a more modest 2-disc, 39 track
collection highlighting their biggest hits which will include a
bonus DVD of unreleased videos, previously unreleased television
appearances, live performances, and promo videos. Each disc is
themed with the first disc being the more upbeat songs called 'A
Night Out' and the second disc being more ballad focused called 'A
Night In'.
Band
Barry Gibb played rhythm guitar.
During early 70s, Robin Gibb played piano and violin occasionally,
but most of the time he only sang. Although he keeps on playing
strings and keyboards privately, he has not played any instrument
on stage since mid-70s.
Maurice Gibb played bass guitar, rhythm and lead guitar, piano,
organ, mellotron, and electronic keyboards, synthesizers and drum
tracks. From 1966 to 1972 he played multiple instruments on many
records. During the late 1970s he played mainly bass guitar. From
about 1986 onward he usually played keyboards and guitars. Maurice
was credited by the brothers as being the most technologically
savvy member of the band, and had built his own home studio. The
bootleg CD
ESP Demos allegedly includes rough versions of
tracks from the album of the same name that were recorded at that
studio.
These musicians were considered members of the band:
Here are some other musicians who backed up the Bee Gees
live and in the
studio:
Bee Gees in pop culture
- Australian music quiz show Spicks and Specks takes its
name from the Bee Gees song of the same name, and features the song
in its opening titles.
- A TV sketch by Kenny Everett in
which he played all three Gibbs as well as an interviewer, had the
Bee Gees answering all of his questions with songquotes.
- They were parodied by Philip Pope,
Angus Deayton, and Michael Fenton Stevens recording as
The Hee Bee Gee Bees, singing
"Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)".
- In an episode of The Simpsons while
at a yard sale Homer and Disco Stu perform the "Staying Alive"
parody "Table Five".
- In 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009 Jimmy
Fallon and Justin Timberlake
parodied the Bee Gees on Saturday
Night Live in their Barry
Gibb Talk Show sketches.
- The pop punk band Blink 182 parodied the Bee Gees in their "First Date" video.
- A MADtv parody shows Barry Gibb, portrayed
by Michael McDonald, making an American soundtrack with Randy
Newman and other celebrities like Chaka Khan (Aries Spears) and
Destiny's Child (Debra Wilson).
- In 1998 surreal British television comedy sketch show Big Train, created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers of the successful
sitcom Father Ted, featured a sketch
starring Simon Pegg, Mark Heap and Kevin
Eldon as the Bee Gees depicted as outlaws being killed by
lawman Chaka Khan in a Western style
shoot-out.
- In the Fairly Odd Parents
episode Fairly Oddbaby the Bee Gees
were mentioned.
Notes and references
- Kellerman, Andy. " Robin Gibb." Allmusic.com URL retrieved 13
August 2009.
- R&RHofF citation
- text of citation
- Dolgins, Adam: Rock Names: From Abba to ZZ Top, 3rd
ed., p.24. Citadel Press, 1998.
- Bee Gees Fan Club Bio
- Sam Kashner, "Fever Pitch," Movies Rock (Supplement to
The New Yorker), Fall 2007, unnumbered page.
- The Bee Gees - Born in the Isle of Man.
- http://www.catsfield.co.nz/
- http://www.beegees.com
- http://www.toto99.com/disco/gregdisco.shtml
- http://www.toto99.com/disco/jeffdisco.shtml
- Kenny.
- Lyrics
- Sound file
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