The Music of BEE GEES

The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb — that became one of the most successful musical acts of all time. They were born on the Isle of Man to English parents, lived in Manchester, England and moved to Brisbane, Australia during their childhood years, where they began their musical careers. Their worldwide success came when they returned to England and signed with producer Robert Stigwood.

The multiple Grammy Award-winning group was successful for all of its forty years of recording music, but it 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. They were best rated band in the world in 1978.

No matter the style, the Bee Gees sang tight three-part harmonies that were instantly recognizable; as brothers, their voices blended perfectly, in the same way that The Beach Boys' did. Barry sang lead on many songs, and an R&B falsetto introduced in the disco years; Robin provided the clear vibrato lead that was a hallmark of their pre-disco music; Maurice sang high and low harmonies throughout their career. The three brothers co-wrote most of their hits, and they said that they felt like they became 'one person' when they were writing. The group's name was retired after Maurice died in January 2003.

It has been estimated that the Bee Gees' record sales total more than 220 million, easily making them part of the list of best-selling music artists. Their 1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees".

Despite popular belief, the group's name was not derived from "Brothers Gibb" or "Barry Gibb", but from the initials of Australian radio DJ Bill Gates and racetrack promoter Bill Goode (see below).

Early years
The Gibb brothers and were born in Douglas on the Isle of Man; Barry Alan Crompton Gibb on 1 September 1946, and fraternal twins Robin Hugh Gibb and Maurice Ernest Gibb on 22 December 1949.

The family returned to father Hugh Gibb's home town of Chorlton Hardy, Manchester, England, in the early 1950s where the boys began to sing in harmony, debuting in public on one memorable occasion at the local Gaumont cinema. The boys were going to lip sync to a record, which other children had done at the cinema in previous weeks. However, as they were running to get there, Maurice dropped the record on the street, causing it to break. As a result, the brothers got on stage and sang themselves. They got a very good response from the crowd, which convinced them that singing was what they wanted to do with their lives.

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".

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 Gee's Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By late 1966, the family decided to return to England, and seek their musical fortunes there. They were not confident, however, of success in England as Barry told a friend, Colin Stead, later of Lloyds World, that they would be back next year. While at sea in January, 1967, they heard that "Spicks and Specks", a song they had recorded in 1966, had gone to #1 in Australia.

Late 60's - First Fame
Before their departure from Australia to their native 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 given the demo tapes to Robert Stigwood who recently joined NEMS. After an audition with Stigwood in February 1967, The Bee Gees were signed to a five-year contract where Polydor Records would be the Bee Gees' record label in the U.K. and ATCO Records would be the U.S. distributor. Work quickly began on their first international LP and Robert Stigwood launched a huge promotion to coincide with their first album.

Stigwood proclaimed that The Bee Gees were "The Most Significant New Talent Of 1967" and thus began the immediate comparison to The Beatles. Their first single, New York Mining Disaster 1941, was issued to radio station DJs with a blank white label with only the song title. Many 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 U.K. and the U.S. Only later did they realize that it was not The Beatles but in fact The Bee Gees, when their second single was released, To Love Somebody and again climbed into the Top 20 in the U.S. Originally written for Otis Redding, "To Love Somebody" was a soulful ballad sung by Barry, which has now become a pop standard covered by hundreds of artists such as Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, The Animals, Nina Simone, and Michael Bolton just to name a few. Another single, Holiday was released in the U.S. and peaked at #16. The parent album, Bee Gees 1st was one of the first debut albums in the rock era entirely written by the artists themselves. Not even the Beatles, Bob Dylan or The Rolling Stones can make that claim. "Bee Gees 1st" peaked at #7 in the U.S. and #8 in the U.K.

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 Peterson on drums) began work on their second album. Released in late 1967, Horizontal repeated the success of their first album, which contained the #1 U.K. (#11 U.S.) single Massachusetts and the #7 U.K. 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" are standouts. "Horizontal" made the Top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at #12 in the U.S. and #16 in the U.K. To promote the album, 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 U.S., #8 U.K.) 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 U.S., but managing to climb to #25 in the U.K. The Bee Gees felt that "The Singer Sang His Song" was the stronger of the two and in fact reached #3 in The Netherlands. The year 1968 saw The Bee Gees reach the American Top Ten with the singles I've Gotta Get a Message to You (#8 U.S., #1 U.K.) and I Started A Joke (#6 U.S.) which were culled from the band's third album Idea, which was another Top 20 album in the U.S. (#17) and the U.K. (#4). Following the tour and TV special to promote "Idea", 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, as 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 as Robin began to feel that Robert Stigwood had been favoring Barry as the leader of the group. They began to record their next album, which was to be a concept album called "Masterpeace", evolved into the double-album Odessa. Most rock critics feel this is the best Bee Gees album of the 60's, with it's progressive rock feel on the title track and along side other genres on music as heard on "Marley Purt Drive" and "Give Your Best", both country-flavored tunes, and signature ballads such as "Melody Fair" and First Of May, which became the only single from the album. Robin, feeling that the flipside, "Lamplight" should have been the A-Side, quit the group in mid-1969 and launching a solo career which saw brief success in Europe with the #2 hit "Saved By The Bell" and the album Robin's Reign. Barry & Maurice continued as The Bee Gees, even recruiting their sister Leslie to appear with them on stage.

The first of many Bee Gees compilations, Best of Bee Gees was released featuring the non-LP singles Words and the new single Tomorrow, Tomorrow which was a moderate hit in the U.K. reaching #23, but stalling at #54 in the U.S. The album itself sold very well and reached the Top Ten in both the U.S. and the U.K.

While Robin was off on his own, Barry, Maurice & 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 was aired on the BBC in 1971. Colin Peterson 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 U.K. reaching #2, but was a disappointment in the U.S. 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 way and it seemed that The Bee Gees were finished. Barry recorded a solo album which never saw official release, though a single, "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was released without much interest. Maurice also recorded during this time, released the single "Railroad" and starred in West End musical "Sing A Rude Song".

Maurice's death
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 their 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. The Bee Gees' last public live show together was Live by Request, a special shown on A&E.

Maurice, who had been the musical director of the Bee Gees during their final years as a group, died suddenly on January 12, 2003, from 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 Maurice died, Robin's solo album Magnet was released.

Although there was talk of a memorial concert featuring both surviving brothers and invited guests, nothing materialized. Since then Barry and Robin have continued to work independently and have both released recordings with other artists.

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 since the death of brother Maurice. Barry and Robin also played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on May 20, 2006.

Listen to Bee Gees songs.