Bee Gees

The Bee Gees were a British and Australian band, originally a pop singer-songwriter combination, reborn as funk and rhythm and blues. The brothers Gibb, consisting of frequent lead vocalist Barry, and the twins, co-lead vocalist Robin, and keyboardist/guitarist Maurice, were born in the Isle of Man in the 1940s.

1960s in England

Very soon after their arrival in January 1967, the Bee Gees were signed by Robert Stigwood, and added Australian musicians Vince Melouney (guitar) and former child actor Colin Petersen (drums). Their first English single was "Spicks and Specks", issued under a deal between Festival and Polydor that had been made known to them around the time they left Australia. But their first single recorded in England soon followed, "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967), a surreal, haunting and macabre song that made the Top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic. Their third album, Bee Gees' First scored well with critics and the public, offering an innovative blend of rock and orchestral ballads such as the classics "To Love Somebody" and "I Can't See Nobody".

Related Topics:
1967 - Robert Stigwood - Vince Melouney - Guitar - Colin Petersen - Drums - Bee Gees' First

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The next big single was "Massachusetts", which launched the trio into superstardom, followed shortly by the classic "Words". 1968 saw the release of two albums, the relatively heavy-sounding Horizontal and the lighter pop Idea The latter contained two more hits, "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke". To many music critics, these are the band's golden years, well before any of their unforgettable disco hits. The Bee Gees at the time were a freakbeat rock and roll band, with strong soul influences and a belief, like the Beatles had, that all styles of music should be combined to create something new. This period ended after releasing Odessa (1969), a dense and complex prog rock album with orchestral accompaniment.

Related Topics:
1968 - Freakbeat - Rock and roll - Soul - Odessa - 1969 - Prog rock

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By this time Barry and Robin were increasingly at odds about the direction of the group, but once Robert Stigwood made clear his favouring of Barry as leader, Robin left. Barry and Maurice released an LP as a duo, Cucumber Castle (the soundtrack to a television special), while Robin released a solo album, Robin's Reign that included his big debut solo single "Saved by the Bell". None of this made any impact in the United States, and when Barry and Maurice split at the end of 1969 it looked like the end. All three recorded solo albums in 1970 that were never released.

Related Topics:
Cucumber Castle - Robin's Reign

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The three brothers reunited in the later part of 1970, their feelings about the split evident in many songs about heartache and loneliness. They worked in a new pop-progressive rock sound, hitting the American charts with "Lonely Days" (from the reunion LP 2 Years On) and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (from Trafalgar). These albums did well and they continued the success with top ten hits "My World" and "Run To Me", the latter from the less successful LP To Whom It May Concern.

Related Topics:
1970 - 2 Years On - Trafalgar - To Whom It May Concern

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Recognizing that they were in a rut, the brothers broke their string of recordings at IBC Studios London with musical director Bill Shepherd. They relocated to Los Angeles where they recorded two albums almost at once late in 1972, in a collective version of the sensitive singer-songwriter style then popular, with much acoustic guitar and piano. When the first one, Life in a Tin Can, and its lead-off single was ignored by the public, Stigwood recommended a halt. Fans who have heard the second unreleased album The Bee Gees Album (also known as A Kick in the Head) consider it the better of the two and have called for its release ever since.

Related Topics:
Singer-songwriter - Life in a Tin Can - The Bee Gees Album - A Kick in the Head

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At the advice of Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, their US label, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with famed soul music producer Arif Mardin. The first resulting LP, the often-overlooked Mr. Natural, is the hardest-rocking album they have ever done. But when it too failed to attract much interest, Mardin encouraged them to work with the soul music styles they had always loved but had shied from fully performing.

Related Topics:
Ahmet Ertegun - Atlantic Records - Arif Mardin - Mr. Natural

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The brothers attempted to put together a band that could perform live as well as they did in the studio. Alan Kendall, lead guitar, had come on board in 1971 but had not had much to do until Mr Natural. For that album they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and after it they added ex-Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the classic late 1970s "Bee Gees Band". Maurice, previously all over their recordings on piano, guitar, organ, mellotron, bass guitar, and exotica like mandolin and Moog, now confined himself to bass.

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Eric Clapton suggested recording at Criteria Studios, where he had just recorded 461 Ocean Boulevard, and there they went early in 1975. Still starting off with ballads, after a week or so they finally heeded the urging of Mardin and Stigwood and created more rhythmic songs like "Jive Talkin'" and "Nights on Broadway", the latter featuring Barry's first attempts at singing falsetto in the backing vocals toward the end. The band liked the resulting new sound, and apparently the public agreed, sending the LP Main Course up the charts.

Related Topics:
Eric Clapton - Criteria Studios - 461 Ocean Boulevard - Jive Talkin' - Falsetto - Main Course

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The follow-up Children of the World was drenched in Barry's new-found falsetto and Blue's synthesizer dance 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 USA, but the new sound was not as popular with some fans from the 1960s. Compared to the stereotype of disco however this is still closer to a rock band, with rhythm guitar and real drums behind the falsetto.

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