The Bee Gees

British singing brothers who cut their teeth in Australia, returned home, and ascended to mega-selling greatness in America. Their longevity and success cement their place in the record books, from #1s in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Their career zenith came with the disco boom of the late 70s and the soundtrack album to Saturday Night Fever. They were also able to turn their hands to helping the careers of Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross. Here are just a small slice of their best works:

I've Gotta Get A Message To You

Night Fever

Stayin' Alive

You Win Again

Alone

ha-ha-ha-ha-having the last laugh

The Bee Gees: In Our Own Time
Excellent 2010 account with new chats to Robin & Barry, and archive chat from Maurice. The latter has some of the funniest material, such as their "To Whom It May Concern" album title reflecting their lack of direction. The idea that they arrived in England off a boat and having just had their first Aussie #1, to be told to go back home because bands were now out of fashion is a stark picture of the culture of the time (which sadly hasn't really changed much).

The Bee Gees: One Night Only
I had this live concert on cassette, but this was the first time I had seen the actual concert, which has about 50% more songs to it. Their 1997 show at the MGM in Vegas was apparently going to be their farewell show because Barry was too ill to go on as a Bee Gee. But plans changed. Olivia Newton-John is in the audience, and Celine Dion joins them on stage for 'Immortality'. It's a great show, well worth seeing.

The Joy Of The Bee Gees
Generally positive account maybe heavier on the time up to SNF then rushing through what came after. Nice to see assorted musical support from Ana Matronic to John Lydon, Gary Brooker to Guy Chambers. Philip Pope even came on to talk about the HeeBeeGeeBees. Barry, though, remains a steadfast survivor.

Bee Gees: At the BBC ...and Beyond
The usual archive hour, covering a plethora of songs across the decades, though less from the latter end of their career. Solo efforts from Robin and Andy were included, and it ended with "To Love Somebody" as the best encapsulation of their writings.

Robin Gibb: Me and My Songs... a Tribute
Short half-hour mix of an interview from January of this year, and various BGs performances over the years. Some nostalgic value, and the songs are still great.

The Story of the Bee Gees
One lark of watching quite old docs is their skewed picture of events. This 1985 effort couldn't consider their impending success with Diana Ross on 'Chain Reaction' and on their own with 'You Win Again'. Instead it was the familiar story of emigration to Australia, and return to big success. Then there were troughs and peaks, solo work and reunions. Their disco triumphs remain a high watermark of creativity.

Discovering: The Bee Gees
Amusingly described as "three stroppy brothers who conquered the world", this tale covered their musical family and upbringing, the value of writing their own material, versatility and rapid #1 success at home and abroad, great highs followed by deep lows, monster success with disco, productive collaborations with Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand, petering efforts through the 90s, a final album in 2001, then Maurice's untimely death in 2003, with Robin also in 2012.

Rather careless not to say anything about Barry's return to performing, with his first solo album in over 3 decades, and his new band line-up which involves his sons. He even turned 70 a few months back.

The Great Songwriters: Barry Gibb
The Gibbs were a musical family, and Barry's own ambitions were tempered when his little brothers wanted to join him. He feels they owe everything to Robert Stigwood, even through their highs and lows. He prefers teamwork in composition, which refers to his working with his sons now. Didn't feel he could work on his own solo career in the same way that Phil Collins managed it. His wife nudged him out of his retirement. Loves writing love songs, which is why he's done so many of them. His parents and his brothers are all dead, and he as the eldest carries on. With songs as good as "In The Now", then long may he.

Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Barry Gibb
He's not concerned about money, but the copyrights are not for sale. Arif Mardin encouraged his falsetto. Has had paranormal moments with visions of his late brothers, but sees it positively. Was a ladies man from a young age. Got drunk with Michael Jackson. Keeps touring to keep occupied. Song-writing flows without much need to force it. Encourages his family to "follow your bliss". Still deeply loves his wife. There it is.

Barry Gibb at Glastonbury
In the Sunday afternoon Legends slot on the Pyramid stage, Barry and band regaled the appreciative crowd with over an hour of classic hits, and even some less expected efforts like Spicks and Specks. He even did a couple of duets with Beth Cohen to shine a light on some non-Bee Gee works. A good time was had by all.

Bee Gees - One For All Tour - Live in Australia 1989
At the National Tennis Centre, Melbourne, in fact, 17/18 November, when they were plugging the One album. Fun to see the show format at this stage (compared with the One Night Only show from Vegas in 1997). They make sure to plug songs from the new LP by & by, and Staying Alive seems to come along earlier than normal. But a fun show to see.

Barry was awarded a KBE in the New Year's Honours List, making him Sir Barry Gibb.

Saturday Night Fever - The Ultimate Disco Movie
The story of how a magazine article became a vehicle for John Travolta and the Bee Gees, and despite a tiny budget, went on to be a huge success, chiefly because of the music and the dancing. Travolta seemed proud to talk about it, as did the other cast members, the director & so on. But hey, a film which had Lloyd Kaufmann as the location manager has to be worth something. Barry Gibb didn't feature as much as I would have thought (though to be fair, the songs were written to order), but it was clear that Robert Stigwood's word was often final, and when a director wanted the songs out, Stigwood was never going to buy that.

The South Bank Show Originals: Bee Gees
This is a rare instance of a half-hour cut-down where I'd like to see the full hour. Shot in 1997, around & during the recording of Still Waters, which I recently got, it gives Maurice, Barry and Robin plenty of time to talk, and fascinating it was. Taken back to Manchester, they ruminated on their days as young tearaways, and going to Australia was welcomed by the local police. Their drumming father wanted their harmony singing to be compared to the Mills Brothers. They felt the impact of the Beatles, and New York Mining Disaster 1931 was their tribute (somehow). Brian Epstein passed them on to Robert Stigwood. Eric Clapton recommended they record in America, which led to Jive Talking & so on. They took some song titles from Ernest Hemingway novels, eg For Whom The Bell Tolls. All in all, one of the better shows on them.

...Sings The Bee Gees
Sure I must have seen this (or a longer version of this) before. In an intro, Barry said they wrote To Love Somebody for Otis Redding, but he died before he could record it. It's had 200 cover versions instead. Among the predictable here were less heard covers by Sandie Shaw and Esther Ofarim.

The Bee Gees - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Lengthy new doc with Barry Gibb and many others, from Lulu to Noel Gallagher, speaking fondly of various parts of the story. Use of archives allowed Maurice, Robin and even Robert Stigwood to have their say. Amusing stuff from Eric Clapton, who not led Stigwood to the Bee Gees, but later advised them to go to Miami which helped restart their careers into the golden successes of the 1970s.
Barry misses his three brothers, understandably, and would rather have them back than all the glory that has accrued. Pointed coverage of the infamous "disco sucks" backlash, showing how things sometimes were in the USA just 40 years ago. No mention that Barry has a new album project out next month.

misery guts wrote:No mention that Barry has a new album project out next month.

Said album, a covers/duet thing called Greenfields (for short) was out this week and is now #1 in the UK, apparently his first since Spirits Having Flown back in 1979 

They've had their own statue put up on the Isle of Man:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-57769115

In other news, the Foo Fighters have done a vague tribute album to the brothers, under the name "Dee Gees" which has this week gone into the charts at #17.

Barry's 75 today 

In further Isle of Man support, Barry Gibb was featured on a recent set of stamps:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-59139953

Music Box: Mr Saturday Night
How Robert Stigwood flew close to the Beatles, went his own way, had the Bee Gees as clients, and slowly put together the movie & music phenomenon that was Saturday Night Fever. Many staff members and colleagues spoke, though major names like the Gibb brothers and John Travolta were seen in archives. After making a bomb with SNF and Grease, things tailed off with the Sergeant Pepper movie, but Stigwood had his money by then and could leave the business to others.

Music Legends: The Bee Gees
Intriguingly, this put most emphasis (or had most coverage available) of their really early years from the mid-1950s, a spell seldom taken seriously. Their rises and falls, solo careers, disco heyday and work with other acts, reunions and health issues, all familiar topics but still worth experiencing again. They're in multiple Halls of Fame, but Barry is the sole survivor.

TOTP2 Special: The Bee Gees
Another one I must have seen before. From April 2001, pushing what would turn out to be their final album, the three brothers gave intros to each number, some of which they wrote for other acts (whether Otis Redding or the Backstreet Boys). Humour is seldom far away, partly from the album intending to have contributions from each brother, somewhat equally. The 4 tracks they did from the album were probably the most surprising, as the title track was the only notable hit from it.