All you have ever wanted to know about the Bee Gees but have been frightened to ask!!!
Did you know, for example, that
the Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice) were born on the Isle of Man to English parents and lived in Chorlton, Manchester.
Anyway then they emigrated to Brisbane, Australia where they used to sing for their pocket money and slowly but surely their voices blended into the tight harmony that still exists to the remaining two Bee Gees to this day. To me the most interesting thing is the number of times they changed their name before settling on "Bee Gees". First of all they callled themselves Rattlesnakes,thenWee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats until radio DJ Bill Gates renamed them the "Bee Gees" after his own initials. Now I never knew that -did you!!
Although they were well established in Australia they only received world renown after they returned to England and signed with producer Robert Stigwood. Their voices blended perfectly with Barry singing lead, Robin singing the vibrato lead and Maurice singing high and low harmonies. They co-wrote most of their hits and said they felt like they became "one person" when they were writing.
After returning to the UK in January 1967 their father Hugh Gibb sent demo tapes to Brian Epstein,theBeatles manager, who passed them to Robnert Stigwood who considered them "the most significient New Talent of 1967.
Their first British single called "New York Mining Disaster 1941" made it to the top 20.
By 1969, it was almost over before it began due to too many disagreements between the band and management however in 1970 they were all reunited. Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records arranged for them to record with soul music producer Arif Mardin, foreshadowing the R&B direction of their future career, and introducing Barry Gibb's falsetto .
In the 1970's their participation in the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" marked a turning point in their career. They wrote all the songs in a one weekend marathon -"virtually in a single weekend" and the album has sold circa 40 million copies worldwide making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time.
A year later their successs continued when Barry wrote the title song for the musical "Grease" for Frankie Valli.
Sadly Maurice suddenly died in 2003 from a strangulated intestine and it was decised between the remianing Bee Gees that they would carry on in the name of "Bee Gees" in Maurice's memory, but as time passed they decided to drop the group name. There was talk of a memorial concert featuring both surviving brothers and invited guests, nothing materialised.
Since then Robin and Barry have continued to work independently and have both released recordings with other artists, occasionally coming together to perform at special events.
As songwriters they composed for: Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Al Green, EricClapton, Lulu, Elton John, Tom Jones and Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, Dioone Warwick, Diana Ross and Kenny Rogers inclujding his hit with Dolly Parton "Islands in the Stream"
"How Deep Is Your Love" is their most popular song, with over 400 versions by other artists in existence.
To find out more about the Bee Gees which not look at their website which is as follows:
All that remains to be said is Please God - Long Live the Bee Gees