Edition 16
Special tribute to The Bee Gees
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Bee Gees
Labels Festival, Polydor, Atco, RSO, Warner Bros., Rhino
Website www.beegees.com
Members
Barry Gibb
Robin Gibb
Former members
Maurice Gibb
Colin Petersen
Vince Melouney
Geoff Bridgeford
The Bee Gees are a musical group that was originally made up of a singing trio of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.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 brothers co-wrote all 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 Gibb brothers lived their first few years in Chorlton, Manchester, England, then moved in the late 1950s to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where they eventually began their musical careers. After achieving their first chart success in Australia with Spicks and Specks (their 12th single), they returned to the United Kingdom in January 1967 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 7 September 2009, Robin Gibb revealed that he and Barry Gibb had agreed that the Bee Gees would reform and perform again.
Bee Gees Official website Click HERE
The Gibb brothers were born on the Isle of Man to English parents in
1946 (Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, September 1) and 1949 ( twins Robin Hugh
Gibb and Maurice (pronounced “Morris”) Ernest Gibb, December 22).
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, debuting in public on one memorable
occasion at a local cinema. The boys
were going to lip sync to a record, which other children had done at the
cinema in previous weeks. However, on the way to the cinema, the record
was dropped and broken. 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 March 5,
1958 in Manchester), emigrated to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, and
and went to Humpybong State School. The still very young brothers began
performing where they could to raise pocket change. First called the
Rattlesnakes, later Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats, and even Les
Tosseurs, they were introduced to radio DJ Bill Gates (not to be
confused with the founder of Microsoft) by racetrack promoter Bill Goode
(who saw them perform at Brisbane’s Speedway Circus). Gates renamed
them after his and Goode’s initials – thus the name was not simply a
reference to the brothers Gibb.
I have adored The Bee Gees since I was a teenager when they first started out in the UK. I bought every record they ever made.
I finally achieved a dream come true in the 90s, when I got to see them perform live at Wembley Stadium in London, for their One Night Only tour. They exceeded all my expectations, and that night will remain forever with me, as a joyous, memorable and very special time. Enjoy the extra downloads added today at the footer of this page.
Documentation of all the Gibb songs HERE
Pause player at the top to listen and enjoy these other tracks by my favourite group.
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