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Showing posts from November, 2014

Maurice Gibb Discusses That Clive Anderson Show

You've heard about that Clive Anderson show on BBC One called Clive Anderson All Talk, the UK chat show where Barry Gibb took exception to some of Clive's comments and walked off the show, with first Robin and then Maurice following close on his heels. Until Bernie Quayle, of Manx Radio on the Isle of Man, managed to get some information about what happened, all of the Bee Gees were silent about that incident.

The following is a partial transcript of an interview CD called Come Home To Ellan Vannin: The Follow-Up, where Maurice Gibb discusses what happened. It is reproduced here by permission from Bernie Quayle. Enjoy!


Well, what about that Clive Anderson interview? Now, Barry and Robin were not that keen to have their comments recorded. So when it came to talking to Maurice about that thorny subject, I used a different approach.

Incidentally, Clive Anderson asked if I could toss a few questions in. Do you recognize this voice? [imitates Clive] "I think you're …
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Children of the World mimics Main Course while pushing further into funky disco and falsetto-tinged R&B

The Gibb brothers’ trek to Miami’s Criteria Studios with legendary producer Arif Mardin gave birth to Main Course, a defining moment in the pop group’s transition from. The marriage didn’t last long. With only two albums produced by Mardin, the Gibb trio decided they could pull off the next set without the famed producer on their next set. They meticulously studied his studio tricks and quickly discovered the magic behind Criteria’s acoustics. Children of the World isn’t technically a major improvement over Main Course, nor is it a total knockoff. But the boys are surprisingly comfortable with their mirage of soulful EW&F funk and blue-eyed soul that they try to scoot away from their Beatles-ish songbook as best as they can.

Of course, “Love So Right” is the album’s finest ballad and still proves they are a Hallmark card away from being professional poets. Newly christened lead singer Barry Gibb squeals with his nasally falsetto with the confidence of Phillip Bailey, as he charges …
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Col Joye remembers the night he discovered the Bee Gees

21 May, 2012 6:01PM AEST By Laura Bailey
Col Joye first met the Gibb brothers at a BBQ in the Gold Coast when they were just 13 and 14 years old. He knew immediately that he'd discovered something very special.
"I was just knocked out with the sound that they had so I recorded them the next day," he told Richard Glover of the experience. "It was kind of freakish how one harmony could suddenly go to the lead and the lead would go to the third and the third would go to the fifth... I was more than impressed."
The chance meeting was the beginning of a lifelong relationship between Col and the Gibbs, one that produced hits like Spicks and Specks and set them on their journey to London and three decades of worldwide hits.
Hear more of Col reminiscing about his experiences with Barry, Robin and Maurice including having them come and live with him for a year in the early days. Click below to listen
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/sydney/201205/r945438_10042302.mp3
Bee Gees …
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The Bee gees in Bern 1968

Die Bee Gees 1968 in Bern: Die Brüder Gibb geben ihr erstes Konzert in der Schweiz. Stundenlang harren die Fans aus, um ihre Idole zu sehen. Dass die Band im Gegensatz zu den Rolling Stones äusserst presse- und fernsehfreundlich sei [01:00], scheint die Journalistin am meisten zu beeindrucken. [«Antenne» vom 11. März 1968]
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Robin Gibb the George Harrison of the Bee Gees

By Steve Horowitz18 November 2014


Robin Gibb was the George Harrison of the Bee Gees. He was the quiet one who stood in the background while his siblings Barry and Maurice (and later Andy) received the bulk of the attention. Robin’s distinctive warbling on songs such as “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, which he co-wrote with his brother Barry, revealed his vocal and lyrical talents. But Robin may be the least known and celebrated of the brothers Gibb.


Like Beatle George, Robin died too young. Cancer killed him back in 2012 when he was 62 years old. His career with the BeeGees is well-known, but Robin’s solo work never fared well in the United States. (The British / Australian sold best in Germany for some reason.) Robin’s last record has just been issued. Most of the songs on the 17-track 50 St. Catherine’s Drive were recorded between 2006 and 2008, but never released. The material was compiled by his wife Dwina Gibb and son R.J, who also co-wrote three songs on the album. Dwina wri…
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Andy Gibb: "I'm Tired of Running Around..."

"I haven't exactly led the most typical or understated life in the world," says Andy Gibb with typical British understatement. The world's number one male singer has lately been doing some thinking and re-evaluating of his much-chronicled, frenzied lifestyle. There's a new Andy Gibb emerging - with some major surprises in store for his millions of fans.

First, there are the girls. Andy has already been married and divorced and he is a father, although he declines to discuss his past. He has dated countless girls, mostly blondes. "I like all females," he grins, "but I admit blondes have a certain attraction for me. However, my ideal girl could just as easily be a brunette or a redhead - anything but bald," he laughs during one of his SRO concert tours. Susan George, Andy's former flame, is now his best friend and he is coming to respect girls as friends.

He declares, "When I was a teen I was scared of girls. All boys are, really, onl…
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Lulu: Why I had to dump Bee Gee husband Maurice Gibb over his drinking

Sixties pop icon Lulu has told how she had to dump Bee Gee ­ex-husband Maurice Gibb over his heavy drinking.
The celebrity couple wed in 1969 after a whirlwind affair, then split just four years later when Maurice’s rock and roll lifestyle started to take its toll.
Now, 39 years on, Lulu has admitted they should never have got married in the first place.
She and Maurice met ­backstage at Top of the Pops. She was 20, he was 19 and they fell for each other at once, marrying later the same year.
But Maurice, who died from a twisted intestine in 2003 aged 53, was battling alcoholism and it did not take long for cracks in the relationship to appear.
Lulu said in an interview for Piers Morgan’s Life Stories: “We thought we were king and queen of the world and were fabulous.
Turbulent marriage: Lulu with then husband Maurice Gibb
“The drinking was a part of it but we shouldn’t have got ­married in the first place... we should have just had a romance.
“I decided it had to end. He didn’t want it to e…
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"I've Never Paid My Dues!"Why Andy Gibb is Scared of Success

Teen Beat
July 1979
Price: 75 cents
Pgs: 12-14

"I've Never Paid My Dues!"
Why Andy Gibb is Scared of Success

"I don't have any degrees and I've had very little education really. I've gotten past the age where people said I was going to start wishing I'd gone back to school - and I still don’t' wish I had. My brothers and I only wanted to be musicians. We didn't want to be anything else, it's as simple as that. I wasn't interested in formal education, I was interested in learning only what I was interested in. I made it very hard on the school teachers … Actually, traveling has been a big education for me, more than anything else. It's important to find out what is going on in the world."

Now those are the words of a young man who seems to know exactly what he wants out of life, who's determined to seek his goal no matter how unconventional his methods are, whose driving ambition is his mainstay in life. Well, perhaps, …
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Flashback: Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers Take 'Islands in the Stream' to New Heights

By | October 29, 2014On this day (October 29th) in 1983, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers reached the top of the Billboard 100 chart with their now-iconic duet, "Islands in the Stream." Written by the Bee Gees (and later performed on their 1998 live album), the tune was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's novel of the same name and was meant to have a very different, more R&B sound. Co-writer Robin Gibb once told ABC News that he and his brothers originally wrote the song with Marvin Gaye in mind.



When Rogers got a shot at "Islands," he went in to record it solo — with the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb producing — and just didn't click with it, he has admitted in several interviews over the years. Parton just happened to be at the same recording studio, so the two musicians tracked her down and approached her about turning the song into a duet. Thus was born an award-winning musical partnershi…
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