by Robert Wilkinson
Here's a great Solstice/Christmas gift! Today we send up best RIP Birthday wishes to Maurice and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. These twins, with their Virgo genius songwriting brother Barry, gave us tunes that have echoed across time, and been some of the most memorable in history. While most remember them as the soundtrack for the disco era, today we'll go much farther back (mainly) to the era of the 1967 Summer of Love and 1968 for some of the most amazing and haunting tunes ever crafted, sung by Robin Gibb.
Though Maurice died a while ago, and twin brother Robin left the building earlier this year, Robin's voice will echo forever in some of the most deeply moving and memorable songs of the 60s and early 70s. We'll begin with several cuts from their 1971 live performance at Festival Hall:
First, my favorite Bee Gees tune, from their first album in 1967, the beautiful and haunting ”Holiday”.
We continue with a medley of two more unbelievable compositions, also from their first album. These are the two songs that turned on the world! Here's ”New York Mining Disaster” & “To Love Somebody.”
Here's ”I Can't See Nobody,” a little known gem from their first album. Let it buffer for a minute so it doesn't stop and start.
Also from Festival Hall, "I Started A Joke."
We complete the 1971 Festival Hall performance with the 1968 hit single ”Words.”
I found some very early clips of the Bee Gees performing on Australian television! First, from 1960, the Bee Gees 1st Television Performance! Here's "Time Is Passing By."
As if they could resist a "song with good atmosphere" (as George Martin put it), here are the boys in 1963 performing the smash Beatle hit "Please Please Me."
Also from 1963, the Bee Gees doing the Dylan classic, "Blowin' In The Wind."
From 1964, a video of the Bee Gees covering the Crystals' legendary "Da Do Ron Ron."
Also from 1964, a more sophisticated version of the Bee Gees as young teenagers doing a live performance of "I Want You To Want Me"
From here, back to the band that took the world by storm in the late Sixties and Seventies!
Here's a gem from the "Top Of The Pops" television show in 1967 with the Bee Gees performing their 1968 smash hit from their second album, ”Massachusetts.”
Here's a 1975 performance of ”New York Mining Disaster 1941.”
From their third album, also released in 1968, a couple more of their huge hits! Here's a live performance from 1973 of ”(I just) Gotta Get A Message To You.” and "I Started A Joke."
From a 1973 performance, ”Message To You” and “I Can’t See Nobody”
Here are a pair of 1989 performances, "Massachusetts" and ”Message To You.”
Still rocking strong, a 1975 performance by the Bee Gees doing their gigantic 1971 hit, ”Lonely Days.”
We close today's Bee Gees Birthday party with a medley of hits spanning their 1968 2nd album through their 1971 6th album: "Run to me" / "World" / "Holiday" / "I Can't See Nobody" / "How Can I Mend A Broken Heart."
From their later incarnation, the Bee Gees doing a 1989 live performance in Melbourne of "Stayin' Alive." From the same concert, a three song medley of "Too Much Heaven," "Heartbreaker," and "Islands In The Stream." We'll finish this Melbourne show with "Holiday," and "Nights On Broadway."
From LA in the 70s, here's "Jive Talkin.'"
From the 1987 Prince's Trust, a live performance of "You Win Again.”
From the 2006 Prince's Trust concert, here's another version of "Jive Talkin,'" and the immortal "To Love Somebody.”
We'll close today's musical tribute with one of their biggest from the Disco era. Here are all 3 Bee Gees joined by younger brother Andy in "You Should Be Dancing." Another live version here. As the great Frank Zappa once told us, Sheik Yerbooti!!
It was the world's loss that Barry and Robin decided to dissolve the Bee Gees with the death of Brother Maurice. Since they reconsidered, the world was briefly blessed with more of the amazing songs and performances they've given us for decades. RIP Maurice and Robin. The world misses you and is a richer place for the musical legacy you gave us all.
© Copyright 2012 Robert Wilkinson
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