by Robert Wilkinson
Here's a great Solstice/Christmas gift! We continue our musical holiday weekend birthdays by honoring the life and music of 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.
For those who just flew in from another galaxy and never heard of this group, here’s a bit from Wikipedia:
Barry Gibb is a "Manx" musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the Bee Gees. He is also the eldest and last surviving Gibb brother. With his younger brothers, twins Robin and Maurice, he formed the Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups in the history of music. Their younger brother Andy was also a popular singer. The trio got their start in Australia and found major success when they returned to England.
Born in Isle of Man and raised in Manchester, England, Barry, Robin, and Maurice formed the Rattlesnakes in 1955, evolving into the Bee Gees in 1958 when they moved to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Also from wiki, “Known for his high-pitched falsetto singing voice, Gibb shares the record with John Lennon and Paul McCartney for consecutive Billboard Hot 100 Number Ones as a writer with six. The book of Guinness World Records lists Barry Gibb as the second most successful songwriter in history behind Paul McCartney. Gibb's career has spanned over fifty years. In 1994, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with his brothers. In 1997, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Bee Gees.”
While most remember them as the soundtrack for the disco era, today we'll go much farther back to the beginning, and from there move through 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 Gibb (22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) died many years ago and was joined by his twin brother Robin (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) 8 years ago, Robin's vibrato, Maurice’s harmonies, and Barry’s falsetto will echo forever in some of the most deeply moving and memorable songs of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. So on with the birthday celebration!
We begin with 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."
We now fast forward to the band that took the world by storm in the late Sixties and Seventies!
Here’s one of my favorites off the Bee Gees 1st album, a live performance of the haunting and beautiful “Holiday”
Here are a couple of studio cuts from that first album, the first to achieve international distribution. You can definitely hear the Beatle Revolver influence! First, set to some great footage, “In My Own Time”and “Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Tell You”
Also from their first album, a live b/w performance of their 1967 mega hit! This was on the radio every day of my senior year in high school. “To Love Somebody.” This year I found their Beat Club live performance to a backing track of “To Love Somebody.” Here’s the original psychedelic music video of the Bee Gees lip synching “To Love Somebody.”
Live on the BBC in 1967, here’s a great live performance of “In My Own Time” (which clearly has Revolver influences!)
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.” (Yes, they’re doing this to a backing track, but the vocals are perfect!) This is from French television the same year, also done to a backing track. “Massachusetts”
From 1967 at the Beat Club, here are the Bee Gees giving a live performance augmented with a string track of “Massachusetts”
More from the Beat Club in Germany, this time in 1968! Our first clip has their performance of their huge breakthrough hit from the first album “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” and from the same gig, another huge hit, “I’ve Just Got to Get A Message to You”
Live in Switzerland in 1968, the audio track of Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Tell You”
Here’s one of my favorites off the first album, an early performance in b/w video of the haunting and beautiful “Holiday”
From their fourth album (referred to as the second album in international release), also released in 1968, a couple more of their huge hits! Here's a live performance from 1973 in Japan of ”(I just) Gotta Get A Message To You.” and from 1996 on Japanese tv, "I Started A Joke."
I found it again!! This is the legendary 1971 concert at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia. The 64 minute clip is gone, but this one’s 58 minutes of perfection! For your enjoyment, a masterpiece performance of The Bee Gees Live At Festival Hall - 1971
Here’s a 45 minute better video of that show! The Bee Gees Live At Festival Hall - 1971
Here’s the one hour audio-only full concert! The Bee Gees Live At Festival Hall - 1971
Still rocking strong, an extraordinarily great performance by the Bee Gees live doing their gigantic 1970 hit, ”Lonely Days.”
From a 1973 performance on The Midnight Special, ”Message To You” and “I Can’t See Nobody”
Also from The Midnight Special in 1973, a live performance of "Run to me"
I found it again! Here’s the full 56 minute show by the Brothers Gibb in Oz in 1974! The Bee Gees Live in Melbourne - 1974
Here are a few individual clips from that show.
“How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”
Here are a few hits spanning their 1968 2nd album through their 1971 6th album!
From Soundstage in Chicago 1975, “I Can’t See Nobody”
Here the Bee Gees do a great medley live in 1975 on The Midnight Special tv show, ”NY Mining Disaster 1941,” "Run to me," "World," “Holiday,” “I Can’t See Nobody,” and “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.”
From The Mike Douglas Show in 1975, here's "Jive Talkin'"
From the 1987 Prince's Trust, a live performance of "You Win Again.”
Though I found the historic 1989 show The Bee Gees Live One In Australia – Melbourne Australia, again, I’ll keep this section in case you’d rather hear specific songs than put on the entire show. We kick it off with a three song medley of "Too Much Heaven," "Heartbreaker," and "Islands In The Stream." We segue into "Massachusetts" and ”Message To You,” then a live performance of their very first hit from September 1966, “Spicks and Specks,” followed by one of their last hits from 1989, “One.”
We'll finish this Melbourne show with "Holiday" and close with the iconic disco tune ”Nights on Broadway. (This year "Stayin' Alive" has vanished.) I found the entire concert which I posted below, if you just can’t get enough!
Here are more tunes from that 1 hour 47 minute concert, most of them different than what I gave you above! The Bee Gees Live One In Australia – Melbourne Australia 1989 (“Ordinary Lives,” “Giving Up The Ghost,” “To Love Somebody,” “I've Gotta Get A Message To You,” “One,” “Tokyo Nights,” “Words,” “Juliet,” “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” “Holiday,” “Too Much Heaven,” “Heartbreaker,” “Islands In The Stream,” “Run To Me,” “World,” “Spicks And Specks,” “Lonely Days,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “It's My Neighborhood,” “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart,” “House Of Shame,” “I Started A Joke,” “Massachusetts,” “Stayin' Alive,” “Nights On Broadway,” “Jive Talkin',” “You Win Again,” “You Should Be Dancing.”)
From 1993, we have 48 minutes of The Bee Gees Live on Centerstage - 1993
Biography time!! Three years ago I had the entire 2011 BBC one hour documentary titled Robin Gibb – Who Do You Think You Are? on one clip, and 2 years ago in 5 parts. In that show, Robin gives us the inside story of the Bee Gees from childhood performers to adult superstars. Last year those 5 clips disappeared, and they’re still nowhere on the web. Better luck next year!
However, I did find this 46 minute interview of Robin by Leslie Phillips which may or may not be from that documentary. Robin Gibb – Living the Life
This year I found an interesting 26 minute piece titled Robin Gibb – A Brush with Fame where portrait painter John Myatt talks with Robin Gibb whilst painting his portrait.
We close today's Bee Gees Birthday party with performances from late in their career!
Live on television in 1997, here are all three Gibb brothers doing one of their last big hits, released that same year! Enjoy the easy groove of “Alone"
Here’s a great medley performed live. This is live at the Manhattan Center from April 2001. The first clip is 8+ minutes and the second clip is 7 minutes. “New York Mining disaster 1941,” “Run To Me,” “Too Much Heaven,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Holiday,” followed by “Woman In Love,” “Guilty,” “Nights on Broadway”
In 2004, Robin did a live 1 hour 15 minute video featuring him fronting the Frankfurt Neue Philarmonie Orchestra! For your enjoyment, Robin Gibb Performs with the Neue Philarmonie Orchestra.
From the 2006 Prince's Trust concert, here's another version of "Jive Talkin'" and "To Love Somebody.”
We’ll close today with 5 complete concerts! First, from their last global tour (“One Night Only”) in 1997, I found a 1 hour 50 minute clip at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas! Enjoy the Bee Gees still rocking at their best in a live performance of Bee Gees – One Night Only at the MGM Grand - 1997
Second, we have 1 hour and 25 minutes of The Bee Gees – One Night Only (Live in Argentina 1998)
Third, a 1 hour 24 minute show in Sydney! The Bee Gees Live in Sydney, Australia 1999
They went out in a big way in 2001! Last year I had a great 42 minute live show from 2001 that Robin stated was the last recording the Bee Gees ever made in the UK, but this year it’s disappeared. However, for our Fourth and Fifth concerts, I found two more shows from that year!
Here’s a great 90 minutes from A&E of Bee Gees Live by Request – This is Where You Come In – 2001, and for our finale, a great hour and 11 show! An Audience With the BeeGees - 2001
For our encore, I found a rare performance of one of their biggest from the Disco era. Here are all 3 Bee Gees joined by younger brother Andy in 1979 grinding out "You Should Be Dancing." Another live version of ”You Should Be Dancing.” 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. Then they reconsidered, and 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 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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