Bee Gees

From Manchester to Queensland

The Bee Gees were formed in 1958 by the brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. They were born on the Isle of Man to English parents and lived in Chorlton, Manchester, until the late 1950s. In 1955 they formed a skiffle and rock and roll group, the Rattlesnakes. The family emigrated to Australia in August 1958 and settled in Redcliffe, Queensland. The group's name came from the initials of Bill Gates, a Brisbane radio presenter, Bill Goode, a speedway promoter, and Barry Gibb.

A deal with Leedon Records followed in 1963. In 1966 they moved to Spin Records, where the engineer Ossie Byrne recorded them at St Clair Studio in Hurstville, and they cut their first major hit, Spicks and Specks. They left Australia for England on 4 January 1967. Hugh Gibb had sent demos to Brian Epstein, who passed them to Robert Stigwood, and after an audition in February 1967 the brothers signed a five-year contract: Polydor would release their records in the UK and Atco in the US. The drummer Colin Petersen and the guitarist Vince Melouney joined before the first album.

The first international albums

Bee Gees' 1st came out in July 1967 and reached No. 7 in the US and No. 8 in the UK. Its singles included To Love Somebody and New York Mining Disaster 1941, which was sent to radio stations on a blank white label, leading some DJs to assume it was a new Beatles record. Horizontal followed in early 1968 with Massachusetts, their first UK No. 1.

In July 1968 Robin was admitted to a London nursing home. The group had already begun the sixth album, Odessa, recorded from July 1968 and released in early 1969 as a double album in a red flocked cover. It began as a concept album about the loss of a fictional ship in 1899. Bob Stanley wrote in Pitchfork that the Gibb brothers were "building a wall of sound that owed more to Edward Elgar than Phil Spector". The album was not well received on release and has since come to be regarded by many as their most significant 1960s album.

Split and return

The single from Odessa was the quarrel that split the group. Barry's First of May was chosen over Robin's Lamplight, which became the B-side, and Robin left in early 1969. On 1 December 1969 Barry and Maurice parted professionally too. In mid 1970 Robin rang Barry in Spain with the words "let's do it again". By 21 August 1970 the brothers had reunited, and Geoff Bridgford joined as drummer.

That summer Barry and Robin wrote How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. It opened Trafalgar, recorded from January 1971 and made up entirely of ballads. The single became their first US No. 1, while the album peaked at No. 34 in the US and did not chart in Britain. Life in a Tin Can sold poorly in 1973, and Mr. Natural, produced by Arif Mardin, foreshadowed a turn toward R&B.

Miami and Saturday Night Fever

At Eric Clapton's suggestion the brothers moved to Miami in 1975 and recorded Main Course at Criteria Studios. Jive Talkin' became a US No. 1, and the album carried the first prominent use of Barry's falsetto. The songs for the 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack were written at the Chateau d'Herouville studio in France in a matter of days. Stayin' Alive held the top of the US chart from 4 February 1978. The Bee Gees won five Grammy Awards for the soundtrack, including Album of the Year, and the album sold more than 40 million copies.

A disco backlash came in late 1979, but they still had hits: You Win Again reached No. 1 in the UK in 1987, and One reached No. 7 in the US in 1989. Their last album of new material, This Is Where I Came In, appeared in 2001.

Legacy

Maurice Gibb died on 12 January 2003, aged 53, and Robin Gibb died on 20 May 2012, aged 62. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, and Barry Gibb was knighted in 2018. Their sales are estimated at 120 to 250 million records. John Lennon said in a 1980 interview that there was nothing wrong with the Bee Gees.