The Ultimate Biography of The Bee Gees Read online

  Copyright © 2003 Omnibus Press

  This edition © 2009 Omnibus Press

  (A Division of Music Sales Limited, 14-15 Berners Street, London, W1T 3LJ)

  ISBN: 978-0-85712-004-5

  The Author hereby asserts his/her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with Sections 77 to 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, expect by a reviewer who may quote brief passages.

  Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of the photographs in this book, but one or two were unreachable. We would be grateful if the photographers concerned would contact us.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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  In memory of

  Mildred Boyken,

  1926-1999

  Contents

  Information Page

  Acknowledgements

  Foreword

  Introduction

  1 All This And World War Too

  2 Childhood Days

  3 Children Of The World

  4 Take Hold Of That Star

  5 Big Chance

  6 The Singers Sang Their Songs

  7 Back Home

  8 A Man Called Stickweed

  9 Bee Gees 4th?

  10 First Fame

  11 For Fawkes’ Sake!

  12 Horizontal

  13 Such A Shame

  14 Brother, Can You Spare A Song?

  15 Let There Be Love

  16 You’ll Never See My Face Again

  17 And Then There Were None

  18 Going Undercover

  19 Lonely Days

  20 Reunited

  21 To Whom It May Concern

  22 Saw A New Morning

  23 A Not So Golden Garter

  24 A Manx Tale

  25 There At Last

  26 Should You Be Dancing?

  27 Sex, Drugs & Disco!

  28 I Just Want To Be Your Everything

  29 If At First You Don’t Succeed…

  30 Being For The Benefit Of Mr Stigwood

  31 Too Much Heaven?

  32 All I Have To Do Is Dream

  33 Meaningful Songs (In Very High Voices)

  34 To Be Or Not To Bee Gee

  35 Price Of Fame

  36 You Don’t Say “Us” Anymore

  37 A Spirit Having Flown

  38 Wish You Were Here

  39 Size IS Everything

  40 Several Nights Only

  41 The Next Generation

  42 Turn Of The Century

  43 Can’t Believe That It’s True

  Appendix 1 Alphabetical List of Song Titles

  Appendix 2 Album Discography

  Appendix 3 Chart Success–albums

  Appendix 4 Chart Success–singles

  Appendix 5 Chart Success – cover version singles & albums

  Bibliography

  Acknowledgements

  ALL THREE OF them were showing signs of anxiety and trepidation as they entered the plush London offices of the company who were keen to sign them. After all, this was an important contract they were being asked to sign, carrying with it a great deal of responsibility. The deal concluded, the trio immediately agreed that they could benefit from some additional help, and their number quickly swelled to five following the recruitment of two men who were recognised as specialists in their fields.

  As familiar as the above story may sound, for once, we are not talking “Bee Gees” here. For Barry, Robin, Maurice, Colin and Vince, instead read Melinda, Hector, Andrew, Joe and Mark. It required a great deal of conviction on the part of our publisher to entrust us with the task of writing this book, especially when you take into account the fact that none of us had ever attempted such a venture before.

  Therefore, to Chris Charlesworth, we extend our gratitude for providing us with the opportunity to tell a story that needed to be told, for being there when we needed you, but also for allowing us the freedom to write without the pressure of feeling that someone was looking over our shoulders as we did so. He was assisted by Nikki Lloyd who assiduously tracked down many of the previously unpublished photos which are seen here for the first time. Many of these were provided by Harry Goodwin, for many years the official photographer for Top Of The Pops, where he first came into contact with the Gibbs.

  Joe and Mark, we doubt whether we could have done this without you. Joe, not only for your welcome expertise of The Bee Gees’ recording history, but also for your in-depth knowledge of the music industry as a whole. Mark, you managed to track down so many people who knew the Gibbs from their early Australian years, and come up with so much new information, we could almost have written a separate book on that period alone. We salute you both.

  There are a number of individuals who have provided us with help and encouragement over the years, and who are also deserving of our gratitude. Thanks to Dick Ashby of The Bee Gees’ personal management and his assistant Pat Gulino, to Carol Peters of Left Bank Management, and also to The Bee Gees’ lawyer, Michael Eaton.

  And then there are the cast of thousands who all played their part in making this book become a reality.

  A great number of people graciously gave of their time by allowing us to interview them, and all the following should take great credit for their personal contributions: Ahmet Ertegun, Alan Bates, Alan Simpson, Albhy Galuten, Andrew Jenkins, Andrew Sandoval, Angus Deayton, Arif Mardin, Athol Guy, Barbara Wood, Barrington Davis, Bev Harrell, Beverly Burke, Bill Gates, Bill Inglot, Bill Levenson, Billy J. Kramer, Billy Lawrie, the late Bip Addison, Bob Saker, Brian Walton, Bruce Davis, Bryan Davies, Carl Savona, Carlos Olms, Cheryl Gray (Samantha Sang), Clem Cattini, Clive Powell (Georgie Fame), Colin Blunstone, Colin Petersen, Damon Lyon-Shaw, Dave Berry, Dave Wyatt, David Browning, David English, David Harman (Dave Dee), David Leaf, David Mackay, David Martin, David Stead, Del Juliana, Dennis Williams, Dennis Wilson, Diana Murphy, Dorothy Gliksman, Dorothy Wilson, Dougie Davidson, Eileen Callaghan, Elaine Blatt, Fred and Joan Marks, Frederic and Christine Tanner, Gary McDonald, Geoff Bridgeford, Geoff Bruce, Graham Bonnet (and the webmaster at www.bonnet-rocks.com), Graham Knight, Helen Kenney, Ian “Tich” Amey, Jan Trew, Jenene Watson, Jerry Greenberg, Jim Caine, Jimmie Haskell, Jimmy Little, Joan and Ted Hill, John Alderson, John Bywaters, John and Lori Vallins (Lori Balmer), John Macbeth, John Manners, John McNally, John Pantry, Johnny Ashcroft, Johnny Devlin, Johnny Young, Jon Blanchfield, Jonathan Ledingham (Jonathan Kelly), Julie Park, Karen Witkowski, Kelli Hartman (Kelli Wolfe), Ken Griggs, Kenny Horrocks, Larry Salters, Lonnie Lee, Lynne Fletcher, Mike Brady, Mike Mayer, Mike Vickers, Ned Sherrin, Noeleen Stewart (Noeleen Batley), Pamela Brown, Pamela Buhner, Pat Fairley, Paul Frost, Paul Nicholas, Peter King, Peter Mason, Peter Robinson, Ray Galton, Reg Gray, Roland Rennie, Ron Watford, Ronnie Burns, Rosalia Black, Sara Salt, Sir Louis Clark, Stan Hughes, Steve Groves, Steve Kipner, Terry Nelhams (Adam Faith), Tom Dowd, Tony Brady, Tony Cope, Trevor “Dozy” Davies, Trevor Norton and Vince Melouney.

  In particular, we should like to register our appreciation to Blue Weaver, John Stringer, and Tom and Stephanie Kennedy for their additional support and encouragement, let alone their friendship, all of which we greatly value.

  The
n there are those who spent many hours transcribing the vast amount of taped audio and video interviews of the Gibbs which had been accumulated over a number of years, and praise is indeed due to Angela Hughes, Anne Simpson, Cliff and Chris Banks, David Ellis, John Pethers, Lee Meadows, Linda Egan, Lynda Gillies, Pat Todd, Paul Martin, Sara Williams, Sarah Horner and Violet Tait for all their efforts.

  We were also reliant upon the co-operation of those who took on the task of additional research on our behalf, and congratulations are particularly due to the wonderful Ann Grootjans and Graham R. Gooch, and most certainly not forgetting Andrew and Kate Laing, Billy Taggart, Dan Box, Darrin Mitchell, Herman Verbeke, Kay Barclay, Kevin Johnson, Kevin Murphy, Kim Lowden, Mark Byfield, Patrick Cowley, Sterling Bower, Suzanne Bodle and Yuko Nishihara for all going about such important work in such a conscientious manner. Specialist research relating to the Isle of Man was provided by Bernie Quayle and Keith Handley, whilst Kristi Shadrick, Alycia Apostolides, Dawn Legere and Judy A. Stephenson shared their extensive knowledge of the career of Andy Gibb. Good luck with your own book on Andy, ladies!

  We were indeed fortunate to be able to call upon the expertise of Bob Sommerville in the specialist area of cover versions, and we are grateful to him for his diligence and attention to detail.

  Thanks also to the following who have provided general assistance throughout the years: George McManus and Chareen Steel of Polydor UK Ltd, Hazel Shacklock, Masaya Uchimura, Peter Kington, Redcliffe City Council, Richard Saunders, Saul Davis, Sharon Jadick, Shirlee Faur, Nancy Powell and Tessa Le Bar. We also received help from Sue Kurz, Kate Satteson, Shirin Thobani and Stephen Morgan who were all kind enough to provide us with access to their carefully compiled scrapbooks. These were supplemented by the additional clippings that Dorothy A. Taylor, Linda O’Connor, Marty Lam, Richard Atkinson and Jean-Anne Corbin took the trouble to send us.

  Although they do not form part of the text itself, the Appendices contain a great deal of information, and Arne Moen, Carlos Alberto Lacayo, David Dasch, Georges Zuger, Göran Nilsson, Jostein Hansen, Manfred Baumann, Norbert Lippe, Rod Lane, Tore Eriksen and Willie Bléfari all provided important information which was used when compiling these.

  In addition to all the above-mentioned, further acknowledgement should be made of the supplementary contributions made by Graham R. Gooch, John Stringer, Jonathan Ledingham and Paul Martin who loaned their scrapbooks, and again to Dan Box and David Ellis for additional assistance with the appendices.

  Let us not forget too all the hundreds of fans who took the trouble to provide little snippets of information here and there. Too many to mention, but nonetheless appreciated, you know who you are.

  A vote of thanks too, to our professional advisers Ken Harkness and Martin Smith for guiding us successfully through the various pitfalls which presented themselves in our first venture of this sort.

  Our families and friends are also due our gratitude not only for your love and support, but also for your patience during a time when our everyday lives were put on hold. At a personal level, in addition to those we have already mentioned, we should like to extend our appreciation to the following:

  From Melinda and Hector – our love and thanks to Nora Cook: Martha, David, Seth and Amanda Rurup: Samantha and Andy Eder; Janine, Loren and Sarah Brandt; Andy, Ben and Emily Gray; Amelia and Rob Coates: Heather and Zachary Hymen; Mary Katherine Whitman and not forgetting our very own “babies,” Ceilidh and Milngavie. Although Fraser Cook, and Arthur and Mildred Boyken didn’t live to see the day when we unexpectedly became authors, they are undoubtedly pleased to know that their indulgence of our musical tastes was not in vain. The Leask family may also be similarly delighted that something finally came of their neighbourly tolerance.

  From Andrew – thanks to Jonathan Môn Hughes (who arrived mid-project on June 13th 1999) and in time-honoured fashion – the long suffering wife, Wendy (it could have been worse – you could have been a golf widow!); to my mother and father, Enid and Mervyn (for the 15 years of research which they tolerated – I told you I’d do it … eventually!); to my mother-in-law, Eileen, and my sister-in-law, Linda (who never quite understood my obsession); to my colleagues at BGQ, who are so much more to me than that, the inimitable Renée Schreiber (gosh, how things change – now Renée Di Nicola – “Hi!” to new hubby Nick too!), and the quite extraordinarily talented Wim Swerts; to Sandi Hunt, Roy & Thea Wringer; Carol & Terry Morgan; John Simcox and Vikki Hughes for your friendship; to my oldest friends, David Davies & Karen Lacey, Kenneth Bevan (caricaturist extraordinaire), Robert, Kathryn, James & Rebecca Hall, Paul Dooling and Melfyn & Julie Williams; to my friends in the media – Bernie Quayle (Manx Radio), Chris Savory & Mike Adams (The Record Collectors), Lee Henshaw (Granada – Live Challenge 99), Brian Hansen (VH-1) and Faye Dicker (C4, Collectors Lot); to all at the Isle of Man Post Office Philatelic Bureau especially Dot Tilbury, Janet Bridge and Ian Curphey; and last, but by no means least, Martin Swift (is he the missing link in our story?) – I think I owe you a pint or two matey!

  Our colleagues Joe and Mark have also neglected their friends and families on our behalf and so, on their behalf:

  Joe says: Thanks to my wife Helen Schreiner and daughter Megan Brennan for tolerating (more or less!) my incessant use of the good computer and my other time spent away from them. I also thank my alma mater and employer Columbia University for providing the space for personal web pages, and Chris Mathis for his work running the ‘Words’ internet mailing list – without both, I would not have come in contact with so many Bee Gees fans worldwide including my four collaborators on this book.

  Mark says: Many thanks to my wife Jacinta, three children Bree, Edan & Daina, and son-in-law Dale Grant for their patience not only over the period of this book’s creation, but for the times that I have without doubt force fed them Bee Gees trivia, and of course their music. Many thanks to all other Bee Gees fans for their support on this project. It’s been great to be a part of it.

  Finally, and most fittingly, a big thank-you from the five of us to Barry, Robin, Maurice and Andy Gibb for writing and performing the music which touched all of us as individuals, and yet which inspired us collectively to produce this account of their lives and careers.

  Foreword

  AS MANAGING DIRECTOR of Festival Records, I could only marvel at the raw talent of the three young boys who were signed to Festival almost 40 years ago.

  As I now look back on the intervening years, I am honoured to have this opportunity to pay tribute to Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. Although they are now in their fifties, I still look upon them as fine young men, and I shall always regard them as such. They are in the top bracket of lyric and melody writers, and whether live or in the studio, they perform that material to perfection. Their songs continue to stand the test of time as showcased by the recent resurgence of their music in the Saturday Night Fever stage shows.

  I am proud to have been able to play a small part in their fabulous career, which I am sure will produce many new classic Bee Gees songs in years to come. Along with the rest of their millions of fans, I look forward to being there to see and hear those hits of tomorrow.

  Frederick C. Marks*

  *Sadly, Fred Marks died on July 25, 2000, just a few days after receiving a proof copy of this book.

  Introduction

  ONCE UPON A time, three young brothers set their course for success in the music world. “We made a pact between the three of us that, hell or high water, we were going to be a famous pop group and that nothing was going to stop us,” Barry Gibb declared. In a fairy tale, the boys would have found overnight success; in the real world it took a little longer, but for more than 40 years, nothing has stopped The Bee Gees in their quest for recognition in their chosen field.

  Unlike many conventional rock biographies, much of the content of this book revolves around the musical careers of Barry, Robin, Maurice and Andy Gibb. This is not because the brothers’ lives are without their share of controversy
and tragedy. On the contrary, there are elements of the typical rock star’s life within these pages. Sex, drugs, booze, divorces, lawsuits, and most regrettably, premature death, are all areas examined within these pages in their proper context.

  However, the main theme of the book is the music, because the brothers’ lives revolve around it. Almost everything they do is based on their constant desire to develop their skills, and in particular their songwriting abilities. It is this dedication to becoming absolute masters of their craft that sets them apart from so many of their peers.

  Tales Of The Brothers Gibb is not just the story of The Bee Gees. There are in fact three completely separate stories to be told, with easily recognisable divisions in each.

  The main story, of course, deals with the pop group known as The Bee Gees, and their journey from the most humble of beginnings imaginable to their current status as world superstars. It details the family musical background which encouraged their love of singing; their initial five year struggle to gain some sort of recognition; how they achieved international success, only to throw it all away again; the five years it took them to rebuild their career; the unprecedented success and fame that followed; the inevitable backlash; and finally, their general acceptance by both the public and the music industry.

  Then there are The Brothers Gibb, the prolific songwriting trio who have had more than 2,500 artists cover their compositions, with many of those songs remaining unreleased by The Bee Gees. Sir Tim Rice enthused, “I rate the Brothers Gibb as one of the greatest songwriting combinations of the 20th century. I think that they’re up there with Lennon & McCartney, Cole Porter and George Gershwin of their eras. Their songs have penetrated all classes and creeds, enormously successful.”

  There can be no denying their success as composers. From 1963 to the current day, exactly the same period as their more publicised career as recording artists and performers in their own domain, the Gibbs have been writing material specifically for the use of others, and again there are distinct periods in this parallel career. Australia was crying out for new songwriting talent and, for Barry in particular, it offered a greater opportunity to write different types of music than Britain or America could possibly have done at that stage of his development. Later, he, Robin and Maurice discovered they had the ability to write songs with the intended recipient’s individual style very much in mind. By the late Seventies, they had perfected this into an art, and there was a brief period when their Midas touch produced a succession of hits for a lucky few. When it became appropriate during the early to mid-Eighties for The Bee Gees to take a sabbatical, they wrote and produced a string of entire albums for already internationally established acts, providing them with hitherto unknown levels of success. Although this activity diminished during the Nineties, occasional hits were still forthcoming and, at the time of writing, more are anticipated.