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Biography by Bruce Eder @ allmusic.com
No popular music act of the '60s, '70s, '80s, or '90s experienced more ups and downs in popularity, or attracted a more varied audience across the decades than the Bee Gees. Beginning in the mid- to late '60s as a Beatlesque ensemble, they quickly developed as songwriters in their own right and style, perfecting in the process a progressive pop sound all their own. Then, after hitting a trough in their popularity in the early '70s, they reinvented themselves as perhaps the most successful white soul act of all time during the disco era. Their popularity faded with the passing of disco's appeal, but the Bee Gees made a successful comeback in virtually every corner of the globe. What remained a constant through their history is their extraordinary singing, rooted in three voices that were appealing individually and comprised so perfectly and naturally by melding together that they make such acts as the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, and Simon & Garfunkel -- all noted for their harmonies -- almost seem arch and artificial.
The group was also rock's most successful brother act. Barry Gibb, born on September 1, 1946, in Manchester, England, and his fraternal twin brothers Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb, born on December 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man, were three of five children of Hugh Gibb, a bandleader, and Barbara Gibb, a former singer. The three of them gravitated toward music very early on, encouraged by their father, who reportedly saw his sons at first as a diminutive version of the Mills Brothers, a '30s and '40s black American harmony group. The three Gibb brothers made their earliest performances at local movie theaters in Manchester in 1955, singing between shows. Their intention was merely to mime to records as a novelty entertainment act, but when the records got broken, they sang for real and got a rousing response from the delighted audience. They performed under a variety of names, including the Blue Cats and (reportedly) the Rattlesnakes, and for a time, fell under the influence of England's skiffle king, Lonnie Donegan, and proto-rock & roller Tommy Steele.
Their early lives were interrupted when the family moved to Australia in 1958, resettling in Brisbane. The trio, known as the Brothers Gibb -- with Barry writing songs by then -- continued performing at talent shows and attracted the attention of a local DJ, Bill Gates, which led to an extended engagement at the Beachcomber Nightclub. They eventually got their own local television show in Brisbane, and it was around this time that they took on the name the Bee Gees (for Brothers Gibb). In 1962, they landed their first recording contract with the Festival Records label in Australia, debuting with the single "Three Kisses of Love." The trio was astoundingly popular among the press and on television, and performed to very enthusiastic audience response. They eventually released an LP, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs, but actual hit records eluded them in Australia. They were witness during 1963 and 1964 to the explosion of British beat music half a world away with the success of the Beatles, whose harmony-based approach to rock & roll and reliance on original songs only encouraged the three Gibb brothers to keep pushing in those directions.
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1963 - 1966 Brillian From Birth
1966 - 1972 Unreleas Demos From
1966 - Rare Precious and Beautiful
1966 - Spicks & Specks
1966 - The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Gibb Songs
1967 - 1970 Collection
1967 - First
1968 - Horizontal
1968 - Idea
1969 - Odessa
1970 - Cucumber Castle
1970 - Inception Nostalgia
1970 - Robin Gibb - Robin Reign
1971 - Trafalgar
1972 - To Whom It May Concern
1973 - Life In A Tin Can
1974 - Mr Natural
1975 - Main Course
1976 - Children of The World
1977 - Grease
1977 - Saturday Night Fever (Soundtrack)
1978 - Sgt Pepper's
2004 - Number Ones
The old adage that says you can't go home again rings especially true for artists and musicians attempting to return to their artistic roots. Ironically, it's also what makes the Bee Gees' journey back to their '60s sensibilities feel like a gratifying, if unassuming, triumph. Indeed, while the songs here are possessed of the innate soulfulness and melodic flair familiar from their youth, they've wisely allowed disparate musical elements from their dizzying three-decade-plus career to season this collection, giving it a satisfying pan-generational sense that's as rewarding as it is rare. The title track sets the tone, with the brothers trading verses against a spare acoustic guitar and drum-kit backdrop. It's a bracing reminder that the Gibb brothers' locked-in harmony remains one of pop's enduring sonic archetypes. While they've never completely shaken the cultural stereotyping of their late '70s megaplatinum doses of disco fever, there are few remnants of it here, save for the insistent drum loop. Given their longevity and pervasive insider influence, it's sometimes a historical riddle to figure out who's influencing whom, from the distinct ELO-isms of Robin's "She Keeps on Coming" and Maurice's "Man in the Middle" to Barry's singular balladry on "Loose Talk Costs Lives." And lest anyone think it's strictly a '60s-'70s love fest, the Gibbs toss in a good-natured nod to Tin-Pan Alley ("Technicolor Dreams") and even a spirited, if somewhat ham-handed, post-modern romp ("Voice in the Wilderness"). More than anything, it's a record that argues that home is but a state of mind, and that the Bee Gees have learned more than a few things on the way back. --Jerry McCulley
Track List
01. This Is Where I Came In
02. She Keeps On Coming
03. Sacred Trust
04. Wedding Day
05. Man In The Middle
06. Deja Vu
07. Technicolor Dreams
08. Walking On Air
09. Loose Talk Costs Lives
10. Embrace
11. The Extra Mile
12. Voice In The Wilderness
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