The Ultimate Biography of The Bee Gees

by Hector Cook

  Returning to England remained high on the agenda as a topic for conversation in the Gibb household. Egged on by Ossie Byrne, Barry, Robin and Maurice beseeched Hugh and Barbara to uproot the family and sail back to the land of their parents’ birth. For now their pleas fell on deaf ears as Hugh and Barbara still had unpleasant memories of Manchester, and were convinced that to return was a retrograde step. Hugh even went so far as to threaten to confiscate the boys’ passports if they didn’t drop the idea altogether. Though they backed down, they remained convinced that England was where their future lay.

  Taking their frustration and energy back into Ossie’s studio, they continued to write and record. Robin showed no inclination to write for anyone other than the group while Maurice, with Nat, and Barry continued to do so. All three brothers also sang (uncredited) on other artist’s recordings, and it remains anyone’s guess just how many such releases actually do exist from this time. MPD Ltd, Ray Brown & The Whispers, Vyt & The World and Tony Barber are just some of those identified thus far, none of the songs being Gibb compositions. It must have been “old home week” when they were recording with MPD Ltd as the bass player of that three person group, Pete Watson, was on the same ship that brought the Gibb family to Australia in 1958.

  There can be no doubt that Barry was coming under increasing pressure on various fronts at this point in time. Including the first release of ‘Monday’s Rain’, by August 1966, the harsh statistics were that The Bee Gees had released 12 singles, and only dented the charts twice. More than twenty different acts had released Gibb compositions as singles, Jimmy Little’s ‘One Road’ being the only one to have Top 10 success, and that in New South Wales alone. There were serious question marks over the commercial appeal of Barry’s songwiting and Spin still had no prospect of making a return on their considerable investment. As Robin tells it, “They thought we were finished – a financial loss.”

  It seemed like make or break time for the group but a lifeline arrived when Barry heard a sequence of notes that would inspire him to create something which would propel The Bee Gees to new heights. While recording another Barry Gibb composition, ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ with singer Jon Blanchfield in the Hurstville studios, Maurice was fiddling around on the piano, heading in no particular direction, when Barry heard something he liked and immediately picked up his guitar and developed it into a melody. The title, ‘Spicks And Specks’, came from a name the boys dreamed up for an imaginary pop group and, in little more than an hour, the song was finished. Whether a coincidence or not, a newspaper article from the time revealed that ‘Specks’, or specs to be more precise, were Maurice’s latest hobby and he now had a collection of more than 300 pairs of weirdly shaped glasses!

  Finally, Barry had found the sound that not only Australian radio liked but also that the Australian record buying public wanted. Supported by television appearances on new and popular music television shows like the Go!! Show, the record took off immediately. It had the unique Barry Gibb vocals over simple yet effective piano chords, with the lyrics nostalgically recalling lost love of past days.

  A solo trumpet also adds some real quality to the song, and there was some confusion over the trumpeter’s identity. According to the Gibbs, it was played by Ossie Byrne, but singer Bip Addison, who had worked with them shortly beforehand, is certain that it belonged to Billy Burton. Whilst it is possible that Burton had followed the Gibbs to Australia, or that the Gibbs themselves had unintentionally confused Bip, the truth emerged decades later that the mystery trumpeter was actually a native Australian by the name of Geoff Grant Streeter.

  The single was released that September, reluctantly from Spin’s perspective, with the B-side featuring a stunning solo Robin vocal on his own composition, ‘I Am The World’. Again featuring the mystery trumpeter, the song has a haunting feel reminiscent of Roy Orbison’s best work.

  Both these songs came from their second set of sessions with Ossie and Nat. Colin Petersen was not involved this time as, by then, he had followed Bill Shepherd and emigrated to Britain, travelling on a ship called the Fairsky. Before leaving, and while on his way back to Brisbane to bid farewell to his parents, Colin popped in to see the Gibbs and agreed that if his acting career didn’t turn out as well as he hoped, then he would certainly consider joining the group when they themselves made the same move.

  Colin’s replacement as drummer in Steve & The Board was another Australian, Geoff Bridgeford, who would also play a role in The Bee Gees in years to come. The drummer on ‘Spicks And Specks’ was a sixteen-year-old local by the name of Russell Barnesly, who so impressed the Gibbs that he was offered the chance of seeking international fame with them. However, Russell’s parents insisted that he finish his butcher’s apprenticeship before undertaking such a risky venture. Regrettably, Russell’s known participation on a finished Bee Gees record is limited solely to ‘Spicks And Specks’.

  Vince Melouney could well have contributed a few guitar licks as he remained in Australia until October before he too, quite independently of Colin, decided that his musical future lay in London. Also aware of the Gibbs intention to return to England one day, he made what he terms “loose arrangements” to meet up with them again when they did so. In what was probably a common occurrence at that time for budding musicians preparing for a new life overseas, Vince married his girlfriend before he departed. On October 21, in Crowulla, Dianne Mitchell became Mrs. Melouney.

  To date, twenty recordings have surfaced from these sessions and a motley collection they are too. There’s three Beatles songs, Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Daydream’ (John B. Sebastian), individual solo compositions and, for the first time, collaborations involving all three brothers. One of Barry’s solo contributions, ‘Morning Of My Life (In The Morning)’, had actually been written the previous year when he managed to find a few spare moments prior to the group’s appearance at the inspirationally named Wagga Wagga (pronounced Wogga) Police Boys’ Club in central New South Wales. It is also one of the few compositions from their Australian period which was frequently recorded by other artists in later years and, unusually for a group who prefer to look forward than back, it was re-recorded and re-titled in 1971 for a film soundtrack.

  There was also ‘Lonely Winter’ by “Keats” whose real name was actually Carl Groszman, a member of Steve & The Board. This is the only known song that The Bee Gees recorded which was written especially for them, and was a payback for The Board being allowed to record one of Barry’s compositions, ‘Little Miss Rhythm And Blues’. The lives and professional careers of both Carl Groszman and Steve Kipner himself would cross again with the Gibb brothers within a few short years.

  Another of Barry’s “little pressure cookers” came close to exploding now too. Even before the release of their new single, the family had finally resolved to return to England early in the following year. Hugh had been persuaded that his sons could follow the example set earlier by The Easybeats, but the threat of Australian conscription and eventual service in Vietnam for Barry may also have been a factor. It was not until 1972, when Labour came into office, that conscription ceased in Australia.

  Maureen Bates was unhappy. Despite Barry’s best efforts to reassure her, she harboured doubts that Barry would come back for her if allowed to leave without her. Of course, as she was quick to point out, there was only one way that she would be able to go with him.

  According to Lesley, Maureen’s manipulative nature did not endear her to Hugh who couldn’t stand her. “Maureen had an equal loathing of TV, to which Barry was nearly addicted,” she says. “For hours at a time, Barry could sit, eyes glued to the screen, without saying a word. Other women might have quarrelled with their men in such circumstances but not Maureen. On one occasion, she dressed up in the smallest bikini she could find, put on one of mum’s hats from the Thirties, two different shoes and danced provocatively right before Barry’s eyes, apologising in a hoarse voice for being such a monstrous temptress but far more interesting than television.
”

  Barry’s alleged response says much about the nature of their relationship. “Hi sweet, do you wanna make a nice cup of tea for me?”

  Their obvious incompatibility notwithstanding, Barry and Maureen were wed at The Holy Trinity Church in Kingsford, immediately north of Maroubra, on August 22, 1966. Their eldest boy was not the first of Hugh and Barbara’s children to get married. Earlier that year, Lesley herself had tied the knot with Keith Evans, an advertising executive. Although Lesley and Keith would remain behind for now, they would follow the family to England in 1968 and remain there for a couple of years before returning to Australia to settle permanently. During that period, Keith would become Barry’s personal assistant while, albeit for “one night only,” Lesley would also become a Bee Gee.

  Barry’s five-year contract with Belinda had expired in September, an event that coincided with the end of Norman Whiteley’s management contract with Hill and Range Songs Inc. The two old chums, Hugh and Norman, quickly got their heads together and formed their own publishing company, Abigail Music (Australia) Pty. Ltd which they registered in the UK as Abigail Music (London) Ltd. It seemed a simple enough transaction, but it would soon become a complicated affair.

  With their passage home now all but booked, ‘Spicks And Specks’ was actually receiving airplay. They even made the front page of Australia’s then premier music paper, Go-Set, whose October 26 edition announced, “One of the fastest rising records on the charts the past two weeks has been ‘Spicks And Specks’ by The Bee Gees, who leave for England in February.” The article also mentioned that, on arrival, the group intended to change its name.

  To capitalise on the immediate success of ‘Spicks And Specks’, Spin appear to have had a last minute change of mind about the title of the album that was to accompany their new single. Monday’s Rain contained their new single and the original eleven songs from their March–May sessions. Manufacture had commenced in early October but no sooner had the master been placed on the presses than it was taken off again and all copies of the album destroyed. As usually happens in such instances, a few copies still managed to find their way out of the factory and are highly prized by those fortunate enough to possess them.

  The reason behind the decision was that Spin had noted a change in public attitude and wished to repackage the album with same title as the single. In the event, production of the Spicks And Specks LP had initially not gone smoothly and, in the haste to make the change, the first batch bore the same catalogue number as the unissued Monday’s Rain, and side one still bore the original title. Needless to say, a couple of these escaped destruction and are even rarer than the original pressing. The reverse of the album sleeve has liner notes penned by Nat Kipner, describing the brothers as having “a myriad of musical abilities” and adds “as instrumentalists, they have mastered practically every instrument in the book”. Warming to his task, he enthuses, “As for personality and stage presentation, their act is a sight to behold,” before he amusingly signs off, “Yours swingingly”.

  The songs show a richness in their writing, and even some experimentation in the vocals. Robin’s unique vibrato was now a feature of the group’s sound, and the songs where he and Barry alternated lead vocals were a highlight. Brother Maurice also makes his début lead vocal on his own composition ‘Where Are You’. What was so refreshing about the album was its diversity. There is a nice range of styles from pop to R&B to ballads and proof of the value of the songs was shown by the immediate rush of Australian artists to cover the various album tracks. Over thirty years later, ‘Spicks And Specks’ remains a concert highlight for any Bee Gees appearance, both in Australia and New Zealand.

  Sounding more like The Beatles at this stage than they had ever done, a few of these would find their way onto the second side of an Argentinian album first issued in 1973. Entitled The Beatles versus The Bee Gees, it attempted to make a comparison between these recordings and the ones recorded by Tony Sheridan & The Beatles in Hamburg in 1961. It seems strange in retrospect that the six Bee Gees tracks chosen by Karussell were ones that instead highlighted the Gibbs own individual sound. This of course could have been a deliberate ploy on the label’s part, as The Beatles had now gone their separate ways, and the public was waiting to see who would assume their mantle.

  Determined to squeeze every penny they could out of ‘Spicks And Specks’ before the group departed Australian shores, Spin even financed a video, or as it was called then, ‘a promo film,’ to boost sales. It was filmed at Banksdown Airport in Sydney and featured Denise Drysdale, one of Melbourne’s best Go-Go dancers of the time. Another mimed recording was filmed for Go!! Show at ATVO’s studios in Nunnawading, the venue where the famous Australian soap opera Neighbours would later be filmed.

  Ironically, The Bee Gees “lucky thirteenth” single was now finally earning them the recognition that years of toil and struggle deserved. “We knew we could make it internationally, we could just feel it,” Barry confirmed, “but we knew that to do it, we’d have to go to America or back home. There was just no way of getting Australian records released outside Australia, New Zealand and a few other places in the neighbourhood. We could have spent forever down there and got nowhere.”

  For all of his public verbal swagger, deep down, Barry had the normal lack of confidence found in most 20-year-olds. “See you in 12 months,” he had predicted when bidding farewell to his friend Colin Stead.

  Immediately prior to leaving Australia, The Bee Gees had never been busier. With the success of ‘Spicks And Specks’, all of a sudden every television show and magazine wanted them. They were also frantically busy in the Hurstville studios producing artists such as Bip Addison, Jon Blanchfield, April Byron, Mike Furber, The Twilights, Jenene Watson and Ronnie Burns, all of whom had requested Gibb compositions, as the brothers rushed to get as many of their songs recorded before they left. Ironically, as a result of these late recordings, for the next few months the Australian charts would be dotted with successful cover versions of Gibb songs. Too late for the Gibb family, Australia had finally discovered The Bee Gees.

  It was time for a change and arrangements were finalised even quicker than originally anticipated. Just three days into the New Year, they set sail for England, the country they were once again calling “home”.

  6

  THE SINGERS SANG THEIR SONGS

  AS CREATIVE AS the brothers have been since Barry’s first stabs at songwriting during the late Fifties, the story of The Bee Gees – the group fronted by Barry, Robin & Maurice – tells only part of the tale. Indeed, on many occasions they have confirmed that the group’s recording and performing activities are secondary in importance to those of their alter ego, The Brothers Gibb.

  In the early Sixties, Australia was very much in need of local writing talent so the Gibbs lived in an environment that actively encouraged and nurtured their desire to be songwriters. Had they been living in either the UK or USA at the time, they might have been swamped by the size of the competition, and perhaps would not have enjoyed the same opportunity that Australia offered. Many Antipodean artists and groups benefited from having one or more of the Gibbs write material especially for them. Indeed, during the period from 1963-66, the brothers would write more songs for others than they would for use by themselves. Initially, they would all emanate from Barry, but by the end of their stay in Australia, Maurice and Robin would join their elder brother on a career path that would very much run alongside that of The Bee Gees.

  The very first artist to release one of Barry’s songs was Col Joye. Because he had such a considerable influence at the start of the group’s career, it seems only fitting that he should likewise launch their songwriting one too. ‘(Underneath The) Starlight Of Love’ was issued as a single by Festival in May, 1963 and reached number 31 in the Victoria State charts.

  August saw the release of the second Barry Gibb composition, this time by another Leedon recording artist, Lonnie Lee. Norman Whitely, the head of Belinda Publishing
Group who had the rights to Barry’s songs, suggested that Lonnie listen to this new artist who had just moved down from Brisbane, and he was given a tape of several Gibb songs. Lee said that the demo he was given sounded great, with Barry’s unusual guitar sound (i.e. tuned to the open E chord) and that he had a great voice. He said, “Even then, you could see he was destined for great things.” Lonnie particularly liked ‘I’d Like To Leave If I May’ and produced the song himself. In 1998, he was still able to recall that Barry was in the studio with him at the time he recorded the song and that, although only 16, the young Gibb had a “fair idea of what he intended the song to sound like.”

  Lee’s desire to record “Australian material” reflects how being a local songwriter assisted Barry Gibb in getting his music heard at that time. It was quite common for Australian artists to record local versions of overseas material for hit records. Lee was one of the pioneers of the Australian music industry, and was also one of those artists who at the time fought strongly to give the Australian music scene its own identity and to use and encourage Australian songwriters. To illustrate the point, the words “Australian Composition” were clearly marked on all such releases. Nowadays, Lonnie Lee is probably one of the only Australian rock’n’roll singers of the Fifties still working actively. He has his own record company, Starlight Records, still records and tours, and even has his own web site.

  While records by The Bee Gees themselves weren’t having much success, other artists were more than happy to have the Gibbs as backing vocalists. In November, they appeared uncredited on Johnny Devlin’s ‘Stomp The Tumbarumba’, a Top Five hit for the Kiwi who recorded in Australia. Tumbarumba is a town in northern New South Wales, about as unconnected with Scandinavia as you could possibly imagine, but the Olga label released it there nonetheless, technically making it the brothers’ first release outside Australia.