by Hector Cook
“From the other week backwards, we all got on well. And this really came like a bolt from the blue – a real shock. It’s not as if I hadn’t been pulling my weight. I believe if you’re in a group, it’s a business partnership.
“Apart from the odd illness, I’ve always turned up for gigs and things, and I’ve always put the group first and foremost … I’ve even cancelled things which would have brought me money from outside so I could appear with the group.
“I have received a letter from Barry and Maurice Gibb to the effect that they no longer desire to be associated with me. I am deeply hurt. I am a partner in The Bee Gees and as a result of receiving this notice I have no alternative but to turn this matter over to my lawyers and ask them to dissolve the partnership known as The Bee Gees. Barry and Maurice are welcome to go out as The Brothers Gibb. I don’t think they or anyone else can replace The Bee Gees.
“The brother trouble was felt by Vince and this forced him to leave. Robin left because he couldn’t get on with his brothers. He wasn’t really suited to the group. But I can’t quite understand why this has happened to me. We were a successful group and got on well and were making money. I feel I’ve done just as much performance and image-wise for the group. I don’t see why I should have to give it all up and hand the group name over to the other two.”
Attorneys working on Colin’s behalf filed a writ declaring that he and the Gibb brothers were equal partners in The Bee Gees; that the name Bee Gees was property of that partnership; and that Barry and Maurice had broken their obligations to him under that partnership. He was also seeking an order to prevent Barry and Maurice from appearing as The Bee Gees without him. It was even reported that he planned to form a new Bee Gees.
An RSO spokesman issued the terse statement, “The Bee Gees will go on performing as The Bee Gees, and if Mr Petersen instructs any proceedings, they will be turned over to their lawyers. If Mr Petersen wishes to try and form a group known as The Bee Gees, that matter will be dealt with in due course.
“When Colin Petersen joined The Bee Gees in 1967, the brothers Gibb had been appearing under the name of The Bee Gees – which are Barry Gibb’s initials – for many years. The brothers Gibb have no objection to Colin Petersen performing under his own initials or any other name.”
The High Court ruled against Colin in the suit, adding, “It is a situation which often develops when people have been in a long association and no discredit is cast on anyone.”
“This is very disappointing to me of course,” Colin said. “I always looked upon The Bee Gees as a mutual thing between the Gibb brothers and me and I didn’t think it was possible or proper for them to dismiss me in this way.
“I still feel part of the group because I’ve been a Bee Gee for so long,” he insisted. “It’s a question of being Colin Petersen or Maurice Gibb. You have an identity as a Bee Gee after working seven days a week. I can’t see how they’ll get across to the public on their own.”
Nowadays, more than 30 years later, Colin still remains slightly bitter over the circumstances of his departure. “I got fired by Robert Stigwood for questioning his business. I went to Mo and asked him, ‘What’s going on with the money?’ How could Robert have negotiated a decent fee on The Bee Gees’ behalf when he had conflicting interests?”
Colin was ideally placed to raise such an issue. He and Joanne were now in the management game themselves and understood that Robert’s role as manager was to negotiate the best possible deal for his clients. However, he also had to look after the publishing and recording interests of The Robert Stigwood Organisation and they would not necessarily coincide with those of The Bee Gees. Often a generous man, money might not have been an issue for Robert, but Colin’s question struck right at the heart of his management technique of completely controlling all aspects of his artists’ careers.
A few days later, a letter was delivered advising him of his dismissal. He now recalls that Dick Ashby was the unfortunate messenger, perhaps driven by Stigwood’s chauffeur. “Dick was a decent bloke and was very upset,” Colin continued. For the first time too, he revealed the contents not only of the initial letter, but also of the follow-up correspondence some months later.
Devoid of any heading and undated, although it would have been written towards the end of the third week of August, 1969, the first note read, “To Colin Petersen, After having given considerable thought to the situation, we have decided that we do not want to continue our association with you. Accordingly, your association with us is hereby formally terminated.” It was signed by Maurice, Hugh (as Maurice was still a minor) and Barry.
Noticeable by its absence from the letter is any mention of the part that Colin claims Robert Stigwood played in the whole messy business, but a second letter leaves him in no doubt as to who was really pulling the strings. Dated January 13, 1970, and headed 68 Eaton Street, London, it reads, “Dear Colin, On consideration I must apologise on the way I behaved towards you when I wrote to you and told you that I no longer wish to be associated with you as a Bee Gee. I did this after being pressured to do it by Robert Stigwood who advised both Maurice and I to treat you in this way and the whole idea came from him. On reflection now, I sincerely believe that if it weren’t for Robert Stigwood’s actions The Bee Gees would all be working together for a long time to come.”
Of course, the mere existence of this letter is not proof that any of its contents are true. It was signed by Barry, but curiously was then witnessed by Jim Morris. This immediately begs two questions – why would Barry feel the need to have the letter witnessed, and why would he choose Robert Stigwood’s driver to do so? Perhaps the answers will be revealed in one or other of the books that Barry and Colin are now said to be writing.
Colin is adamant that his sacking had nothing whatsoever to do with the Cucumber Castle film. “I had told Barry that I didn’t want to be in the comedy sketches as I didn’t think they were very funny. Barry had no problems with this,” he confirmed.
As regards his suing for The Bee Gees’ name, something which followers of the group had always thought to be a strange move, Colin now reveals that there was more going on behind the scenes than previously made public knowledge. “I had no intention of stopping them using their name forever, but I had other litigation going on with Robert Stigwood and I was advised by prominent lawyer Marty Machat, a former partner of Allen Klein, to take this course of action to have my litigation finalised.”
Barry pleaded for a little understanding from the group’s followers. “I have no hard feelings against Colin. We wish him well in anything he may do. Though we’ve given the public a confusing time, we should have the chance to prove that we are The Bee Gees. The Bee Gees are not dead and don’t intend to be. I just ask the critics to back off a bit and give us a chance. We just want a little leeway.
“It’s given us a lot of freedom both musically and personally. Maurice and I will become a complete partnership in business and everything else we do. Out of the whole mess comes the new true Bee Gees. We intend to stick together like glue. There are only two of us now, we won’t be fighting each other. Neither Maurice nor I started any fight within the group, we’ve always been the closest, he’s always talked about the personal things with me. He discussed his marriage with me. There are no more reasons to fight.”
This new-found brotherly harmony applied to their musical taste as well. “Maurice and I love ballads – you can’t make us do rock and roll,” Barry said. “We listen to rock and roll, we like it, as we like all forms of music especially Chopin and Beethoven, but we’ll stick to what we can do with our hearts not with our heads. The songwriting will be done between us. I write the lyrics and Maurice comes up with some beautiful chords. Robin is a strong songwriter and a strong singer, but Maurice is the backbone musically of the group. He always has been. There are guys who are very talented would give their right arms to be in Maurice’s position.”
Barry reminded everyone, “Maurice is capable of playing abo
ut seven instruments – most of the back tracks on the records were all him, and I sang lead on four or five of the hit singles. So how can The Bee Gees sound be finished?” he asked.
As a gesture of gratitude to the fans who had supported the group through all the tumult, the brothers planned a series of live performances. “We want to go out on a concert tour of Britain before Christmas with a big orchestra,” Barry revealed. “I want to give people value for money and if they hear an orchestra on record, why shouldn’t they expect to hear the same sound on stage?
“We’ll get another record out and gain a bit more confidence from the kids and thank those who bought the last one … The tour will more or less be our début as The Bee Gees – I mean, The Bee Gees as they are going to stay. If we split anymore, we won’t be The Bee Gees.
“You see, the one advantage of only being two people in a group is that we can do things separately and not split up. One thing is certain. Now there’s just Maurice and me, nobody need be afraid we’re going to split up. I can tell you, we’ll be together for the next 10 years!
“Maurice and I will continue working as The Bee Gees.”
In the event, Barry’s confidence was misplaced. All the feuding had inspired a joke that circulated among the pop business to the effect that by Christmas, it would be The Bee Gee. It therefore probably came as no real surprise when, at the beginning of December, Barry announced, “As from today, I’m solo.”
For Barry, things came to a head when Robert Stigwood booked studio time for Barry and Maurice to begin work on The Bee Gees’ next album. “I got to IBC studios. Maurice knows well and truly about it. And there’s nobody there!” he exclaimed. “So I called up Robert and said, ‘Where’s Maurice? We’re supposed to be doing an album.’ Robert said, ‘He’s in Australia.’ I said, ‘Robert, you’ve lined all this up for us to go in the studio and make an album. Why didn’t Maurice even tell me he was going to Australia?’ And he said, ‘Well, he went with Lulu quickly. It had to be done quickly. They’ve gone to promote Cucumber Castle.’ I said, ‘What!?’ Things were pretty crazy, but nothing as crazy as this. I honestly felt … I was being worked against.”
Although it failed to dissuade Barry from leaving the group, it was quick thinking on Stigwood’s part to mention Cucumber Castle in an effort to disguise the fact that promotion of the film was far from Maurice’s and Lulu’s minds. The trip was purely “for pleasure,” the couple had told officials as they passed through passport control.
Part of their ‘world tour’, their visit involved a nostalgic trip to Sydney. Maurice had been looking forward to driving Lulu around Bronte and Maroubra so she could “see all the old places we used to hang around [because] I wanted to show her where it all began”. This was the first sighting the Australian press had had of Lulu, and Maurice was quite content to keep a low profile. “It never bothered me a bit when photographers pushed me aside because they wanted to photograph my wife without me. Or when I was introduced as ‘Lulu’s husband’!”
A weary looking Lulu, exhausted by the long flight, was interested primarily in getting a good night’s sleep. Before they left Britain, even that little luxury had been denied her as Maurice grew impatient for the day of their departure. “He’s been so excited, he hasn’t been able to sleep,” she confided to reporters.
Back in Britain, Barry was determined to go despite The Bee Gees’ reported earnings of £3 million a year. “But the money doesn’t come into it,” he said. “I haven’t been doing anything for the past three or four months. I feel isolated and rejected.”
Contrary to his earlier statement, he remarked, “I just didn’t believe in two people being a group. Colin, Vince and Robin have put the lid on it for me. They all left for their own reasons. I had nothing to do with them leaving, despite the things they have said. Vince said that my music got on his nerves; Robin said he was a better singer than me; Colin said that I wanted to be king. What Maurice does is his own business. We’ll still work together but it won’t be as The Bee Gees.”
A music paper of the time announced the final collapse of the group with a tongue-in-cheek poem:
Five little Bee Gees, but many shocks in store,
One left to form a group – and then there were four.
Four little Bee Gees, not good company,
One became a soloist – and then there were three.
Three little Bee Gees, not sure what to do,
Decided drums weren’t needed – and then there were two.
Two little Bee Gees felt it wasn’t fun,
One got fed up with things – and then there was one.
“The trouble is they were surrounded by people saying, ‘You’re the star, you’re the star, you’re the star’ to ingratiate themselves,” said Tom Kennedy, their road manager. “The managers were sort of sucking up to their egos. Living in Barry’s shadow can never be easy for the other two … and the people who were around Robin at the time fed on that. Although Robin enjoyed a minor success and the others did as well as a duo, they were never very happy with the situation, and I think they were glad when they got back together. I think it was the most natural thing and something they wanted to do, but their pride wouldn’t let them. Maurice and Barry were stung by Robin doing this, and I think Robin … if someone had made a phone call, it might have gone a long way to stopping this thing happening. When it’s family, it becomes even more bitter – there’s a kind of hatred that builds up that between strangers would never happen. Luckily their rift didn’t go on that long and Robin came back to the fold, so to speak.
“I think the others really missed him. Barry became more reclusive and Maurice went on doing what he does. Maurice was always more the sort of outgoing, social person, and Barry retreated to Eaton Square for 18 months.
“Maurice went off and socialised and just generally did music with other people, which he enjoyed. In those days, he would just phone me up and say, ‘I’ve booked Nova Sound for six o’clock tonight.’ I was actually in Devon once and I phoned him just to check in, and he said, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘I’m in Devon,’ and he said, ‘I’ve got a studio booked for tonight’ so I came home!” Tom laughed. “That’s just the way Maurice was.”
Maurice’s chief collaborator was Lulu’s younger brother, Billy Lawrie. “Billy was a fun character and probably very good for Maurice at the time because Lulu was away. He was very supportive of Maurice. Although Billy’s been quite successful in the music business, singing was not really his forte – the singer in that family was always Lulu. Their little sister had some minor success with a group, but once again Lulu was always the person that the spotlight was on.”
With Maurice otherwise occupied, Barry was retreating into himself. According to friends, he had become practically a recluse, rarely venturing out from his plush London home. “He’s not a person to this day who is compelled to go out to have a good time,” Tom Kennedy said. “TV, books, things like UFOs and mysticism … he can immerse himself. He just literally stayed home. People like David Garrick and Peter Wyngarde used to go to his house and they would just entertain themselves at home rather than go out, which was never really up Barry’s street. He used to read the TV Guide – he would actually peruse it.”
Australian pop star Ronnie Burns recalled his stay with Barry and Lynda during this period. “I came over to London and Barry and his male assistant picked me up at the airport. I stayed with them for about 10 days. In retrospect, it was a hard time for Barry. He didn’t know where he was going, or what the future held for him at all. In the time I was with him, he never left the apartment at all, living a very reclusive lifestyle. I remember he would get up at strange times of the night and cook sausages, and as I was still on Australian time, this suited me.
“I wanted to go and buy some clothes at Carnaby Street so he took me down there and we both bought matching jackets. When we got back, Lynda thanked me, saying it was the first time he had been out of the apartment for 18 months.
; “I grew quite close to Barry, and the more time we spent together, the closer we became,” Burns related. “Remember he didn’t have his brothers there, and I think he was missing them.”
Barry insisted that he was not interested in retaliating against the other Bee Gees. “Although they have all had a damn good go at me,” he added bitterly. “I was nine years old when I asked my brothers to play with me. That was 14 years ago. Something happened after we came to England. We lost enthusiasm. We had to leave Australia to become international stars. You can be tops in Australia and be unheard of everywhere else. It was a family thing with us, and that maybe is what destroyed it. The Bee Gees no longer exist.”
Barry added that he was fed-up with the “phoney” image that had been built up of him – “I just want to get down to reality.
“By going solo I could lose a fortune but money is not important. I couldn’t give a damn. I will always have my songs and I don’t think I will ever dry up. I would be content if I had nothing but a tape-recorder. I could still write songs and record them.”
He maintained that he was still keen to get into acting, preferably in a Western or a period drama. “Five or ten scripts a day are coming into the office,” he said, “and we are just waiting for the right one.” He had a promotional television tour of Europe lined up and intended to do more television appearances in Britain on his return. He was also looking forward to working more in America.
A spokesman for the Robert Stigwood Organisation stated, “We are not opposed in principle to Barry going solo, and we will be meeting with him and Maurice later this week – following Maurice’s return to Britain – to discuss the matter.”
Commenting on what appeared to be the final break-up of his old group, Robin said: “It looked as if it was going to happen anyway. One of them was going to leave; they couldn’t go on with just two people. But it looked so silly the way it happened. They should have just let the news leak out on its own instead of Barry announcing it the way he did. I don’t think Maurice knew anything about it; it was just a case of Barry leaving on his own accord. He was very bitter because Maurice was out of the country with Lulu getting things done by himself, and he was just sitting around at home.”