The Ultimate Biography of The Bee Gees

by Hector Cook

  “It was a complete flop. York Records was a mess up. They pressed the wrong records, and they didn’t send the right ones to the DJs, they sent the wrong records, all the wrong pressings; it was a complete mess. York Records closed after about six months in complete chaos. It was attached to Yorkshire Television.”

  The disarray notwithstanding, the actual songs were pleasant on the ear, and quite representative of the music of the period. Maurice was on his by then favoured bass, and Jack Winsley produced the album. Winsley and Saker worked together on quite a number of records during this period, “a Winsak production” being their particular trademark.

  The recordings took place just as problems were surfacing between Maurice and Lulu, and after each session was completed, the pair would socialise together, each receiving a sympathetic ear from the other, as Bob explained. “I used to knock about with Maurice when he was getting divorced, and I was getting divorced, so we used to get wrecked together and whine about the women.”

  It was during this period that Bob noted one of Maurice’s little character traits, not normally to the fore while sober, but which in those days became painfully obvious to his drinking companions. Many have hinted at this aspect of his persona, but Bob was never one for subtle inferences, simply being one of those people who are used to plain speaking.

  “Maurice is famous for embroidering stories,” he divulged. “He exaggerates completely! It used to annoy me, because he used to tell stories about me in front of people and he’d made them up, but he’d convinced himself that they were true like an apocryphal story. ‘Remember that time you set fire to yourself, and there were these three girls going down on you’, and all this, and of course you’d say, ‘No, Maurice, that never happened.’ ‘Oh yes it did, I was there.’ He’s a fantasy merchant,” Bob continued. “You wouldn’t think that he was the most famous guy in the world, you’d think he was a guy who actually worked in Woolworths and pretends he knows The Bee Gees; makes up stories about famous people.”

  Talking to Bob though, it’s clear he retains nothing but affection for his old buddy. “He’s a nice guy, they’re all nice fellers. Maurice is a very good musician and so’s Barry, but Robin for some reason, he just busks along, they fit around him.”

  Another album released that year, this time in Australia, was Restless, by Ian B. McLeod. This one did feature a Gibb song, ’Give Your Best, but what really raised the eyebrows of those who recognised its significance, was the identity of his co-singer, Lesley Gibb. She also sang on two other tracks, and those who missed out on her performance three years earlier on Talk Of The Town would be able to ascertain that she is indeed quite a talented singer in her own right. Curiously, the album was released on three different independent labels, Festival, Troubadour and Bunnyip; the latter two being subsidiaries of Festival Records. The re-issues on the subsidiaries were released during the following year. The other songs that Lesley participated on were ‘Rings Of Gold’ and ‘Keep On Smiling’, and the back cover showed three photos of her which had been taken at the recording sessions.

  One of Robert Stigwood’s former office boys came good for him in the end. After years performing other duties, Norman Hitchcock had made his way into the recording studios on November 12, 1971 and January 17, 1972. The fruits of his labours appeared during 1972, the first single, ‘Just Another Minute’ backed with ‘One Wheel On My Wagon’ appearing in the spring while ‘Baby Come On Home’/ ‘Angelina’ was delayed until autumn. All were original Hitchcock compositions; the last named being written in conjunction with Billy Lawrie. All four songs were Moby productions.

  Steve Hodson’s single, ‘Crystal Bay’, also a Winsak production issued on the terminal York label, closed off the year. Written by the Gibb/Lawrie partnership, promotional copies were issued with a biography sheet and a photo which showed Steve sitting on a fence outside Follyfoot Farm, a less than subtle reminder of the singer’s acting role in the Follyfoot TV series.

  Former Marble Graham Bonnet was back on the scene in 1973, and he chose ‘Castles In The Air’ from the unreleased Bee Gees’ A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants album as the B-side to his ‘Trying To Say Goodbye’ single on RCA.

  Continuing with The Marbles theme, Philips released Rosetta High-tower’s powerful version of ‘The Walls Fell Down’ as the A-side of a single.

  It had taken until 1973 for Billy Lawrie to finally release a solo album, even though the talented singer-songwriter had been recording his own material for a number of years beforehand. His first single, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, was released in 1970, but another title, ‘Visitor From America’, which he had written with Maurice, had also been considered at one point, but this remains unreleased.

  Like Bob Saker, Billy had also supplemented his income in the advertising market. One surviving demo tape from October 13, 1971 was referred to as “TV single” and included ‘Cabory’s’ (presumably chocolate manufacturers Cadburys?), and ‘Spangles’, a brand of boiled sweets remembered fondly by British children of the Seventies, as much for their sharp edges when bitten, as for their fruity flavours.

  It was no surprise that one of the tracks on Billy’s Ship Imagination LP involved Maurice, although ‘Freedom’ introduced a third writer into the partnership. Leslie Harvey was a member of Glasgow rock band, Stone The Crows, a discovery of Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant. Harvey is credited as acoustic guitarist on the song, whilst Jimmy McAnonymous provided guitar, and Mags McGlint joined Lulu on backing vocals. It seems more than just a coincidence that Stone The Crows had a guitarist by the name of Jimmy McCulloch and a singer by the name of Maggie Bell, and contractual problems may have reared their ugly head once again. Stone The Crows broke up later that year. McCulloch joined Wings whilst Bell began a solo career which failed to capitalise on her wide acceptance as one of Britain’s top female singers of the time. She would return to prominence in the Eighties as the voice behind ‘No Mean City’, the theme song of the Taggart television series. Tragically, by the time the album came out, Les Harvey — brother of “Sensational” Alex Harvey — was dead, having been electrocuted while on stage during a concert at Swansea University.

  It might have been expected that Maurice would have played a bigger part on his brother-in-law’s only album, repaying the favour extended to him on his own unreleased solo album, but it is likely that the cracks appearing in his marriage with Lulu were starting to make it difficult for him to continue his working relationship with Billy.

  Two more of Barry’s solo compositions surfaced that year, again demonstrating the international appeal of his music. Peter Maffay’s German LP Du Bist Wie Ein Lied contained ‘Mando Bay’ and ‘Ich Bin Dein Freund’. The album’s title was the same as the first song on the disc; the German language version of Barry and Robin’s ‘When Do I’ from the Trafalgar LP. Fortunately, for those fans who only spoke English, Maffay also went down a treat in South Africa, and the singer displayed his command of the language by reprising all three songs on his It’s You I Want To Live With album there, released that same year. ‘Mando Bay’ lost nothing in its translation, whilst those who had a limited knowledge of German, and would swear that Freund meant friend, were confused by title of the remaining song being revealed as ‘If I Were The Sky’.

  In 1974, The Bee Gees had sunk to uncharted depths, and there was little to encourage them on the cover versions front either. However, the first green shoots of a recovery poked their heads into the American charts in March 1975 when Elton John’s drummer, Nigel Olsson, took ‘Only One Woman’ to number 91 in the US Hot 100. In doing so, he became the first artist in almost five years to achieve a chart placing with a Gibb composition. The record was also issued in Britain and Australia on Elton’s Rocket label.

  It would also be the last significant release of a song not released by the Gibbs themselves, for the next couple of years. A move to Miami for the brothers was imminent and their strategy was simple. Sort out their own lack of commercial success, befo
re even attempting to remedy the suffering of others.

  * * *

  If there was a definitive golden period for the Brothers Gibb, it was most definitely the Eighties when they recorded five albums for internationally renowned artists; each of which spawned at least one hit record. The seeds of this success were sown in the mid-to-late Seventies when The Bee Gees achieved unprecedented levels of popularity. However, for one of the brothers, this new era of fulfilment had a false dawn.

  Over the years, Maurice’s name had been linked with many uncredited appearances on other artists’ records so it was quite amusing to find him denying his suggested involvement on one. Henry Cooper, the British boxer famous for flooring Cassius Clay and promoting Brut aftershave, had released a single in 1976 called ‘Knock Me Down With A Feather’. In his official biography he claimed that Maurice had written the song for him, attributing, “Give It A Try Surprise Yourself” to the surprised Gibb. Perhaps Henry had taken one punch too many during his career, as it seems unlikely that he would easily confuse Maurice with the real writer, Richard Cassman. Blue Weaver wrote the B-side ‘Knocked Out By Your Love’. In any event, it wasn’t a hit. Indeed, Henry played the record to one of his friends, and proudly invited him to, “Guess who that is?”

  “That’s easy,” came the response. “Max Bygraves!”

  However, 1976 did at least provide some chart action on the cover version front. In March, Olivia Newton-John coasted to number 23 in the USA with ‘Come On Over’ which had been lifted off The Bee Gees’ Main Course album from the previous year. Yvonne Elliman then took ‘Love Me’ from Children of the World and made number 14, whilst it fared even better in Britain by reaching number 6.

  That British chart feat was also achieved by Candi Staton in July of the following year with ‘Nights On Broadway’. There then followed the hit that never was, according to one of its participants that is. Its co-producer and co-writer, Albhy Galuten, felt strongly that Network’s ‘Save Me, Save Me’ was the right song at the right time.

  “I was really bummed that wasn’t a hit. That’s where I met George Bitzer. That group was managed by Tommy Mottola, and Karl Richardson and I were producing the record. I knew Tommy … and he wanted us to do Network.

  “George is still a great keyboard player, and he shows up on Andy’s records,” Albhy continued. “So we produced that record and Barry and I wrote a song that was a great song and I thought, ‘God you know it’s too bad that wasn’t a hit, it was an excellent song’. But it was not a hit, for who knows what reason. To break a band, you know, it was a brand new band.

  “Actually the record wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be, ’cause… it was a case of managers fucking with things. The singer sang a lot in falsetto and they particularly wanted a song that could feature his voice. The song was written with that range in mind, and then I think Tommy decided they didn’t like the sound of the band, not that song, but the band with so much falsetto. So they really wanted to make the song work in natural voice. So we had to change it.”

  Two of the Gibb’s strongest ever ballads resurfaced on albums that year too. ‘Only One Woman’ was recorded by Swedish group Christers for their strangely titled 5:e LP on the Tor label while Patricia Paay included ‘The Love Of A Woman’ on The Lady Is A Champ for EMI in Holland.

  However, the best was still to come.

  Eight years after a Gibb composition had brought her an initial but all too brief fame, Samantha Sang was back, and taking the American charts by storm. However, the story behind the song that launched her comeback begins on the other side of the Atlantic.

  “I had a clever manager,” Samantha began, inferring that the forthcoming meeting arranged by Bill May was no coincidence, “who found out that The Bee Gees were in France recording, and I was travelling and playing around the world at that time. We contacted Barry and told him we were in France and he told us to come over. So we met and spoke, and he said he would write a song for me. I love the big emotional ballads, but Barry said, ‘I’m gonna write one to show off your soft voice’. After about a month he called me and asked me to come to Florida to record with him.”

  Written at Chateau d’Herouville in Paris immediately during the initial Saturday Night Fever sessions, the song that Barry had written for her with Blue Weaver was ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’, which she soon got a tape of. When she arrived in Miami, Barry announced, “I think I’ve topped myself,” and played her ‘Emotion’ which he and Robin had just written.

  After a few bars, Samantha said, “I’m gonna take that, thank you.” She didn’t want to sound like she was copying The Bee Gees’ “but that was the basic sound, that’s what the song demanded.”

  Barry sang backing vocals on the record, saying, “We decided it’s better to have her sound like that, with everyone knowing that Barry Gibb is on the record as an excuse for sounding like that.” The instrumental intro is inspired by the opening of the old ballad ‘September In The Rain’, something which Albhy Galuten thinks nobody has ever noticed.

  ‘Emotion’ was recorded at Criteria studios by the Gibb, Richardson, Galuten combination, and it took a whole month to complete. The B-side was ‘When Love Is Gone’, a non-Gibb composition written by Francis Lai and was the theme song of the popular film of the time, Bilitis.

  The single entered the US charts in November and sold phenomenally well, eventually climbing to number three. In Britain, release of ‘Emotion’ was delayed until February, 1978 where it attained a highly respectable number 11. The album of the same name followed shortly thereafter, and it contained two additional Gibb songs. There was a re-recording of Samantha’s original 1969 hit, which still has very special meaning for her.

  “I think ‘The Love Of A Woman’ is one of the best songs ever written and never got the attention it was due. It’s still in my live repertoire. Also, because Barry specifically wrote it for me, that’s why I recorded it again’. Barry suggested the other song, ‘Charade’ — taken from The Bee Gees’ Mr. Natural album — because it seemed well suited to her voice.”

  Initially Samantha’s success was dwarfed by the attention being focused on The Bee Gees themselves at that point, and she had to fight to achieve the recognition her singing deserved. “I had to get out and prove myself on the road, on the circuit,” she said. “Most people thought I was an overnight success, but I had been performing for over 10 years.”

  Nowadays, she continues to perform in her native Australia, but is ready to resume her partnership with Barry at any time. “Working and being associated with Barry Gibb has been the highlight of my career. If Barry wants to write another song, I’ll be there tomorrow, and I’d do it all again!”

  Considering the incredible success enjoyed by the RSO label at that time, it seems incredible that ‘Emotion’ wasn’t part of it as, in a rare error of judgement, Stigwood had refused first option on it. Instead it was picked up by Franki Valli’s Private Stock label. However, a strange twist of fate would soon restore the smile to Robert’s face. Barry Gibb tells the story.

  “Robert [Stigwood] rang up and said, ‘Can there be a song called “Grease”? I have another song called “Grease” by another artist who I won’t mention, but it doesn’t work.’ I said, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘I want a hit record that’s called “Grease”.’ I says, ‘How can anybody write a big hit record called “Grease”? I mean, d’you write about combing your hair, d’you write about Brylcreem or what, how can you make that romantic?’ It clicked later on. If you write a song about the word ‘Grease’, it would work, and that’s all I did.”

  All Barry did was to write one of the biggest hits of the year: a number one in America, a number two in Germany, and a number three in Britain. Not bad for an off the cuff little number. Franki Valli certainly wasn’t complaining either.

  “How bad can it be, working with people who are responsible for the biggest record success of the decade and possibly of all time? All that, and nice people, too. It was fabul
ous in every way.”

  Paul Nicholas, also then fresh from the filming of Sgt. Pepper’s, was equally effervescent about the song. “Barry wrote that great tune, one of my favourite, favourite tunes of all time. It’s fantastic. It really, again, caught the mood, and again it was an enormous success. I think he wrote it very quickly, Robert told me. I think Robert said, ‘Can you write me a song blah, blah, for Grease,’ and he came up with that. I mean, it’s fantastic.”

  For anyone else, to miss out on a hit the size of ‘Emotion’ would be a severe blow. Stigwood hardly blinked. Not only did he have one of the songs of the year in ‘Grease’, he had one of the films of the year too, as crowds all over the world flocked to the cinemas to view the on-screen romance develop between John Travolta and co-star Olivia Newton-John.

  Barry’s co-producer on the recording, did rather nicely out of it too. “ ‘Grease’ was the most money I ever made per hour,” Albhy Galuten divulged. “I think it took two days, start to finish, soup to nuts including mix, and my first check was like $200,000. Any time I can make $100,000 a day …

  “I remember that pretty well,” Albhy continued. “We were in Barry’s living room in Miami when Robert called. I was there when he took the call. I think it was Barry’s idea [to ask Franki Valli]. He was a big fan of those records back then, so this would be a great person to do it with. We cut it in LA, not Miami. The horns were done by George Bohannon, the contractor. The guitar players were Peter Frampton, along with probably George Terry, two guitar players. I think the rest were the regular band, like on an Andy record, Harold and Tubby. The girl singers were The Sweet Inspirations. The arrangement was my stuff. The intro was Barry’s idea, and I remember going how weird, just da daaaaa, dadadadada, but then the groove stuff is mine.”