Band of Brothers: The Bee Gees

The Bee Gees
Brothers: Barry Gibb (lead vocals, guitar), Robin Gibb (lead vocals), Maurice Gibb (guitar, piano)
Other Members: None

The Bee Gees are the first group I found on my own, which is funny in and of itself, considering it was 1997 and they'd already been performing professionally for over 30 years. They were kids when they started singing around Australia and Robin and Maurice were still teenagers when their first single hit big.

These guys went through a lot together. Their early footage is fun to watch, if only because it's an adult-sized Barry and a kid-sized Robin and Maurice (aka the twins who couldn't look less like twins). After their first round of fame in the late 60s, they kind of self-destructed. Robin quit the band and went solo, Barry and Maurice tried to carry on without him and they all got married, got addictions and fought with each other via the press. But, they got it all sorted out and then 1975 happened and with it came the Bee Gees most people know today. They didn't invent disco, but they were such a signature sound of that era that they may as well have. In 1978, five of the Top 10 songs were written by the Gibbs. They got so famous that it blew up in their faces and the hype turned into intense backlash and yet they stuck through. When it was obvious that people no longer wanted the Bee Gees (I think they might have figured that out from the Bee Gee Free Weekends on radio stations and the mass burning of disco records), they started writing for other artists like Barbra Streisand and Dionne Warwick. They never stopped working. They never stopped going with the flow and incorporating contemporary sounds with their signature style. They always sound like the Bee Gees but you can always tell what decade they're in. I personally love their 80s and 90s albums and the range of styles they explore. I love that they refused to give up, even when they could have just said "well, guess our time is up". Their success in the late 90s was so much fun for me, as a new fan, to watch and be a part of. I can't imagine my mid-teen's without Still Waters and "Alone" and so many of their songs.

Their dynamic was always interesting as well. Barry, the oldest, is the leader, the one who talks the most and is the most passionate when discussing their career. Robin is the quirky, quiet one. Maurice is the down-to-earth, funny, snarky one. They're more based on vocal harmony than any other group here, in the sense that only Barry and Maurice played instruments live and even then, the majority of the sound came from a backing band. Their voices are distinct. Very few people sound like Barry, no one that I know of sounds like Robin and Maurice, who rarely sang lead, balanced those two unique voices out perfectly. They create absolutely amazing harmonies. Their work as producers and the sound they created for themselves is incredible. They write awesome songs. And they always, always share the credits. Pretty much every single Bee Gees song is credited to all three brothers. It's always clear in interviews that they loved their crazy delinquent childhood, that they enjoy having spent their lives working together and that while they don't always get along, they appreciate each other as people and musicians.

Like the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees have a sad ending too. Maurice died about six years ago and that pretty much ended everything, and understandably. While the Beach Boys could continue to function eventually, I can't imagine the Bee Gees as they were without Maurice. It makes me sad to think what else they could have gone on do but I respect that they haven't forced it and that if eventually Barry and Robin do work together, it will be because they are ready to and want to. A good thing is gone though, and I miss it.

This video blows my mind. They're SO famous here, their little brother Andy is in the height of his own career and they're all just on stage, being ridiculously famous together. So awesome: