The Bee Gees doc: HBO

[GhostOfTomJoad 9342]

 

Watched it last night. Very well done. The guys were gifted songwriters. Their career arc was something to behold.They went from being a novelty kids act to pop stars post-Beatles in the late '60s, to has beens 5 years later, to their career revival in the mid-'70s followed by the cultural phenomenon of SNF then being all but banned on radio after the disco backlash to returning to their roots & becoming hit makers for major acts. 

The doc relies heavily on archival interviews with Robin and Maurice, plus current day commentary from Barry. Noel Gallagher and Justin Timberlake in particular add nice color during their interviews. Eric Clapton encouraging them to record in Miami (they actually rented the 461 Ocean Boulevard house he'd stayed in when recording that album) & embrace their R&B roots was a nugget I was unaware of. 

It could have dug a little deeper, particularly in regards to the competition between Barry and Robin to lead the band (Maurice was happy to be along for the ride), but with only Barry alive to tell the tale now it seems that they opted to basically remind people that they weren't responsible for disco, and that they had a long career as hitmakers with a discography most any pop band would love to have.

Definitely worth a watch.

[veritas aequitas 443]

I was never a fan of disco but the Bee Gees were greatness.

[Bogeywon 2519]

I’m a huge Noel Gallagher fan. What did he have to say?

[GhostOfTomJoad 9342]

Gallagher was interesting. He didn't discover their early catalog until later in life so his response to their early hits and 3 part harmonies was essentially "no fucking way...this is the Bee Gees?"

The most poignant comment he made was how being in a band with your family changes everything., and how it's an instrument that no one else has, that it's a secret weapon to be able to sing & harmonize in a way that people who aren't blood can't do. I'm paraphrasing, but it was along the lines of "everyone can bring a guitar or drums or any instrument you can buy, but when brothers come together they've got something that can't be touched. "

Timberlake was more of a gushing fanboi (and cracked up the crew when he swore he wasn't high when filming his bit). But he's in awe of their harmonies and how their vocals took the part of a brass section in some of their biggest hits.

[tbone_ 14134]

Looking forward to this. I’ve always thought that family members in a band can bring a groove that’s tough to duplicate - Van Halen, Pantera, etc

[horn4life 3775]

I thought it was a pretty good show.  Mainly the perseverance through decades and the willingness to reinvent themselves, was pretty interesting.  OF course Barry gets the looks, all the pussy, and damned if even after all that he is the sole survivor...  

[Gil Bang 25984]

I thought it was a bore, and turned it off. 

[mchookem 16342]

they touched on Andy but didn't really dwell on his drug issues. this story was pretty clean...but if the BGs managed to live in Miami during the disco era, with their amount of money/fame, and mostly avoided the pitfalls of excess? good for them. most biographical music stories don't go that way (the ones we see anyway).

yeah it must be weird on a sad way to be the oldest of four bros and be the only one left. i think there is an older sister still alive. 

[GhostOfTomJoad 9342]

Maurice was apparently quite an addict as well. It was Andy's death that caused him to get sober. But the doc definitely didn’t go into much detail with regards to personal demons. Relationships, marriages, their sister (who was actually part of the band after Robin left)...lots of stuff was barely touched on.

[dcbc 14496]

Bee Gees hate is an interesting phenomenon to me.  I remember my sister going to see them when she was in high school and bootlegging the show.  It's cancellation got caught up in the disco is dead thing, and that's fine.  But it mostly was enjoyable. 

[TwiceHorn 31513]

17 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Bee Gees hate is an interesting phenomenon to me.  I remember my sister going to see them when she was in high school and bootlegging the show.  It's cancellation got caught up in the disco is dead thing, and that's fine.  But it mostly was enjoyable. 

Perhaps I can illuminate.

Disco, and Saturday Night Fever, in particular, were at their peak when I was in middle school.  That meant that the virtually mandatory dance lessons and "Cotillion" included learning fucking John Travolta routines from the movie. IN. FRONT. OF. GIRLS.  I was probably a bit more self-conscious than average, but that was pure fucking hell for almost all of us at that age.

QED, I have an almost irrational hatred for disco.  For some reason, KC and The Sunshine Band has largely received an exemption, and my attitude has softened over the years.  But for decades, the Bee Gees were inextricably linked to cringey awkwardness and self-loathing.

Edited December 17, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[dcbc 14496]

40 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Perhaps I can illuminate.

Disco, and Saturday Night Fever, in particular, were at their peak when I was in middle school.  That meant that the virtually mandatory dance lessons and "Cotillion" included learning fucking John Travolta routines from the movie. IN. FRONT. OF. GIRLS.  I was probably a bit more self-conscious than average, but that was pure fucking hell for almost all of us at that age.

QED, I have an almost irrational hatred for disco.  For some reason, KC and The Sunshine Band has largely received an exemption, and my attitude has softened over the years.  But for decades, the Bee Gees were inextricably linked to cringey awkwardness and self-loathing.

Still sounds preferable to my 1986--87 cotillion.  I think there was a tune from 1986's running scared in involved.

[Sbbruin 21865]

The first concert I ever went to was The Bee Gees in 1979 at Dodger Stadium.  I was 12 and it was awesome.  

[zlavydra 2123]

I think one of the Gibbs' sons played guitar in Crowbar.

[hullabelew 3724]

He plays with Barry now.  His performance of "To Love Somebody" on Later with Jools Holland within the last year was fantastic.  Doesn't appear to be on youtube, though other versions are.  I always liked Slobberbone's version of that song.    

I had an 8 track in middle school that had "Nights on Broadway" after seeing this. Damn, those vocals killed me.  Also bought a wah wah pedal.  

 

 

 

 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

My parents were in the health insurance business in South Florida back in the 1970’s and one of their accounts was the owner of Criteria Recording Studio so they used to go meet with him and all the acts would be there recording.  The Allman Brothers, Derek and The Dominoes, Bee Gees, etc...  I still have an autographed picture of The Bee Gees with those white suits from Saturday Night Fever in a closet somewhere that my parents got while hanging out in that studio.  CSB- was talking to my mom about that a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned they were at the studio when there were a bunch of musicians all “looped up” (her words) on drugs running around. She said it was that Eagles band but they were nice to her and my dad.  This  was during The Hotel California recording.

[jimmyjazz 46001]

The Bee Gees did disco better than just about any band.  I can understand the lingering social pain from the "Saturday Night Fever" era, but "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive" are great songs played extremely well.  Hell, Barry even wrote the title tune for the film version of "Grease" (sung by Franki Valli), so that's like the holy trinity of disco.  It sure beats Gloria Gaynor and other tripe of the day.

[stc 1462]

tangentially related...watched the studio 54 documentary on prime this week, pretty interesting. gave a good explanation of why there was such a disco backlash. 

[Wally Pryor 5261]

Barry Gibb is an interesting guy.  Cannot imagine having 3 younger brothers and losing them all.  Across the board - especially his writing - there are fewer more influential and impactful artists in the history of the business. 

But his biggest achievement may be being married over 50 years.   Celebrated that one last September.