RIP Robin Gibb

Riaan-Combrink

I was saddened this morning to read of the passing of Robin Gibb. The 3rd of the famous Gibb brothers now gone. Love or hate them, IMO you cannot ignore the influence of the Bee Gees on music and popular culture - and Robin's harmonies (and lead vocals on some of their most famous hits) was a major ingredient of that success. RIP Robin...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/may/21/robin-gibb-pioneer-disco-dies

http://news.yahoo.com/video/entertainment-15749636/robin-gibb-1949-2012-29356368.html

Squonk

I kind of liked them before that whole Disco error thing. Had a whole bunch of their earlier albums.

Although Barry was obviously the leader and possibly the strongest songwriter, Robin had the stronger and more unique voice.

Bob-Dubery

They had some great melodic touches in their songs. Interestingly a lot of their hits were written with somebody else in mind - often soul singers.

There's something special, I think, about vocals that are genetically matched. You get a special blend. A lot of the Bee Gees hits had Robin and Barry switching parts all the time, and their vocals on the choruses were often memorable.

I thought their songwriting was not so good later on, but some of those early hits were great pop songs.

singemonkey

Even their disco hits were better than other disco. They were a great pop band in their early years.

Jack-Flash-Jr

singemonkey wrote: Even their disco hits were better than other disco. They were a great pop band in their early years.

aubs1

singemonkey wrote: Even their disco hits were better than other disco. They were a great pop band in their early years.

Absolutely Singy ...... For me the greatest groups in terms of pure harmonies were the BeeGees, CSNY, and of course The Beachboys.

R.I.P. Robin

IceCreamMan

Oh no ...that is sad !!! RIP

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote: They had some great melodic touches in their songs. Interestingly a lot of their hits were written with somebody else in mind - often soul singers.

And there were a lot of hits that they did write for other people.

I knew some of them (EG "Woman In Love" for Babs Streisand and "Islands In The Stream" for Ken and Dolly), but a full list is at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9279651/Robin-Gibb-the-hits-you-didnt-know-were-written-by-the-Bee-Gees.html

There was also a song they wrote in the hope that Percy Sledge would pick it up, but decided to record themselves anyway. (cue sound of head scratching)

aubs1

X-rated Bob wrote: I knew some of them (EG "Woman In Love" for Babs Streisand and "Islands In The Stream" for Ken and Dolly), but a full list is at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9279651/Robin-Gibb-the-hits-you-didnt-know-were-written-by-the-Bee-Gees.html

I was aware of most of these listed, and that they did all the arrangements and vocal backing vocals. I think "Heartbreaker" was the last big hit Dionne Warwick had, but you got me stumped on the song they wrote hoping Percy Sledge would pick up.

Bob-Dubery

Seems it was "I've Gotta Get A Message To You". And it seems that Percy Sledge did eventually record it, but his version was not released as a single.

"Words" was written with Cliff Richard in mind, but he didn't have plans to record when they presented the song to him and so they went right ahead anyway.

"Massachusetts" was written for The Seekers, but they went and broke up so...

"To Love Somebody" was written for Otis Redding, but his untimely death meant that he never got to record it.

Bob-Dubery

I just watched a quite nice little tribute from the editor of Q magazine on the BBC.

I think it gets overlooked how massively big the Bee Gees were, and for how long. Estimates are that the only band to outsell them over a career was the Beatles.

That's bigger than a very big thing.

Really Saturday Night Fever cast a shadow over the rest of their career. They had a lot of big hits and in several decades.

Also interviewed was Sir Harry Webb who said that Robin Gibb had been working on a new album and that the songs were some of the best he ever wrote.

lindsmuse

Saturday Night Fever I quite liked! - I was probably swept along by whatever else was happening at the time. Think it was just mood then - that whole dance thing. And I loved their early stuff as well

'When I was small and Christmas trees were tall ...'

R.I.P

singemonkey

X-rated Bob wrote: "To Love Somebody" was written for Otis Redding, but his untimely death meant that he never got to record it.

That would have been incredible. I'm inclined to think that Mr. Redding hit that sweet, sweet spot between technique and passion harder than anyone else ever.

singemonkey

Stand aside! This is what I'm listening to now. Holy...

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edit:

And here's the man himself doing what is surely one of the most haunting hit songs ever. I thought about this song immediately the Chilean miners' crisis began:

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deefstes

Very very sad. I also preferred their pre disco stuff but I also liked their disco stuff.

Robin has never been the real centre of attention but he had a magnificent voice and was every bit the maestro that his brothers were. This song could well be my favourite Bee Gees song and it is actually a Robin Gibb song more than a Bee Gees song.
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"I finally died, which started the whole world living"
We had all better start living with a vengeance now.

Jack-Flash-Jr

deefstes wrote: Very very sad. I also preferred their pre disco stuff but I also liked their disco stuff.

Robin has never been the real centre of attention but he had a magnificent voice and was every bit the maestro that his brothers were. This song could well be my favourite Bee Gees song and it is actually a Robin Gibb song more than a Bee Gees song.
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"I finally died, which started the whole world living"
We had all better start living with a vengeance now.

Faith No More also did a cover of this... haunting stuff...

aubs1

I know this is a sad time for BeeGees fans, myself included, but thought this was a great tribute to be shared .....

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strataxe

The day the music really died. Not a die hard fan, but they had fantastic songs. I think they had more number ones written by them than anybody else. True artists, and still in their teens when they had their first hit. I love Holiday.