Barry Gibb: Biography

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Barry Gibb.Image via Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Barry Gibb?

Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, he rose to global fame as a founder of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popular music, and is its only surviving member. Gibb is well known for his wide vocal range, including a far-reaching high-pitched falsetto. His career has spanned over 70 years.

As a songwriter, Gibb shares the record for most consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number ones, at six, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In total, he has written or co-written sixteen Billboard Hot 100 number ones.

In 1994, Gibb and his brothers were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Bee Gees. In 2007, Q magazine ranked him 38th on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers". Guinness World Records lists him as the second most successful songwriter in history, behind McCartney.

Gibb was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to music and entertainment, and a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. He was also made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia on 27 January 2022.

Early Life: Where Is Barry Gibb From?

Early years

Barry Alan Crompton Gibb was born at Jane Crookall Maternity Home in Douglas, Isle of Man, on 1 September 1946, to Hugh Gibb (15 January 1916 – 6 March 1992), a drummer, and Barbara Gibb (née Pass; 17 November 1920 – 12 August 2016), both Manchester natives. He has English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. Gibb's grandfather Hugh Gibb Sr. was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1892. He has an older sister, Lesley Evans. His second name, "Alan", was after his father's youngest brother, who had died in infancy. According to Hugh Gibb, in a mix of fact and fiction, his third name, "Crompton", was given to honour the Gibbs' ancestor Sir Isaac Crompton (actually Samuel Crompton).

When Gibb was born, his father worked as a musician at various hotels in Douglas, and his mother stayed at home looking after the children. Later, the Gibbs moved to Chapel House on Strang Road. When he was almost two years old, he was badly scalded in an accident involving a hot teapot his mother had just set on the table, which he was able to reach and knock over. He was in Nobles Hospital for about two and a half months. Gibb has said of that incident:

Then the gangrene set in. Because in those days, the advancement of medicine simply didn't apply to people with bad scalds, so you didn't have skin grafts, you didn't have things like that. But this was a particularly bad scald, and I think I had 20 minutes to live at some point. The incredible thing for me is that whole two years is wiped from my memory, the whole period of being in hospital. The idea of being burnt is in there somewhere, but I have no knowledge of it. I've got the scars but I have no knowledge.

Barry Gibb's Career and Major Works

In 1949, the Gibb family relocated to 50 St. Catherine's Drive. On 22 December, Gibb's brothers Robin and Maurice were born. When the twins were young, the family moved to Smedley Cottage, Spring Valley, also in Douglas.

Gibb started school on 4 September 1951, aged five, attending Braddan School. In 1952, the Gibb family relocated to 43 Snaefell Road, Willaston, where they lived for the next two years. The same year, he went to Tynwald Street Infants School. On his seventh birthday in 1953, he went to Desmesne Road Boys School.

Musical career

1955–1966: early performances and songwriting

Barry Gibb's Personal Life and Relationships

In 1955, when the Gibb family moved back to their hometown of Manchester, the brothers formed the skiffle group the Rattlesnakes, consisting of Barry on vocals, lead and slide guitar, Robin and Maurice on vocals and acoustic guitar and friends/neighbours Paul Frost and Kenny Horrocks also providing vocals. By 1957, the Rattlesnakes played songs by Cliff Richard, Paul Anka, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. Gibb once said the first song they played was Anka's "I Love You, Baby", but in 1968, he remembered it as the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie". The Rattlesnakes' first professional gig was on 28 December 1957 in the Gaumont Cinema. Around 1958, Gibb's guitar was accidentally broken by Frost, who described it as "broken in the middle". In May 1958, when the Gibbs moved to Northern Grove, Frost and Horrocks left the band. The brothers later changed the group's name to Wee Johnny Hayes and the Blue Cats. Under that name, they performed regularly in Minor 15, a talent contest for under-fifteens held on Thursday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. at Princess Club in Chorlton.

On 5 March 1958, Gibb's brother Andy was born. In August, the Gibb family set sail for Australia as part of an assisted migration scheme from Southampton on the ship Fairsea. Also aboard was Red Symons, future guitarist of Skyhooks, as well as Kylie Minogue's parents. In 1959, the brothers began singing between races at the Redcliffe Speedway under the name "the Bee Gees". Their talent brought them to the attention of Bill Gates, a radio deejay. Gates was also interested in Gibb's original material, including "Let Me Love You" and "(Underneath the) Starlight of Love". After hearing those songs, Gates asked Gibb for more original material. Gibb quit school in September 1961, and the Gibbs moved to Surfers Paradise. The brothers spent the summers of 1961 and 1962 performing at hotels and clubs in the Gold Coast area. By September 1962, Gibb had auditioned songs for Col Joye. The Gibb family moved to Sydney at the start of 1963.

Around that time, the Bee Gees were signed to Festival Records, but were assigned to Leedon Records. Their first single, "The Battle of the Blue and the Grey", was written by Gibb. Gibb wrote all the Bee Gees' singles from 1963 to 1966. In July 1963, Lonnie Lee, one of Australia's top recording stars at the time, recorded what is said to be the first rock and roll recording of a Barry Gibb song. Recorded on Leedon Records and named "I'd Like To Leave If I May", radio preferred the flip side. Between 1963 and 1966, Gibb's songs were also recorded by other Australian artists, including Trevor Gordon, Noeleen Batley, Anne Shelton, April Byron, Ronnie Burns and Lori Balmer. Gibb's "One Road" hit No. 2 on the Australia New South Wales Chart and No. 32 on the Kent Music Report charts for Jimmy Little in 1964. His "I Just Don't Like to Be Alone", recorded by Bryan Davies, reached No. 25 on the New South Wales chart in 1964.

In 1966, Gibb won the annual Radio 5KA award for the best composition of the year, "I Was a Lover, A Leader of Men".

Where Is Barry Gibb Now? Recent Years

1967–1970: return to UK, commercial breakout and worldwide popularity

The Bee Gees returned to the United Kingdom in early 1967. They passed a live audition with Robert Stigwood on 24 February and later signed to Robert Stigwood Organization. Also on 24 February, "Spicks and Specks" was released by Polydor as a single in the United Kingdom. Stigwood became the Bee Gees' manager. Drummer Colin Petersen and guitarist Vince Melouney joined the group. The result was their first international LP, Bee Gees' 1st. The second single from the album, "To Love Somebody", on which Gibb sings the lead vocal, has become a standard, covered by hundreds of artists.

Around the same time, the Gibb brothers contributed backing vocals on the track "Cowman, Milk Your Cow", a song by Gibb and Robin and sung by Adam Faith.

On 30 March 1967, Gibb was in The Speakeasy Club, a nightclub in London, where he was introduced by Pete Townshend to John Lennon. Lennon was still wearing his outfit for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band photo shoot earlier that day; after a couple of scotch and cokes, Townshend asked Gibb, "Do you want to meet John?" and led him to a room where Lennon was holding court. Townshend said, "John. This is Barry Gibb, from the group the Bee Gees". Lennon replied, "Howyadoin'". "So I met John Lennon's back", Gibb said with a laugh; "I didn't meet his front." In 2010, Gibb said: "It was virtually a closed club and you went downstairs and there was a coffin and if you were someone they knew and you were supposed to go in, the wall would turn around ... and in you would go. There would be [Rolling] Stones lying around all over the place. It was one of those days when I met John Lennon – from the back. It was Pete Townshend who introduced me ... [Lennon said] 'Pleased to meet you', and he carried on talking to his guest."

Barry Gibb's Legacy and Impact

After many stresses on their personal and professional lives, both Barry and Robin collapsed from nervous exhaustion on a flight from Australia to Turkey in 1967. On 23 December 1967, Barry and Robin left England for Australia. Gibb said: "Due to time difference we arrived on Christmas Day; we missed Christmas Eve altogether!" The pair celebrated Christmas with Stigwood's family.

At the end of 1967, fame was taking its toll, and the group was at odds. At the start of 1968, the Gibbs were vying to influence the musical direction of the group, creating tension in the studio and on stage. Also in 1968, to promote Horizontal the group made their first appearance on US television on The Smothers Brothers Show as well as The Ed Sullivan Show. The group later filmed a TV special, Frankie Howerd Meets the Bee Gees, with Frankie Howerd. His 1968 composition "Only One Woman" (UK No. 5) was the Marbles' most successful single up to date. The Bee Gees were invited by Hollywood manager Lee Hazlewood at his party alongside the members of the Monkees and Honey Ltd. Photos from that event were leaked, and show Gibb talking to actress Angela Cartwright and playing guitar with the members of Honey Ltd. singing along.

In 1969, the Bee Gees released "First of May" as the A-side, with the flip side being "Lamplight", on which Robin sang the lead. Stigwood chose "First of May" to be the A-side. No other songs were released from the album Odessa. Shortly after Robin announced his solo plans, the Bee Gees released their first single without him, "Tomorrow Tomorrow". Barry also worked with Samantha Sang, co-writing and producing two songs "The Love of a Woman" and the B-side "Don't Let It Happen Again" released on Parlophone. He also produced songs for P. P. Arnold, including "Bury Me Down By the River" (released as a single), that the Bee Gees originally recorded for their 1970 album. In the summer of 1969, Petersen left the group, leaving only Barry and Maurice as the Bee Gees. Pentangle drummer Terry Cox replaced Petersen to complete another 12 songs, but only five songs were released on the album.

The film Cucumber Castle, featuring only two Bee Gees after originally including Petersen, aired on BBC2 on 26 December 1970. When the group announced that they had split at the start of December 1969, Gibb spent January 1970 writing songs to record the following month.

1970: debut as a solo artist

In February 1970, he started to record his first solo album, The Kid's No Good; he released his first solo single, "I'll Kiss Your Memory", but the rest of the songs that were supposed to be on the album were never released and only appeared in bootlegs. "I'll Kiss Your Memory" did not chart in either the U.K. or U.S. but reached No. 16 in Netherlands in five weeks. Another country ballad, "This Time", was chosen as the B-side. Bruce Eder of AllMusic said the songs on The Kid's No Good were country and sentimental numbers.

In April 1970 the album Cucumber Castle was released four months after the break-up, featuring only Barry and Maurice, as Robin was working on his solo career. For the first time as a solo artist, he appeared on the panel of judges and performed "One Bad Thing" and "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" on Miss Teen Princess of the World pageant in Germany in June, his reaction was "I've not appeared on stage for at least a year and three months, and I really miss people". In July 1970, Gibb travelled to Australia to act as compere for Go-Set, and on that occasion, he gave an interview on the magazine which revealed that sixteen months after the Bee Gees' break-up, he was still not ready to argue with his brothers, "Obviously, we're still brothers, but we are no longer as a group".

He considered the song "One Bad Thing" for the second single from his debut album. Atco pressed some copies of it in August 1970 with "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" as the B-side. It was distributed to radio stations in Canada and elsewhere, but it was...

Barry Gibb's career continues to be documented by reputable media; the facts above are drawn from Wikipedia's biography and public records.

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