The Bee Gees
This hugely successful Anglo/Australian trio comprised of the twins Maurice and Robin Gibb (b. 22 December 1949, Isle Of Man, British Isles) and their elder brother Barry Gibb (b. 1 September 1946, Isle Of Man, British Isles). Hailing from a showbusiness family based in Manchester, England, they played as a child act in several of the city's cinemas. In 1958, the Gibb family emigrated to Australia and the boys performed regularly as a harmony trio in Brisbane, Queensland. Christened the Bee Gees, an abbreviation of Brothers Gibb, they signed to the Australian label Festival Records and released a series of singles written by the elder brother. While their single Spicks And Specks was topping the Australian charts, the brothers were already on their way to London for a fateful audition before Robert Stigwood, a director of NEMS Enterprises, the company owned by Beatles svengali Brian Epstein. This, in turn, led to a record contract with Polydor and the swift release of New York Mining Disaster, 1941. The quality of the single with its evocative, intriguing lyrics and striking harmony provoked premature comparison with the Beatles and gained the group a sizeable UK hit. During this period the trio were supplemented by Australian friends Colin Peterson (drums) and Vince Melouney (guitar). The second UK single, To Love Somebody, departed from the narrative power of their previous offering towards a more straightforward ballad style. Although the disc failed to reach the Top 40, the enduring quality of the song was evinced by a number of striking cover versions, most notably by Nina Simone, Eric Burdon And The Animals and Janis Joplin. The Beatlesque songs on their outstanding acclaimed UK debut, THE BEE GEES FIRST garnered further comparisons. Every track was a winner from the delightfully naive Cucumber Castle to the sublime Please Read Me, while Holiday had the beautiful stark quality of McCartney's Yesterday. The 14 tracks, were all composed by the twins and Barry, still aged only 17 and 19 respectively. By October 1967, the group had registered their first UK number 1 with the moving Massachusetts, which showed off their ability as arrangers to particular effect. Aware of the changes occurring in the pop firmament, the group bravely experimented with different musical styles and briefly followed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones along the psychedelic road. Their progressive forays confused their audience, however, and the double album ODESSA failed to match the work of their major rivals. Their singles remained adventurous and strangely eclectic with the unusual tempo of World followed by the neurotic romanticism of Words. Both singles hit the Top 10 in the UK but signs of commercial fallibility followed with the relatively unsuccessful double a-side Jumbo/The Singer Not The Song. Masters of the chart come-back, the group next turned to a heart-rending ballad about the final hour of a condemned prisoner. I've Gotta Get A Message To You gave them their second UK number 1 and sixth consecutive US Top 20 hit. The stark but startling First Of May followed, again revealing the Bee Gees willingness to tackle a mood piece in favour of an easily accessible melodic ballad. To complete their well-rounded image, the group showed their talent as composers, penning the Marbles' Top 10 UK hit Only One Woman. 
Without question, the Bee Gees were one of the most accomplished groups of the late '60s' but as the decade ended they fell victim to internal bickering and various pressures wrought by international stardom. Maurice Gibb married pop star Lulu and the group joined the celebrity show business elite with all its attend ant trappings of drink and drugs. Dissent among the brotherhood saw Robin Gibb embark on a solo career with brief success while the twins retained the group name. Remarkably, they ended the '60s with another change of style emerging with an authentic country standard in Don't Forget To Remember. With Colin Peterson still in tow, Maurice and Barry worked on a much-publicized but ultimately insubstantial film, Cucumber Castle. This fractious period ended with a ludicrous series of law suits in which the drummer had the audacity to claim rights to the Bee Gees name. A year of chaos and missed opportunities ensued during which the group lost much of their impetus and following. Maurice and Barry both released one single each as soloists, but their efforts were virtually ignored. Their career in the UK was in tatters but after reuniting with Robin in late 1970 they went on to score two major US hits with Lonely Days and the chart-topping How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. 
After a brief flurry of transatlantic hits in 1972 with My World and Run To Me, the group's appeal diminished to an all-time low. Three hitless years saw them reduced to playing in cabaret at such inauspicious venues as the Batley Variety Club in Yorkshire. A switch from Polydor Records to Robert Stigwood's new label RSO encouraged the group to adopt a more American sound with the album LIFE IN A TIN CAN. Determined to explore a more distinctive style, the group were teamed with famed producer Arif Mardin. MR. NATURAL, recorded in London, indicated a noticeable R&B/soul influence which was extended on 1975's MAIN COURSE. Now ensconced in Miami, the group gathered together a formidable backing unit featuring Alan Kendall (guitar), Dennis Bryon (drums) and Blue Weaver (keyboards). Jive Talkin', a pilot single from the album, zoomed to number 1 in the US and brought the trio back to the Top 10 in Britain. Meanwhile, fellow RSO artist Olivia Newton-John enjoyed a US hit with the group's country ballad Come On Over. The Bee Gees were well and truly back. 
The changes in their sound during the mid-'70s was nothing short of remarkable. They had virtually re-invented themselves, with Mardin encouraging them to explore their R&B roots and experiment with falsetto vocals. The effect was particularly noticeable on their next US Top 10 hit Nights On Broadway (later a hit for Candi Staton). The group were perfectly placed to promote and take advantage of the underground dance scene in the US, and their next album CHILDREN OF THE WORLD went platinum. The attend ant single You Should Be Dancing reached number 1 in the US, while the follow-up Love So Right hit number 3. Not content to revitalize their own career the trio's soundtrack contributions also provided massive hits for Yvonne Elliman (If I Can't Have You) and Tavares (More Than A Woman). The Bee Gees' reputation as the new gods of the discotheque was consummated on the soundtrack of the movie Saturday Night Fever, which sold in excess of 30 million copies. In their most successful phase to date, the group achieved a quite staggering run of six consecutive chart toppers: How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin' Alive, Night Fever, Too Much Heaven, Tragedy and Love You Inside Out. Their grand flurry continued with the movie Grease, for which they produced the chart-topping title track by Frankie Valli. Having already received Beatles comparisons during their early career, it was ill-advised of the group to take the starring role in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The film proved an embarrassing detour for both the brothers and their co-star Peter Frampton. 
As the '70s ended the Bee Gees increasingly switched their interests towards production. Although they released two further albums, SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN (1979) and LIVING EYES (1981), far greater attention was being focused on their chart-topping younger brother Andy Gibb. A multi-million dollar dispute with their mentor Robert Stigwood was settled out of court following which the group contributed towards another movie soundtrack Stayin' Alive. With the group's activities put on hold, it was Barry who emerged as the most prolific producer and songwriter. He duetted with Barbra Streisand on the chart-topping Guilty and composed and sang on Heartbreaker with Dionne Warwick. The brothers, meanwhile, also wrote the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton US chart topper Islands In The Stream and Diana Ross's excellent Motown pastiche Chain Reaction. Seemingly content to stay in the background masterminding platinum discs for others, they eventually reunited in 1987 for the hugely successful ESP. The indisputable masters of melody, their ‘come-back’ single You Win Again was warmly received by usually hostile critics who applauded its undoubted craftsmanship. The single gave the group their fifth UK number 1, a full eight years after their last chart topper, Tragedy. Sadly, the death of younger brother Andy the following year added a tragic note to the proceedings. In deference to their brother's death they declined to attend an Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in which they were honoured for their Outstanding Contribution to British Music. 
Looking back over the Bee Gees' career, one cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer diversification of their talents and their remarkable ability to continually re-invent themselves again and again. Like that other great family group the Beach Boys they have survived family feuds, dissension, tragic death, harsh criticism, changes in musical fashion and much else to become one of pop's ineffable institutions. Throughout all the musical changes they have undergone, the one constant has been their vocal dexterity, strength and an innate ability to arrange some wondrous pop melodies. The legacy of their performing, songwriting and production activities represents one of the richest tapestries in the entire history of modern popular music.