"Final farewell to the 'quiet'
Bee Gee"
(Claire Smith, The Scotsman, 13 January 2003)
MAURICE Gibb once said the Bee Gees were "three brothers trying to be bigger than the Beatles".
But despite four decades of hit songs, they never quite achieved the credibility and recognition they craved.
The trio were plagued by alcoholism, drug addiction and tax problems - and struggled to shake off their 1970s disco king image.
Twins Robin and Maurice, 53, and big brother, Barry, were also haunted by the death of younger brother Andy, in 1988, from drug-related heart problems days.
Yesterday, the family were once again in mourning - this time for the death of the "quiet" Gibb, who was always convinced that the Bee Gees would always be stronger together than they were apart.
Gibb’s death means the end of the characteristic Bee Gees sound - and the end of a group which has had hit records in every decade since the 1960s. , He played bass and keyboards and contributed harmonising vocals.
The group dominated the charts in the 1970s and their contributions to the 1977 album Saturday Night Fever made it the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time, with 40 million copies sold.
Gibb’s vocals were featured on the worldwide hits Stayin’ Alive, More than a Woman and How Deep is Your Love.
His former wife, Lulu, and the singer Michael Jackson were among those who sent messages of support to the family yesterday.
A close friend said the Gibbs were "in pieces" yesterday. "We are all in utter shock. Everyone is trying to get some sleep because we have been up and worrying for three days, but had prayed it wouldn’t end this way."
Gibb was diagnosed with an intestinal blockage after being admitted to the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in Miami last Wednesday, suffering from stomach pains. It is now understood from the family that his condition may have been due to a congenital defect of which there had been no previous knowledge.
Barry Gibb, 56, who lives near Maurice in Miami, had appeared gaunt and exhausted while visiting his dying brother over the weekend. Robin flew in from London to reach his brother’s hospital bedside at about 8:30pm on Saturday night. Gibb died about four hours later.
"They knew by late Saturday that Maurice wasn’t going to make it," said the family friend, who had spent much of the past three days in the intensive care unit where Maurice was being treated.
"Barry is absolutely devastated, he’s beside himself, inconsolable.
"Robin is also obviously deeply upset, but he is just so relieved he was at least able to get there to share a few hours with Maurice before he died."
It is understood that there will be a funeral attended by close friends and family only, which will take place in Miami, and that Gibb will be cremated.
The singer, who was married with two children, lived in a waterfront house on Miami Beach.
His wife, Yvonne, who had been by his side for 25 years, was credited with helping him end his addiction to alcohol - which marred his life in the 1960s and 1970s.
A spokesman for the Bee Gees said: "This family has lost two of its four brothers now, they are understandably devastated - it is a wake up call to us all.
"Maurice was only 53, he was happy and he had a wonderful family who thought they had many more years to look forward to together."
Paul Gambaccini, a radio DJ and music journalist, said: "Maurice was an integral part of the No5 best-selling act of all time. It’s a major loss to music. He was one third of that unique vocal blend, so close it could only have come from brothers."
Pat Sharp, a radio DJ, said: "They are one of the few acts to have had hits in every decade. They were a gang, you pictured them together and so now he’s not here it is very sad."
Patrick Humphries, a music writer, said: "He was a tremendous character. What made the Bee Gees unique was the vocal style but also the songwriting. It was a unique sound and their like won’t be heard again."
When drink and drugs tore the group apart in the 1960s, Gibb was for a short period the only Bee Gee still working. He worked behind the scenes to re-unite the group for their ground breaking resurgence in the 1970s.
The brothers had come a long way from a deprived childhood in Manchester - when, fearing they were destined for a life of crime, their father had accepted the chance for his family to emigrate to Australia.
They returned to Britain in 1967, and walked into a recording deal with NEMS, the Beatles’ publishing company.
After the release of their debut single, The New York Mining Disaster, they were trumpeted as "the most significant talent of 1967".
The Bee Gees were soon kitted out in Carnaby Street clothes and would be seen hanging out with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who at the heart of swinging London.
Gibb acquired a pop star girlfriend, Scotland’s miniature pop princess, Lulu, to whom he was married for four years from 1969 to 1973.
Lulu said of their failed marriage: "It was never going to work. We were two spoiled little pop stars, each too used to having our own way."
The Bee Gees split in 1969, after their disastrous rock film Cucumber Castle - their own equivalent of the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
Tax debts, alcoholism and divorce found the Bee Gees reduced to playing northern supper clubs in the early 1970s - but the brothers’ song-writing talents turned their careers around by making them the undisputed kings of disco.
Pictured on the album cover in a memorable pose, the Bee Gees were all wide smiles, bouffant hair and tight white outfits.
The shining teeth and high pitched harmonies made them the butt of countless jokes - but the songs have survived, and been acknowledged as modern pop classics.
