The Bee Gees are a band with range. Led by the brothers Gibb – Barry, Maurice, and Robin – they saw their share of evolution over a five-decades-long career, but they excelled in every one of their musical phases. Disco, soul, soft rock, they played it all, but even more so, they penned it all.
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As songwriters, the Bee Gees had even more of a range, crafting songs for any and every genre. They wrote for country’s finest, pop’s heavy hitters, rock’s mainstays, and everyone in between. We’ve touched on a few previously, but here are three more songs you didn’t know the Bee Gees wrote for other artists that prove they are a band with bottomless range.
1. “You and I” – Kenny Rogers (1983)
Written by Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb
As long as I got you / As long as you got me / As long as we got you and I, plays the slow-burning Kenny Rogers ballad, “You and I.”
Unmistakably touched by the Bee Gees, the 1983 tune opens with a build-up of harmonies that bubble up whenever the song lulls. It’s evident the Gibb brothers wrote the track, but even more so that they provided their musical chops, as well. They can be heard playing synthesizers, guitar, bass, and assisting with backing vocals, texturing the tune with their classic three-part harmonies.
“You and I” appeared on Rogers’ album, Eyes That See in the Dark, a release that featured several songs written and backed by the Gibbs. Among them is the iconic Rogers and Dolly Parton collaboration “Islands in the Stream,” which the Gibbs originally wrote with soul legend Marvin Gaye in mind.
2. “Heart (Stop Beating in Time)” – Leo Sayer (1982)
Written by Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb
And I warn you if you let your / Heart stop beating in time / You’re making a fatal combination / I won’t ever find another love like yours no more, pleads the pseudo-soulful deep cut from Leo Sayer.
“Heart (Stop Beating in Time)” was penned by the Bee Gees for their fellow soft rocker who released the track on his 1982 album, World Radio. The song is reminiscent of the soft, sensual style the trio held onto throughout much of their ever-evolving career, a sound that Sayer has also championed throughout much of his own.
3. “Eaten Alive” – Diana Ross (1985)
Written by Barry and Maurice Gibb with Michael Jackson
I don’t wanna get eaten alive / ‘Cause you’re so dangerous / No more hearts I can trust, you see / I don’t wanna get eaten alive / To be eaten alive / Eaten alive / I don’t ever wanna be / Eaten alive, plays the beat-riddled dance pop tune à la Diana Ross.
The 1985 track, “Eaten Alive,” was written by two-thirds of the Bee Gees – Barry and Maurice – alongside fellow earth-shattering pop tenor, Michael Jackson. Jackson and Barry so-produced the song, but the two can also be heard providing backing vocals underneath Ross’ lead.
“Eaten Alive” appeared on Ross’ album of the same name which was made up entirely of Bee Gees-penned tunes, including the better-known “Experience” and “Chain Reaction.”
Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns
