The Bee Gees made glorious harmony when they sang together. Brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb started uniting their voices as early as elementary school age and went pro when they were barely teenagers. All that practice, along with their natural ability, produced a heavenly sound. But harmony wasn’t as easy to achieve in their personal lives. Many people forget that there was actually a time when it appeared Bee Gees were kaput as a working group. The Bee Gees did break up for barely a year, but it shook up the pop music world nonetheless.
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Who’s the Lead Singer?
Barry Gibb was all of 16 years old, and twin brothers Maurice and Robin were 13 apiece, when Bee Gees released their first single in 1963. They had been performing together for much longer than that. That meant a whole lot of time spent together building a career.
Their big break came when their songs made their way from Australia to the rest of the world after producer/manager Robert Stigwood signed them. In 1967, the band started churning out hits on the regular that brought them massive attention and adulation.
The trio largely shared the songwriting duties. Barry, as the eldest, had a head start in developing that skill. Lead vocals bounced back and forth between Barry and Robin. It was this division of labor that fomented problems among the brothers and would contribute to the breakup of The Bee Gees.
“May” Melee
The main issue that broke up The Bee Gees proved to be the battle between Barry and Robin for status as frontman of the band. Robin had sung lead on “Massachusetts”, which was the first of their songs to hit no. 1 in the UK. According to Barry, that led Robin to believe that he should be singing lead on other singles as well.
Barry and Robin both dealt with hangers-on telling them that they didn’t need the others to succeed. In 1969, the debate raged about the lead single from the album Odessa. Barry won out, as his lead vocal on “First Of May” was chosen over Robin’s “Lamplight”. In March of that year, Robin announced that he was leaving the group.
For a while, Barry and Maurice carried on as The Bee Gees, even recording the album Cucumber Castle without Robin participating in any of the recording. As Robin made plans for a solo record, Barry and Maurice also announced plans to go solo and leave the group behind.
A Quick Reunion
Robin actually did record an album, Robin’s Reign, which was released in February 1970. It included a no. 2 UK single entitled “Saved By The Bell”, but sold only a fraction of what Bee Gees LPs generally did. Whether that influenced his next move is difficult to say.
After a period of hardly speaking to each other, Robin and Barry began to talk again, in part to deal with Bee Gees contractual issues. Once they began talking, they both realized that they missed working together. Solo albums by Barry and Maurice, along with a second solo effort by Robin, were all scrapped. The Bee Gees were back.
Soon after reuniting, they began working on a track called “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” The song seemed to hint at the squabbles between the brothers that led to the brief hiatus. Thankfully, they got over those squabbles or at least learned to deal with them. After all, this band still had a lot more wonderful music left to give us.
Photo by Robin Platzer/Getty Images
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