Thrills and chills: the Bee Gees’ medleys
At their concerts, the Bee Gees usually – maybe even always – performed at least one medley. They had so many hit songs that singing a shorter version of a lot of them in succession was one way to please the crowd.
Medleys also took them back to their roots as a vocal group, which was to sing surpassingly beautiful harmonies in their natural voices while standing together at one mic. They often said that using one mic was the way they preferred to sing and to record, because it gave them more unity. Barry Gibb, now the sole survivor of the three brothers who made up the Bee Gees for nearly five decades, has said in later interviews that when he performs solo (which he’s only done after the others died) he can still feel their presences and even their breaths.
Here’s a medley they performed as part of a 1989 concert in Melbourne, Australia. I’ve noticed that they always seem to be in particularly good spirits in Australia, the place where they did much of their growing up.
All three are around forty years old here. It’s about twenty years after their first success as a baroque pop group, and ten years after their disco years abruptly ended. In the early 80s they didn’t tour, having experienced a backlash (primarily in the US) towards their extraordinarily popular disco music, and instead they wrote smash hits for other singers and produced many of the records on which those hits appeared. The late 80s marked their return to live performances, and I think that’s another reason they seem so happy and relaxed here among their Australian friends and admirers.
The medley begins with a few of their 60s hits, songs that I loved at the time they came out but had no idea the Bee Gees had written and performed. Then they sing one song from the disco years that is not a disco song, “Too Much Heaven.” After that, they sing several of the hits they wrote in the early 80s for other people, and then back to songs from the late 60s and early 70s.
During the 60s song “Holiday,” which features only Robin and Barry, Maurice takes the opportunity to fool around a bit, as he sometimes did. It’s one of those brother things; he’s trying to crack Robin and Barry up, and although they smile, their consummate professionalism means that their voices aren’t affected at all. As children, they learned to sing through anything, even the bar fights that sometimes went on in the audience during their gigs as boys in Australia.
The entire medley is done in their regular chest and head voices, not a falsetto to be heard (although Barry sings a single line in a sort of breathy high head voice). On “Too Much Heaven,” for example, a song originally recorded in the studio with all three in falsetto, in this medley they are singing in normal voices instead. But the song remains one of their loveliest.
I have no idea how the Bee Gees achieve their soothing yet soaring quality, but they make it look and sound effortless. This medley gives the listener an opportunity to hear both Barry and Robin in solo or together, Barry and Maurice together in one song, and of course at times the threesome. Many of the songs cleverly build that way to a feeling of completeness: first one, then two, then all three of the brothers.
As one YouTube commenter says: “nobody sings better, nobody blends better, nobody wears jeans better.” That latter Bee Gees attribute might not matter to you – the audio is definitely the thing – but the visuals are very pleasant icing on the cake as far as I’m concerned.
Another commenter adds:
I saw an interview today where Maurice was asked if they also got chills from their harmonies. He said they did and always had. This was especially true during the acoustic medleys. That made me happy to know they also feel it.
I had seen that interview a while ago, too, but I haven’t been able to find it again since. I recall that in it Maurice describes the very first time the brothers tried singing harmony, when the twins were about five years old and Barry eight. They could do it naturally, right from the start. He said that the first time they heard the sound they were able to make all together, they got chills. Right then and there I think they became hooked on singing together. Even as young children they decided that’s what they wanted to do with their lives and that’s what they were going to do with their lives, an endeavor they pursued with extreme energy and dedication.
And with a great deal of joy, as I think you can see here:
They were surprisingly sparse in terms of actual concerts given. Had I the means, I would have attended one of them. A shame they felt the need to go into hiding after 1979.
Legendary concert in Australia in 1989.. Highest professionalism of performers and charming magic emanating from them! I envy eyewitnesses 🙂
Born in the 1940s, started singing together “professionally” in 1958.
Had been singing 31 years in 1989.
It’s now 31 years and a bit since 1989.
Time is weird that way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees
Fan site
https://www.beegees.com/
First Reaction: “Bee Gees Too Much Heaven”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2MaOglTAE-I
OT – Neo, FYI you need to update your permalinks. Slow Saturday night had me trying some old familiars I hadn’t been to in a while, and a couple like QandO and Betsy are no longer around. Unless you keep them for sentimental reasons.
Sure,
We shall medley on the beaches, we shall medley on the landing grounds, we shall medley in the fields and in the streets, we shall medley in the hills… (with apologies, of course)
Still, not sure it can compete with “Hip-Hop” at 35,000 feet…
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/delta-fight-attendant-tackles-would-be-hijacker
I guess wokeness has certain, um, problems with altitude.
“It’s about twenty years after their first success as a baroque pop group, and ten years after their disco years abruptly ended. In the early 80s they didn’t tour, having experienced a backlash (primarily in the US) towards their extraordinarily popular disco music …”
Doubtless true, though nearly self contradictory.
I never got into disco, seemed frivolous. But I never backlashed against it either. Does anyone have anecdotes from Teh Disco Backlash?
Were fans canceled, lose their jobs, mocked by strangers on the street?
I took my kids to see them at Dodger Stadium. They filled it. Can’t recall the year but they were teens and are now in their 50s.
Mike,
People on the Discord are wondering where you are.
JimNorCal,
The backlash wasn’t against the fans of disco- it was against the musicians that produced it. I turned 13 in the Summer of 1979- Disco dominated radio all that Summer, and had done so for the previous 3 years, then there was the huge anti-Disco bash at Comiskey Park that turned into a riot in the middle of July that year. It was like someone turned a switch in all the radio stations I listened to- you couldn’t find a single one that played Disco after about November of that year. I didn’t hear, just for an example, “Too Much Heaven” on the radio again until the 2000s, and it isn’t even a Disco song, it is just a Bee Gees song. I didn’t hear any of the Bee Gees previous non-Disco songs either. They went from selling multiple millions of albums to tens of thousands in the US even though the music quality hadn’t changed at all.
That was wonderful. Thanks for posting. It’s art, and the joy it can bring, that takes us away from [fill in blank] that surrounds us today.
I like Too Much Heaven so much better without the falsetto. Lovely! Aside from the musicality, they radiated charm. Barry had such great stage presence – or maybe that’s just me :).
Was Barry an inspiring and loving big brother? I’ve only seen a couple interviews but in that small sample I get that impression
That has to be tough- to be the oldest of the 4 brothers (Gibb has an older sister, but I don’t know if she is still alive), and to outlive them anyway. I have three younger siblings (I am the eldest child of my parents), and I hope all three of my siblings outlive me by a good number of years.
The Bee Gees always performed flawlessly live, as evidenced by this concert and countless others on YouTube. Their medleys are my favorite part of their performances as the focus is solely on their beautifully crafted melodies, powerful voices and unbelievable harmonies. Their individual voices are fantastic but when they harmonize together, it’s pure magic.
As one commenter said of their live acoustic performance of “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” on MTV unplugged: “Two guitars and three vocals and they sound like an orchestra. Funny what talent can do.”
And as Neo noted, it looks and sounds effortless. They just casually gather around a single mic and produce these gorgeous sounds. Bonus points for the jeans.
I turned off the Bee Gees in the disco era, and was dismissive of them thereafter. But this series from Neo has really produced in me a new-found appreciation of their music and their abilities. Thanks for the education, Neo!
James S.:
That warms the cockles of my heart!
I had zero interest in them till about 3 months ago, when I rediscovered them and learned their story for the first time and heard the bulk of their brilliant and immensely enjoyable music output. I find them immensely charming as well, on a personal level.