Happy 75th birthday, Barry Gibb
Today is the 75th birthday of Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the Bee Gees. It’s an achievement to be alive, given what he’s been through. And it’s also his anniversary; he and his wife celebrate 51 years of marriage, as well. I don’t have to tell you what an achievement that is, especially for a guy so famous, and known in his prime as a major sex symbol.
Barry Gibb is a man of many voices. You may only know his falsetto, the voice of the Bee Gees’ rather short but enormously successful disco period. But of all his voices (falsetto with vibrato and without, tremolo, whisper, head, chest, raspier chest, operatic chest) I think it’s his chest voice I prefer.
So maybe this one for today with a lot of chest voice, live and from 1975 (in the unlikely event you don’t know who Barry is, he’s the guy playing rhythm guitar, who begins the song). I could choose one of his great solo songs, but I like the group all together, so I chose this one which only features Barry sporadically. I love the slow bridge here, too:
Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and many many happy returns.
ADDENDUM: Here’s a birthday and anniversary video linked by commenter “Ruth.” It really captures a lot of Barry Gibb’s appeal, including snippets of interviews with him and his wife. One thing I want to mention is that the infidelity his wife Linda refers to occurred before their marriage – I recall that being clarified in the full interview or another similar one. Barry and Linda were well aware of the perils of touring for a marriage, and usually they traveled en famille.
Nights on Broadway is a great song.
Happy BDay to Sir Barry Gibb <3
To be honest, my favorite Bee Gees song from this time period – a great choice! Nice to see a TV appearance where the band is obviously performing live. Would have been fun to see Yvonne Elliman perform “If I Can’t Have You” with them live too…now I’m going to have to go YouTube spelunking…
51 years of celebrity marriage. Kudos to him — what a true achievement that is. She must be a fantastic lady on many levels.
Michael Towns:
And five kids and umpteen grandkids
She was Miss Edinburgh 1971 or something like that . I think she was 19 and he 22 when they met. He had gotten married to wife number one at 19, and they separated pretty quickly. With wife number 2, they say it was mutual love at first sight and that they are still happy and very much in love.
He had sown a lot of wild oats before that. The Gibbs boys grew up FAST
What impressed me about the BeeGee interviews was the camaraderie. There never were any snide remarks, claiming credit, shifting blame or one-upmanship. Whenever there was a silent pause, Barry would good naturedly pick up the slack. And they were always polite and entertaining. Best wishes for a very happy birthday.
Earlier today, I came across this short birthday/anniversary video. Very endearing! Barry and his wife Linda speak so warmly and kindly of one another.
It appears their 51-year marriage has not only “endured” but thrived.
(The interview portions are excerpts from an hour-long Piers Morgan show.)
https://youtu.be/gy01CcGknYQ
The song stands up sturdily to alternate styles, too.
https://youtu.be/9YJnvtHVlD4
NOB, along with Run To Me, get these fellas into heaven even apart from all the other great records they’ve made.
Ruth, what a wonderful video. Thanks.
Thanks for some heartwarming human news.
Great siblings — re Eva’s comment.
And so nice to hear of Barry’s continuing successful marriage!
Happy birthday, Barry!!
Happy Birthday BG! Thank you for all the joy which you and your brothers’ music has brought to people, especially Our Good Hostess!
Five kids? That’s great. It just so happens that my fifth is due this Oct 5th. I never imagined when I married my wife that we’d have five kids. It happens. For my marriage, it really has been all about my wife being an incredibly patient person. I’ve gotten better over the years.
It pleases me to see good marriages like the Gibbs. I think of Bono (U2’s frontman) and his wife, they have been married almost 40 years. There are other examples out there, rare though they are.
MT: 52 year anniversary tomorrow.
We have have had our fights and spats, but have managed by generally giving each other our required personal space, along with our joint activities. Especially at the empty nester and the retirement stages. We also followed the success sequence (mentioned by George Will, and others): get educations, get jobs, get married, have child/children.
We have also never been financially stressed, both of us being equally frugal, well paid, and oriented to saving and investing. And such habits are hard to break, now that our portfolio compounding (and RMD’s + SS*) has reached a point in the last 3 or 4 years to push us from upper middle class to (I suppose) lower upper class – we don’t know how to spend it. Just cannot image the necessity!
Why do you claim long marriages are so rare?
Clearly long marriages are less probable when people get married later/older, for financial, career, or other reasons. Perhaps expectations have been rising and/or levels of toleration have been declining?
*Let me thank all of you who are still working and paying your payroll tax, and thereby contributing to our SS and Medicare “entitlement” payouts. I don’t intend to give any of it back**, but I would support Congress reforming these programs to avoid great(er) difficulties for our grandchildren – means tests, age threshold adjustments, open declaration of default, etc. Something that should have happened 30 or 40 years ago!
**And for Medicare, note that the premiums for Parts B and D double or treble, for both spouses when filing jointly, at higher income levels. Right now the net effect is that I am covering all of our medical needs and helping other seniors less well off, at least until something serious comes along and we are net beneficiaries.
Finally, to wrap this up: if you are close to retirement and analyzing how/ when to take SS, consider reading L. Kotlikoff’s book Spend ’til The End. He recommends holding off until age 70 if you can manage it.