Barry Gibb: From the Bee Gees to country music
Like so many, national arts reporter Geoff Edgers has been grounded by the coronavirus. So he decided to launch an Instagram Live show from his barn in Massachusetts.
Every Friday afternoon, he hosts an interview show he calls “Stuck With Geoff.” So far, that has included journalist Chris Wallace, actor Jamie Lee Curtis and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Recently, Edgers chatted with singer Barry Gibb. Here are excerpts from the conversation.
Q: There’s something about the Bee Gees. Your group fell somewhere outside of everything else.
A: It’s based on the way we grew up. We were an immigrant family in Australia. That comes with a lot of elements you wouldn’t have experienced in America or England as far as an international stage was concerned. We were totally influenced by Australian artists. Australia has its own show business world, and a lot of those people are not known anywhere else in the world. But some are incredibly gifted, and they’re so far away from the rest of the world that they’re perfectly happy with it. Billy Thorpe just blew everyone away. He was like Michael Jackson.
Q: I’m not going to abandon the Bee Gees, but you have a great new album, “Greenfields.” I don’t know if I can call it a country record, but you recorded it in Nashville and there are a lot of country people singing with you. I always considered there was good country and there was bad country. So there’s George Jones and Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. And then there are the guys in the pickup singing about the girls in the short shorts. You clearly understand good country. Who are the people who were there for you as a country artist?
A: At the very beginning, Roy Orbison and George Jones, the Louvin Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe. It goes back to the immigrant music. It goes back to my taste, goes back to the Irish people and the Scottish people who brought their instruments and their music to America. But for me, if I love it, it doesn’t matter what the category is. If it moves you, that’s it. Whether it’s Pavarotti or Plácido Do
mingo right across to Elvis Presley and the Beatles and all that stuff. Which brings me to the thought of the word disco. That word never occurred to us. It happened afterwards. And we thought, “Oh, wow. So that's what it's called.” We were making records that we thought were fun, and that's the way it turned out.
Q: I have been stuck at home like everybody else. But we get this great gift from God, this documentary about the Bee Gees, which I had no idea was coming. And then we get your record. Have you've been surprised by the response to the documentary?
A: Well, I am surprised, obviously, because we went through a lot of years where no one took much notice of what we were doing or who we were. But it took more than two years for those gentlemen to create a documentary that everyone was going to be happy with. Ultimately, I didn't watch the whole thing. I saw about 20 minutes of the first cut, and it was just too much for me. I can't watch my family pass away one after another. So it wasn't something that I was going to enjoy watching. But I think everyone liked it. And that's all I care about. I try not to read anything that's said about us or me because that was a habit we came to after many, many years of being criticized.
Q: You mentioned the Louvin Brothers, and there is this idea of blood harmonies. I've had Dave Davies on before, and we talked about it. And I think about you and your brothers. There's something you can only get from singing with a sibling or a family member.
A: Well, there's two things.
If you're all brothers or sisters, then you're going to have a very familiar sound with each other, and you blend. If you're the Beatles, you come from the same place, you come from Liverpool, and the accents are the same and the tone of your voice is of the same. Same thing happens in Manchester. Like in America, every hundred miles is a different dialect. And so if you grew up in that particular area, you will sound the same when you sing, and you can blend. And if you are brothers and sisters, well, that makes it easier.
Q: I was speaking with Patti
LuPone, the great Broadway star. She had a show close the second week of March. She told me the whole story of getting her things from the theater, and she said, “I said goodbye to the theater. And then I said goodbye to my career.” And I said, “What?” And she said, “Look, I'm in my early 70s, and I don't know if I'll ever be back.” Then I read about Paul McCartney saying he was maybe done touring. Are you itching to get back out there? Are you thinking these are the conditions under which I go? Or are you thinking no more tours?
A: No, all of the above. You want to get out there and do it. For me personally, my knees and my ankles are not very happy with me. So it's not so much doing a show as it is traveling from one place to another that affects you. And I think that's probably what Paul means. I remember hearing Bruce Springsteen talking about the five minutes between the dressing room and the stage where you can hear the roar of the crowd. They want you on the stage. It's an incredible feeling.