Barry leaves the stage, clearly moved, and a sea of fifty-year-olds dancing on their chairs with reckless ecstasy take their love to a whole new level. It wasn’t only that Barry, by any standard, had done a stellar show for a sixty-five-year-old. He’d cut no corners; he gave it up with total commitment. After a few minutes of cheering and screaming that grow louder and louder, Barry returns.
He introduces the band, says that a couple of them, including the musical director, had come over from England for six weeks of rehearsal, and squeaks out a credible, whispered-falsetto showstopper of “Stayin’ Alive.’” Even more grandparents climb onto their chairs to dance, film with their phones, shriek with delight and wave their hands in the air.
Afterward, there was a shocking lack of souvenirs or T-shirts or glossy programs or merchandising of any kind. Had Barry failed to anticipate how beloved he really is? Everyone filing out looked happy, satisfied and a little starry-eyed.
A twenty-five-year veteran of rock and roll, whose band had two platinum albums, made a couple of key points after the show. “He did this,” the veteran said, “to see if he has the stamina to tour. He was auditioning for himself.” The veteran, who had blown countless wads renting buses to haul Marshall stacks, reckoned the costs to Barry—of bringing musicians from England, housing and feeding them, paying them and local studio players to rehearse daily, booking the hall, renting equipment, bringing in lighting and sound crews, buying ads and promotion—at $250,000 minimum. Given the size of the crowd—despite the expensive tickets—there’s no way Barry broke even. He lost $150,000 or more.
It’s beside the point to say that to Barry Gibb $150,000 is cab fare. What matters is that Barry invested in himself, and got the most out of his investment.
In July, Barry appeared, for the first time ever, on the Grand Ole Opry. Ricky Skaggs introduced him. Barry seemed relaxed, and happy to be there. He sang “When the Roses Bloom Again,” by A. P. Carter of country’s Carter Family, as a gesture of outreach to the Opry crowd. He was in fine voice and harmonized beautifully with Skaggs and multiple backup players. Barry followed that with “To Love Somebody.” Singing in his midrange without reaching for falsetto, Barry performed with uncharacteristically true and exposed emotion. On the next song, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” Barry sang as if a door had slammed. The feeling left Barry’s eyes, and his performance was automatic, disconnected, as if the previous show of genuine feelings had undone him.
But for that one song, there stood Barry Gibb, revealed.
In October of 2012, Barry was interviewed for Australian television. He was remarkably open. “My greatest regret,” he said, “is that every brother I’ve lost was in a moment when we were not getting on and so, I have to live with that. I’m the last man standing.” Of his father, Barry said: “Dad was undemonstrative. He couldn’t show his emotions. You’re probably looking for acceptance all the time and if you get that too easily you don’t work for it.” When speaking of his brothers, Barry wiped tears from his eyes. He claimed that Australia was “his country.” He seemed, in this small sample, like a different man, ready to reveal new aspects of himself. In an interview with Australia’s OneNews, Barry revealed that he had not spoken to Robin for a year before Robin’s death.{675}
It’s shocking to see—after all these decades of such impenetrable armor—Barry embrace his own mortality, show emotion and admit vulnerability and regret. Being Barry, he can’t quite embrace or admit it fully, but a change has come. Given that he needn’t ever play again, and that his vanity or ego certainly needs no more appeasing, Barry’s new openness seems a sincere attempt at healing his wounds.
In February 2013, Barry played for two and a half hours before a crowd of twenty-five thousand delirious fans in Melbourne.
selected bibliography
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Burke, Tom. “Hey Mom, Look at Me Now.” Record Mirror. October 7, 1978.
Buskin, Richard. “Classic Tracks; The Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive.”
Sound on Sound. August 2005.
Caroli, Daniele. “Robin & Barry Gibb Preparing Own Label.” Billboard. October 14, 1978.
Charlesworth, Chris. “The Bee Gees’ Lonely Days.” Melody Maker. November 14, 1970.
_______. “Nights on Broadway.” Melody Maker. December 4, 1976.
Clark, Pete. “It Has Never Been Cool to Admit Liking the Sobbing Sound of the Bee Gees, But After 30 Years They Deserve Their Place in the Pop Pantheon.” Evening Standard. August 5, 1993.
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“Colin Demands Apology.” Melody Maker. September 13, 1969.
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Dacre, Paul. “Off to the Sun—The Family Gibb.” Daily Express. April 19, 1979.
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Dempster, Nigel. “Stayin Alive . . . and in Love.” Daily Mail. February 24, 1992.
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Drummond, Norrie. “Bee Gees Happened Everywhere—But Here!” New Musical Express. September 30, 1967.
_______. “Bee Gees May Give You ‘World’ Next!” New Musical Express. October 14, 1967.
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Durkee, Cutler, and Jonathan Cooper. “The Bee Gees Search for Life After Disco.” People. August 7, 1989.
“Early TV Start for Three Boys.” Australian Women’s Weekly. June 29, 1960.
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Egan, Jack. “Cashing in on the Boogie to the Tune of $5 Billion; Disco.” Washington Post. June 26, 1978.
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_______. “Al Coury Owns Number One.” Rolling Stone. October 5, 1978.
_______. “‘Sgt. Pepper’ Returns.” Rolling Stone. November 2, 1978.
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Goodman, Chris. “Why We Still Feel Andy’s Presence.” Sunday Express. November 11, 2001.
Gould, Phil. “Off the Record: They Win Again.” Birmingham Post. April 7, 2001.
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Green, Richard. “Bee Gee Maurice Plays Up-Tempo Raver.” New Musical Express. June 21, 1969.
_______. “Bee Gee Barry Censored Colin in an Effort to Stop Any More Bee Gees Feuding.” New Musical Express. September 13,1969.
_______. “Barry Plans Thank You Tour for Loyal Fans.” New Musical Express. October 4, 1969.
Green, Robin. “What the Bee Gees Mean to Me.” Rolling Stone. April 15, 1971.
Grein, Paul. “A Day in the Life of Dee Anthony.” Billboard. November 26, 1977.
_______. “‘Fever’ Sells at White Hot Pace Setting New Record.” Billboard. April 22, 1978.
_______. “KC & the Sunshine Band Coming in from the Cold.” Billboard. April 14, 1979.
_______. “Paul Atkinson Rocks RCA’s Roster.” Billboard. July 20, 1985.
Gritten, David. “Dallas Darling.” People. March 30, 1981.
_______. “Pam Dawber Casts Off from Mork to Crew with Andy Gibb and ‘The Pirates of Penzance.’” People. June 29, 1981.
Gundersen, Edna. “The Bee Gees Are Back in the Groove; ‘Fever’ Trio Is Earning a Healthy Respect Again.” USA Today. May 6, 1997.
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_______. “Stars and Austerity at Ford’s Theatre Gala.” Washington Post. March 23, 1981.
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Harrington, Richard. “The Bee Gees, After the Fever; Once Strung by Critics, the Brothers Gibb Return from the Disco Dungeon.” Washington Post. August 3, 1989.
_______. “Grammy Granddaddy: Arif Mardin, Norah Jones’s Hall-of-Fame Producer, Was Winning Them Before She Was Born.” Washington Post. February 23, 2003.
Harris, Bruce. “Please Read Me: A Definitive Analysis of the Bee Gees’ Lyrics.” Jazz and Pop, May 1971.
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_______. “Strange Case of the Sacked Drummer.” Melody Maker. September 6, 1969.
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_______. “Robin’s Hospital Bed ‘Bucket List.’” Sunday Mirror. April 15, 2012.
_______. “Miracle Robin Out of the Hospital This Week.” Sunday Mirror. April 29, 2012.
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_______. “The Bee Gees’ Millennial Fever.” Rolling Stone. April 5, 1979.
_______. Review of After Dark. Rolling Stone. April 17, 1980.
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“It’s the Song That Matters Now . . . Says Bee Gee Barry.” Melody Maker. January 13, 1968.
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_______. “Bee Gee Mania.” People. August 6, 1979.
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Laverty, Marilyn. “You Can Fool . . .” Record Mirror. August 12, 1978.
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