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The Bee Gees: The Biography

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The Bee Gees: The Biography

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Overview

The first narrative biography of the Bee Gees, the phenomenally popular vocal group that has sold more than 200 million records worldwide -- sales in the company of the Beatles and Michael Jackson. The Bee Gees is the epic family saga of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, and it's riddled with astonishing highs—especially as they became the definitive band of the disco era, fueled by Saturday Night Fever and crashing lows, including the tragic drug-fueled downfall of youngest brother, Andy. In recent years, a whole new generation of fans has rediscovered the undeniable grooves and harmonies that made the Bee Gees and songs like Stayin' Alive, How Deep is Your Love, To Love Somebody, and I Started a Joke timeless.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306821578
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	07/09/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

David N. Meyer's book, Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music, was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 20 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year. Rolling Stone selected it as one of the Five Best Books of the Year. His other books include The 100 Best Films to Rent You've Never Heard Of and A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on Video.

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Editorial Reviews

This exhaustive biography takes the same approach to its subject as Meyer’s critically acclaimed bio of country-rock legend Gram Parsons (Twenty Thousand Roads): the author is a fan, but he doesn’t hesitate to be critical (“Give the Bee Gees a fashion period and they always chose the worst possible options”). Meyer covers the band’s entire career—from its founding in the late 1950s by eldest “Alpha” brother Barry to the deaths of his younger brothers Maurice and Robin in 2003 and 2012, respectively—and is excellent at describing the craft of all three members, especially Barry (“a human jukebox, pouring out material shaped by the sounds of the day or by his perception of what a song-writing client should be singing”). “Their collective singing and beautiful vibrato and their unique solo strengths,” says legendary producer Arif Mardin, were the main reasons for the phenomenal success of the Bee Gees’ songs on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Meyer supports Robin Gibb’s prediction that while a lot of bad records were made in the disco era, “the Bee Gees’ songs hold up and will still be in the clubs in 2050.” (July)

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, 6/3/13
“[An] exhaustive biography…The author is a fan, but he doesn't hesitate to be critical”

Examiner.com, 7/16/13
“Meyer, a film aficionado and Gram Parsons biographer, makes a compelling case for one of the world's best-selling (and most understood) bands…The author delves into exquisite detail…The Bee Gees: The Biography is a fascinating, historically significant retrospective of one of popular music's most enduring—yet maligned—acts.”

Sunday Daily Mail (UK), 7/21/13
“By concentrating on the music, it might help give the Bee Gees the recognition as songwriters they so justly deserve.”

Houston Press, 7/30/13
“Does what Meyer intended it to: restore some respect and luster to a family band whose music is incredibly ingrained in a lot of people's everyday listening, embodied with craftsmanship, and far more than just a ‘disco group.'”

Record Collector, 9/1/13
“[An] engrossing account of the life and times of the brothers Gibb… It's an emotive read, celebrating some truly enduring music (a quarter of a billion sales can't lie), while pondering where the band fit into a bigger showbiz picture.

From the Publisher

A valiant but unsatisfying effort to reappraise a band loved by the masses and loathed by critics. The Bee Gees, Manchester-born brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, had been performing around Australia for nearly a decade before bursting onto the British scene in 1967 with the Beatles-esque lament "New York Mining Disaster 1941." Within a year, they rivaled their idols for top spots on charts around the world. Addictions and sibling rivalry between eldest (and arguably most talented) brother Barry and the more volatile Robin caused the band to implode within three years. After reconciling, the Gibbs scored a couple more hits (including "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?") in the early 1970s before sinking briefly back into obscurity, only to resurface in a big way with a wholly new sound rooted in the subversive beats of disco with "You Should Be Dancing" (1975). With their association with the monster hit Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees never had to look back--at least as far as the public was concerned. Critics, however, have always considered them imitators and also-rans. Meyer (Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music, 2007, etc.) convincingly argues that the band innovated (e.g., by inventing the drum loop on their huge hit "Stayin' Alive") as much as they imitated. Oddly, his narrative stalls when the Bee Gees are on its stage, mainly since he quotes decades-old interviews by other journalists. The book comes alive when tracing the history of disco that led to the making of SNF and telling the tragic tale of the youngest Gibb, Andy, whose growing up in public foreshadowed the reality TV culture of today. Otherwise, the history drags and repeats itself. The Gibbs quotes and connecting narrative could have used a tighter edit. This inelegant argument won't change many minds among critics or the public.

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