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Maurice Gibb..tasty bass player


oldbass
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IIRC he played all the basslines to most of their 60s and all of their 70s records, including Fever and Spirits. In the 80s he started programming synth bass, and the band also had star session musicians on some songs - Reb Beach on guitar for Overnight, a young Marcus Miller on bass for The Longest Night, etc.
Maurice's basslines, and especially You Should Be Dancing, are the reason why I started playing bass, and possibly also the reason why I [i]still[/i] play bass. :)

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[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475833340' post='3149039']
Mo did all the high vocal lines on Bee Gee records as well.
[/quote]

No, he didn't, Chris. Barry did the falsetto, Robin did the high lines with his unmistakable vibrato, and Maurice, whose voice was admittedly not as good as his brothers', did the choruses and harmonies. He only sings lead in a total of 2 or 3 songs in the whole of their back catalogue, IIRC. He was at his strongest as a multi-instrumentalist, and he was also the connective tissue between the other two brothers' rampant egos.

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Yes, he played some good lines and certainly powered their Disco tracks along.

I was recently reading about a Guitarist who played with them for about 8/9 years, called Alan Kendall.
It seems he played a big part in their Disco period, studio, live and broadcast.
Agreed, there is always something new popping up about the Bee Gees.
I thought they were great. :)

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Alan was in the band behind Spirits Having Flown (album and tour). He's great. I'm FB friends with drummer Dennis Bryon, from that same band. All amazing musicians. :)

Edit: speaking of You Should Be Dancing... [Warning: drums-related content! :D ]
[url="http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2015/09/on-the-beat-with-dennis-bryon-of-the-bee-gees-you-should-be-dancing/"]http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2015/09/on-the-beat-with-dennis-bryon-of-the-bee-gees-you-should-be-dancing/[/url]

Edited by bluejay
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[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1475840080' post='3149099']
Seems that Alan Kendall and Dennis Byron both auditioned at the same time.
[url="http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/web-exclusive-bee-gees-guitarist-alan-kendall-recalls-his-audition/13594"]http://www.guitarpla...-audition/13594[/url]
[/quote]

Fascinating..love this stuff.

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[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1475836501' post='3149068']
No, he didn't, Chris. Barry did the falsetto, Robin did the high lines with his unmistakable vibrato, and Maurice, whose voice was admittedly not as good as his brothers', did the choruses and harmonies.
[/quote]

I was delving into the recesses of my memory for that one. I must have Maurice mixed up with one of the others.

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Not many know that Marcus Miller and Pino Palladino were considered as bassists and did sessions with The Beegees
I think it's one of the best disco records ever recorded. But obviously it can't compete with Chic. http://youtu.be/CaXdTe2TYhs

Edited by bubinga5
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  • 4 years later...
On 07/10/2016 at 11:35, Silvia Bluejay said:
chris_b said:


Mo did all the high vocal lines on Bee Gee records as well.

 


No, he didn't, Chris. Barry did the falsetto, Robin did the high lines with his unmistakable vibrato, and Maurice, whose voice was admittedly not as good as his brothers', did the choruses and harmonies. 

 

Mo did do the high vocals on the pre-disco stuff.  He was already very capable of doing falsetto singing as you hear it in songs like Please Read Me.  He also did the falsetto on Nights on Broadway when they performed it live.  Mo sang the high harmony on the early stuff with Robin in the middle and Barry on the bottom.  Either that or Mo was on the bottom, it was very interchangeable.  He sings the high harmony of I've Gotta Get A Message To You, Melody Fair, Kitty Can, To Love Somebody.  He naturally is the lowest singing Gibb brother, especially on songs like Lay It On Me and Suddenly, but he had  a very strong falsetto and an extensive head voice.  I think a few reasons he wasn't the one who sang the falsetto was that Barry had more of the look as the leading man in a band, Mo had serious alcohol problems when the disco era was starting up and may have been unreliable, but most likely it's cause his falsetto sounds better in a harmony setting while Barry's had lead vocal capabilities, sort of like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in that they both can sing a whole song in falsetto.  I don't think Mo could do that, but rather do it for a small section of a song.

Edited by Rich
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On 07/10/2016 at 15:03, Silvia Bluejay said:

Teeth aside, Maurice seemed to favour playing a R*ck*nb*ck*r, usually a white one, for most of the 60s and 70s... :o :D

He had at least 2. I know the person who has his 1960s RM1999 (4001S), which was refinished white. He used a white black trim 4001 in the disco era IIRC.

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On 07/10/2016 at 17:25, bubinga5 said:

Not many know that Marcus Miller and Pino Palladino were considered as bassists and did sessions with The Beegees
I think it's one of the best disco records ever recorded. But obviously it can't compete with Chic. http://youtu.be/CaXdTe2TYhs

I think the best of the Bee Gees disco era compare favourably with Chic, and I love Chic.

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20 minutes ago, 4000 said:

I think the best of the Bee Gees disco era compare favourably with Chic, and I love Chic.

I've never cared for their pre SNF period nor am I that bothered with their post disco period but the tunes they came out with from Jive Talkin to Tragedy were among the very best of the scene. I too am a big fan of the classic Chic period. Never quite the same after Nard died.

Edited by Barking Spiders
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