# Bee Gees, Barry Gibbs vocals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431 "2014-11-03T07:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/1 "2014-11-03T07:06:49Z")
The only other singer I have heard that sounds like Barry Gibbs is Geddy Lee from Rush, and based on dates I’m fairly sure he did not inspire Barry. Was Barry Gibbs inspired by any predecessors? I’m just wondering where he got the inspiration for high singing voice, which is genius and totally works with their songs but seems to come out of nowhere aside from Rush. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/2 "2014-11-03T09:59:48Z")
Slight nitpick: It’s Gibb. Gibbs would be more than one Gibb. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/3 "2014-11-03T11:46:17Z")
Different approaches. I think Geddy Lee is singing full voice; with Barry Gibb, his move to using his falsetto only came about when they got back together in the early '70’s and did songs that ended up being part of the Disco craze. To my knowledge, he was encouraged to move to his falsetto by his producer at the time (can’t recall) and by his manager Robert Stigwood. I don’t recall Barry naming any one major influence on his falsetto - I assumed he looked old R&B and soul singers… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/4 "2014-11-03T12:37:11Z")
Off the top of my head I think both Frankie Valli and Lou Christie came before the Bee Gees. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/5 "2014-11-03T14:26:13Z")
Barry Gibb actually used three distinct voices when singing lead. A big full sound, a breathy higher pitched sound and the falsetto. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart uses the first for the verses and the second for the chorus. And as **WordMan** pointed out, the falsetto came later at the urging of his producer. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/6 "2014-11-03T15:47:05Z")
I think his younger brother Andy Gibb sounded like him very much when hitting the falsetto. Valli, Lee and other singers mentioned hit falsetto but did not sound like Barry. Andy could pass for him, but Robin and Maurice were different. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/7 "2014-11-03T16:41:03Z")
The famous Gibb falsetto was first introduced when producer Arif Martin asked if any of the brothers could “scream in tune”, during the recording of the song “Nights On Broadway”. All of them could do it, but Barry did it better than the others. > **[Nights on Broadway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nights_on_Broadway)** > > "Nights on Broadway" is a song by the Bee Gees from the Main Course album released in 1975. The second single released from the album, it immediately followed their number-one hit "Jive Talkin'". This track was credited to Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. > Recording this track started on 20 January 1975 and continued on 30 January, when they started to record songs for the album: "Jive Talkin'" (finished 2 February), "Songbird", "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" (finished 19 February), "All This ... And the rest, as they say, is history… ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/8 "2014-11-03T16:51:57Z")
If I had to guess, I’d say that the early Bee Gees were strongly influenced by the harmonies of the Everly Brothers, and that Barry’s falsetto was originally his attempt at imitating Phil Everly. Remember, the early Bee Gees were more of a folk group than a soul or rock group. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/9 "2014-11-03T19:21:37Z")
And Geddy Lee does not sing falsetto. “Falsetto” is a specific vocal technique, not a tonal range. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/10 "2014-11-03T20:19:05Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Barry Gibb actually used three distinct voices when singing lead. A big full sound, a breathy higher pitched sound and the falsetto. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart uses the first for the verses and the second for the chorus. And as **WordMan** pointed out, the falsetto came later at the urging of his producer. Barry definitely changed his use of falsetto when the band veered toward R & B in the mid-Seventies, but he’d been singing falsetto on songs like “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” for may years before that. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/11 "2014-11-03T20:24:30Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > The famous Gibb falsetto was first introduced when producer Arif Martin asked if any of the brothers could “scream in tune”, during the recording of the song “Nights On Broadway”. All of them could do it, but Barry did it better than the others. > [Nights on Broadway - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nights_on_Broadway) > And the rest, as they say, is history… Ding ding ding, correct. This is how I heard Barry himself explain the move to falsetto. He didn’t stick solely to that style though. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/12 "2014-11-03T21:12:35Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Ding ding ding, correct. This is how I heard Barry himself explain the move to falsetto. He didn’t stick solely to that style though. I remember that during live performances of the song “Nights On Broadway”, Barry would sing the baritone part, and Maurice would do the falsetto line. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F2SDf42guB4/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AGaBIAC6AKKAgwIABABGH8gJygfMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAgItItTzmOqz9Sg_NgqhJZ_LHFCw "The Bee Gees - Nights On Broadway - The Midnight Special 1975") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2SDf42guB4) ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/13 "2014-11-03T23:00:31Z")
I’m not up on my Bee Gees timeline, but would the success of the first Michael MacDonald era Doobie Brothers album have been an influence? Takin’ it to the Streets came out in 76. The movie, Stayin’ Alive came out in 77. But were the Bee Gees falsettoing prior to that? ETA - never mind. Turns out Nights on Broadway came out in 75. So let me ask this - what other 70s era falsetto vocalists were there? ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/14 "2014-11-03T23:14:04Z")
> [@D18](#): > > I’m not up on my Bee Gees timeline, but would the success of the first Michael MacDonald era Doobie Brothers album have been an influence? Takin’ it to the Streets came out in 76. The movie, Stayin’ Alive came out in 77. But were the Bee Gees falsettoing prior to that? > > ETA - never mind. Turns out Nights on Broadway came out in 75. So let me ask this - what other 70s era falsetto vocalists were there? The Stylistics : > **[The Stylistics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stylistics)** > > The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads characterized by the falsetto of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by ... Robert John (he had a fantastic, soulful falsetto, and really should have had more hits, IMHO: > **[Robert John](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_John)** > > Robert John (born Robert John Pedrick, Jr., January 3, 1946) is an American singer perhaps best known for his 1979 hit single, "Sad Eyes", which reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. > John was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Under the name of Bobby Pedrick, Jr., he first hit the pop chart in 1958 when he was only 12 years old with "White Bucks and Saddle Shoes", written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. As the lead singer of Bobby & The Consoles, he had the minor 1963 hit entitled "My Jell... Leo Sayer : > **[Leo Sayer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Sayer)** > > Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. > Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and became a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in that decade. His first seven UK hit singles reached the Top 10 – a feat first accomplished by his first manager, Adam Faith. His songs have been sung by other notable... ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/15 "2014-11-03T23:51:33Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > And Geddy Lee does not sing falsetto. “Falsetto” is a specific vocal technique, not a tonal range. That’s-a-funny. My last pupil, she got a falsetto teeth. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-gees-barry-gibbs-vocals/703431/16 "2014-11-04T05:21:47Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > The famous Gibb falsetto was first introduced when producer Arif Martin asked if any of the brothers could “scream in tune”, during the recording of the song “Nights On Broadway”. All of them could do it, but Barry did it better than the others. > [Nights on Broadway - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nights_on_Broadway) > And the rest, as they say, is history… Thanks! I’m sorry if I incorrectly attributed Geddy Lee’s voice to falsetto, it was the closest to Barry Gibb’s I could name,.