February 22, 2013

This week’s story is just another that shows how much of an impact Bee Gees music can have on a young person. Sometimes being a lonely child can be helped with music, and Mo, Robin and Barry did just that for Johnny.

THE GUITAR AND MY PUSHY SISTERS

Johnny B.

Kansas City, Mo.

When I was a kid, I lived with my dad and my two sisters. My mom died when I was 3, and I didn’t remember her much. We lived on a farm in Missouri out in the middle of cattle country. Life was tough for my dad; but my two sisters were older than me and they did the cooking and cleaning while I helped my dad with the chores. The work never stopped on the farm, and I had responsibilities from the time I was 4 or 5. I was a lonely kid, and I didn’t have many friends in school because I always had to race home to work on the farm. I loved basketball but couldn’t join the team—also loved to sing but could never be in the shows or Glee Club. My dad played the guitar and we always had music in the house, so we’d do sing-alongs with my cousins and uncles and aunts whenever we had a holiday.  When I was 12, my sisters were big on the Bee Gees. Their friends would come over and they would play the music and swoon over all three guys. They were relentless! The CD One had just come out, and they played it non-stop. I started singing with them eventually; I was just outnumbered. We tried to sing the harmonies like Barry, Robin and Maurice. My dad was strictly a country music guy, but he liked the Bee Gees because he said they were different and great songwriters. One Saturday afternoon my dad went into town while I was doing my chores. I didn’t hear the truck when he got back because I was in the barn. When I walked into the house he was grinning and told me that there was a surprise for me in my room. I walked in and found a guitar on the bed. It wasn’t an expensive one, but it seemed to be made of gold in my mind. I know it was probably a long time coming because we had no money to speak of. For my birthday, my sisters bought me music. I really taught myself to play (along with Dad’s help), but it wasn’t long before I had a playlist of Bee Gees songs a mile long because my sisters wanted to sing their music. We had some great times; it was an outlet for me, a way to have fun and I became a pretty good picker, if I do say so myself. I found myself respecting the Bee Gees more and more, especially when I became a musician myself.  Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb got me through adolescence when I was a loner. I’m forever thankful to them and to my crazy sisters who love them as much today as they did when we were younger.

February 15, 2013

This week’s story is a new one, which I received from a phone call of a friend of a friend who heard about the blog. It was a surprise, and I am so happy to share it with all the fans. The only response to what Mary Anne has said is AMEN!

February 10, 2013

MY MEMORIES ARE SPECIAL

MaryAnne

NY

I am happy to tell you that I have been a Bee Gees fan since I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show in the 60’s. That dates me, but I am proud to be a contemporary of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, and here’s why. The memories of my life go along with their music, and my greatest joys and sorrows also go along with what they were doing in their lives. I was a teenager giggling over Barry Gibb and desperately wanting him to adore me. I was the college girl playing the music in my sorority house with my friends. I was the disco queen dancing to Night Fever. I was the mother singing Bee Gees songs to my babies. I was the wife singing “How Deep Is Your Love” to my husband. I was the mother of the bride listening to “Wedding Day” being sung at my daughter’s wedding. I watched and listened as the three brothers struggled with their own problems. Anyone who is a fan knows of Maurice’s struggles, Robin’s unusual personality and quirks (but what a brilliant and funny mind), Barry’s physical ailments and challenges. Still, all the fans weathered every storm with them and loved them all the more. Fans have grieved the loss of Maurice so dramatically. I can’t begin to imagine the tears that were shed and still are being shed because he was so well-loved. I still cry, sometimes daily. If he were here today, he would be on Facebook talking to fans all around the world. I’m sure of it! Losing Robin has been so difficult, but the fans watched him fight with courage and determination to complete The Titanic Requiem and share his genius until the end. If anyone would have told me that people from every continent would be talking to one another on their computers in support of their love of these boys, I would never have imagined that it was possible, yet here were thousands of fans watching YouTube clips shortly after Barry sang on February 8. It is amazing! What is even more amazing is that the fans are not just the old fans like me. I live with my daughter and sometimes sit at her computer late at night. I see comments from teenagers, and that makes me very happy. It is so gratifying to see this. I have been one of the lucky fans who have shared the music, and I wanted to ask fans to keep passing the Bee Gees music to their children and their grandchildren. We are all lucky to still have Barry with us, so let’s enjoy him and keep the music alive. This is my goal. I still introduce them to people I meet, and I pray that anyone who loves them will do the same.

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