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Gibb Songs version 2 by Joseph Brennan, copyright 2006—2013

2002

The Bee Gees took a break in 2002, ‘to find ourselves as individuals’ Barry said. Barry did very little musically. Maurice produced a few more songs for Samantha and Laz. It looked like the end of the Bee Gees, or at least for a while.

Robin recorded a solo album called Magnet. Nothing much is known about the recording except that it took place in 2002. He did not even tell Barry and Maurice that he was doing it. Surprisingly it is not full of new Robin songs. He explained that it would highlight the work of young songwriters, but the people he worked with were not just starting in the business. The album would be released by the German label SPV in Germany and Britain.

songs

HOW MANY SLEEPS?
Barry Gibb, David English
B side by Cliff Richard, October 2004

INSEPARABLE
Robin Gibb, Deconzo Smith
album cut by Robin Gibb, 2003

ALL IN YOUR NAME
Michael Jackson, Barry Gibb
digital single by Barry Gibb, 2011

ON AND ON
Samantha Gibb, Laz Rodriguez, Nick Sallons, Maurice Gibb
album cut by M E G, 2005

recording sessions

Barry Gibb

Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar
Maurice Gibb — keyboard
engineer: John Merchant
producer: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb
around January 2002, Middle Ear, Miami Beach

HOW MANY SLEEPS?
Barry Gibb, David English (2002)
undated 2002
stereo, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased

The title is the way David English’s little daughter asked him how long a business trip would be. The excellent lyric prompted speculation that David would write more with Barry— even from David, who went around telling people they would.

Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb — vocal
Deconzo Smith — keyboards, guitar, bass
Janyelle Crawford — vocal (‘No Doubt’)
Shane Dement — vocal (‘No Doubt’)
Judd Mahoney — vocal (‘Special’)
Emmanuel Officer — vocal (‘Don’t Rush’, ‘Watching You’, ‘Earth Angel’)
engineer: ?
producer: Deacon (Deconzo) Smith
2002

Nothing is known of recording dates for Magnet. The songs are grouped here by personnel. Robin worked with three producers who could write songs and play all or almost all the instruments on the tracks. As a guess, the numerous tracks with Deacon Smith may be the oldest, and those with Michael Graves the last, as listed here. There are two unreleased tracks shown last.

WISH YOU WERE HERE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1988)
undated 2002
stereo 3:11, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Magnet, 2003

ANOTHER LONELY NIGHT IN NEW YORK
Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1982)
undated 2002
stereo 4:30, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Magnet, 2003

Robin recorded new versions of two old songs. He took ‘Wish You Were Here’, a sacred object for Barry because it was about Andy, and rewrote it into a more Robin-like lament. Whether this was Robin’s idea of the song in 1988 or a new reinvention is not known but it is worth a listen. The remake of ‘Another Lonely Night in New York’ though seems pointlessly similar to the old version, perhaps just pandering to German fans who’d had made it a hit.

INSEPARABLE
Robin Gibb, Deconzo Smith (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:30, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Magnet, 2003

The only new Robin composition was ‘Inseparable’, co-written with Deacon Smith. It does not really stand out from the other dance tracks here.

NO DOUBT
Deconzo Smith, Kenneth Mangram (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:37, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Janyelle Crawford, Shane Dement
Magnet, 2003

‘No Doubt’ features two prominently featured backing vocalists. Janyelle Crawford sings a whole verse. She previously sang backup for Céline Dion.

SPECIAL
Deconzo Smith, Judd Mahoney, Mike Hamilton (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:41, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Judd Mahoney
Magnet, 2003

‘Special’ features co-writer Judd Mahoney on prominent backing vocals.

DON’T RUSH
Deconzo Smith, Emmanuel Officer (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:33, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Emmanuel Officer
B side, December 2002; Magnet, 2003

WATCHING YOU
Deconzo Smith, Emmanuel Officer (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:59, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Emmanuel Officer
B side, December 2002; Magnet, 2003

EARTH ANGEL
Deconzo Smith, Emmanuel Officer (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 3:57, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Emmanuel Officer
Magnet, 2003

Three songs were written by Deacon Smith with Emmanuel Officer and featured the latter on prominent backing vocals. Both are American music producers and songwriters, and both had produced the duo K-Ci & JoJo in 2000, but most of their work has been separate. Deacon Smith produced a song by Emoja for the first Men in Black movie and tracks for Ce Ce Winans, Keith Sweat, Judd Mahoney (heard here), and Mary J Blige among others, and he has also worked as a session player for artists including Dru Hill and Deborah Cox. Emmanuel Officer appeared on the 1998 charity record ‘Love Shouldn’t Hurt’ with a large group of artists including Olivia Newton-John and Michael Bolton.

Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb — vocal
Grant Mitchell — keyboards, synthesizer, programming, vocal
Kevin Brown — guitar
Paul Holmes — vocal
Errol Reid — vocal
engineer: ?
producer: Grant Mitchell
2002

WAIT FOREVER
Graham Dickson, Grant Mitchell, Paul Holmes, John Purser, Gary Miller (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 4:20, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Magnet, 2003
stereo (single edit) 3:31, lead vocal Robin Gibb
A side, June 2003
stereo (Shanghai Surprise mix) 6:52, lead vocal Robin Gibb
B side, June 2003

A completely different team did one song, ‘Wait Forever’. Grant Mitchell and Graham Dickson are possibly best known for ‘Can We Fix It’, a UK number 1 for Bob the Builder in December 2000. The year before they wrote the lyrics of Lou Bega’s international hit ‘Mambo Number 5’. ‘Wait Forever’ was released as the second single, so shorter and longer versions were prepared.

Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb — vocal
Michael Graves — keyboards, synthesizer, programming
Graham Kearns — guitar (‘Love Hurts’)
Errol Reid — vocal
engineer: ?
producer: Michael Graves
2002

PLEASE
Michael Graves, Errol Reid (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 4:33, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Errol Reid
Magnet, 2003
stereo (single edit) 3:59, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Errol Reid
A side, December 2002

LOVE HURTS
Boudleaux Bryant (1960)
undated 2002
stereo 3:56, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Errol Reid
Magnet, 2003

Robin did two songs with Michael Graves. Errol Reid sang the prominent backing vocals and contributed a rap to ‘Love Hurts’. He had been the lead singer for the boy band China Black, and later was a songwriter and a television presenter. Errol also accompanied Robin at live promotional dates and on his concert tour of Germany in 2004.

‘Please’ sounds very much like a Robin Gibb song, or perhaps a Robin and Maurice song, with its simple verses and big chorus. For the single it had a slightly shorter edit. ‘Love Hurts’ is a classic done originally by the Everly Brothers and by Roy Orbison. It was a fine choice for Robin’s heartfelt delivery, which is undercut by adding the out-of-place rap.

Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb — vocal
others unknown
engineer: ?
producer: ?
2002

ANGEL OF MERCY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1995)
undated 2002
stereo, lead vocal Robin Gibb
unreleased

Reportedly Robin added to the stack of unreleased versions of ‘Angel of Mercy’. This might have been recorded together with the other two old songs, or maybe not.

LYIN’ AND FLYIN’
unknown
undated 2002
stereo, lead vocal Robin Gibb
unreleased

‘Lyin’ and Flyin’’ was mentioned in the St Louis Post Dispatch in April 2003 as a production for Robin by local men Mark Williams and Joe Kent, known as the Trackboyz. Presumably this was for Magnet. Nothing else is known including who wrote it.

Michael Jackson and Barry Gibb

Michael Jackson — vocal, keyboards
Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar
engineer: ?
producer: ?
middle of 2002

ALL IN YOUR NAME
Michael Jackson, Barry Gibb (2002)
undated 2002
stereo 5:36, lead vocal Barry Gibb
digital single by Barry Gibb, 2011

Billboard reported on 20 December 2002 that Barry wrote a song with Michael Jackson ‘recently’ in protest of the United States government’s plan to invade Iraq (which took place in March 2003). Rumor is that Michael showed up one day with a partly written song and talked Barry into contributing to it. The date was probably in the summer. A fan said Barry has a demo recording of it, but Barry would not confirm that any of this happened.

In June 2011 Barry suddenly put two clips of the song on his website, together with video clips, and then released the song for download. Surprisingly it has Barry on lead vocal, with short sections by Michael, using Michael’s voice for emotional bursts in the same way Robin’s voice was sometimes used. The lyrics offer no obvious statement about the war after all.

Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé — vocal
Barry Gibb — vocal
David Foster — piano, bass
Dean Parks — guitars
Vinnie Colaiuta — drums
Rafael Padilla — percussion
Neil Devor — programming
arranged by David Foster
engineer: ?
producer: David Foster and Humberto Gatica
second half 2002, Los Angeles; Middle Ear, Miami Beach

HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb (1971)
undated 2002
stereo, lead vocal Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé, 2003

Barry sings backing vocals on one song on this Canadian singer’s first album.

Skylla

Samantha Gibb — vocal
Laz Rodriguez — guitar, programming
Nick Yves Sallons — bass, programming
Chris Morro — drums
Maurice Gibb — keyboard, programming, bass
John Merchant — programming
engineer: John Merchant
producer: Maurice Gibb
2002, Middle Ear, Miami Beach

Maurice produced four more titles for Skylla sometime in 2002, and played keyboards on them. The song he co-wrote, ‘On and On’, was a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for 2004 in the Dance/Electronica category. It may have been recorded at a different date from the other songs below, since it has a different more electronic sound to it.

These four other songs are hardly ‘electronica’, but are ballads with piano and guitar and real bass and drums. ‘Turn Away’ and ‘No Reason’ feature Maurice’s piano, and ‘Let Go’ is based on two acoustic guitars (Laz, surely, but also Maurice?). On the M E G album Maurice is credited with bass on some song, and ‘Turn Away’ sounds the most like his playing.

Sometime around here Skylla changed their name again, to Harlot.

These were Maurice’s last studio sessions.

selected record releases

A tribute album put together by Andrew Môn Hughes, featuring amateur and semi-professional singers and musicians who love the Bee Gees’ music. A few of them had performed at fan conventions in Walsall, England, in 2000 and 2001, including keyboard player Graham R Gooch (who plays on several of these cuts), singer and keyboard player Robin Setty, part-time horn player Dan Coghill, and uncanny vocal imitator Dean Scott.

The leadoff single for Magnet was released in December in Germany, just saving 2002 from being the first year since 1962 without a new Gibb release. The buying public were not all that excited.

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