That sound took off, leading to one of those rare pop culture moments that sear indelible memories into a person’s psyche. roots, who absolutely adored American R&B (little known factoid: They wrote “To Love Somebody” for R&B legend Otis Redding, who died before he could record it).īy the mid-’70s, the brothers were in a rut when they decided to embrace that love of R&B and music that makes you want to dance. Listen to “Jive Talkin’,” “Nights on Broadway” and “You Should Be Dancing” - a song actor John Travolta insisted should be on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack - and there’s little doubt as to their sound and the beat involved. They were a group, much as many artists with U.K. The Bee Gees, whether fairly, are credited with the disco explosion in some quarters. The documentary is strongest, however, when dealing with their careers after that reunion, which included them learning who they were as artists. In this case, the brothers, still in their early 20s, couldn’t handle fame, eventually taking a break in 1969 before reuniting in 1970 and scoring a hit in ’71 with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” However, for the Bee Gees, as would become a hallmark of their career, success came with a price. Marshall (“Seabiscuit,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) takes viewers from the brothers' beginnings in Australia to their eventual departure for the United Kingdom, where they released hits such as “New York Mining Disaster 1941” and “Massachusetts,” and their later success in the United States, something they'd always dreamed of. The film, which begins streaming Saturday on HBO and HBO Max, proves an engrossing tale held together by keen insight into who the brothers were and includes generally blunt confessions from all three, an exploration of the times that produced their genius and their gloriously memorable music. In my lifetime, there have been three artists in music who produced transcendent moments - Michael Jackson, in the time from “Off the Wall” to “Bad,” Prince from “1999” to “Purple Rain” and the Bee Gees, who were alternately responsible for bringing on a musical or a pop culture earthquake.Įxplored through director Frank Marshall’s camera, the documentary “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” gives the Brothers Gibb - Robin, Maurice and the only surviving member, Barry, the respect they deserve. To appreciate the enormity of who the Bee Gees were and what they meant to pop culture, and to Black culture as well, it helps to have lived in the moment.
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