For his latest album, the last surviving Gibb brother teamed up with some of Nashville’s biggest stars to record «Greenfields,» in which they perform some of The Bee Gees’ greatest hits.
The songs are familiar; the arrangements are new. For his latest album, «Greenfields,» Barry Gibb has taken the Bee Gees’ catalogue to Music City. «I was bitten by Nashville,» he said, «because Nashville is about music. It’s about real songs.» The last surviving Gibb Brother reached out to producer Dave Cobb, and said, «This is where I gotta go. This is the kind of music I love.» And he teamed up with some of Nashville’s biggest stars, including Jason Isabel, Alison Krauss, Brandi Carlile and Keith Urban, «CBS This Morning» co-host Anthony Mason asked, «How did you choose what songs you were gonna do?» «Well, I let them chose,» Gibb said. Little Big Town chose «Lonely Days»; Sheryl Crow chose «How Can You Mend a Broken Heart»; and Dolly Parton chose «Words»: The album was recorded at the historic RCA Studios in Nashville. «Incredible,» Gibb said. «Studio B, which is where Elvis, and Roy Orbison, and the Everly Brothers, and Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson [recorded]. A phenomenal experience. Dolly said to me, ‘Where I’m standing,’ she said, ‘is where I sang ‘Now I’ll Always Love You’ and ‘Jolene,’ in the same afternoon!» So, that’s very special, very special to be in that environment.» Born in Britain and raised in Australia, the Gibb Brothers, and Barry especially, were influenced by American country music. He would go on to have several country hits with other artists. «Yeah, ‘Rest Your Love On Me,’ which we did the original version, was a #1 record for Conway Twitty, and of course there’s ‘Islands in the Stream’ with Kenny and Dolly,» Gibb said. How did that song come about? «Kenny called me up and said, would I write a couple of songs? And I went to work on that with Maurice and Robin.
