For his latest album, the last surviving Gibb brother teamed up with some of Nashville’s biggest stars to record \u00ab\u00a0Greenfields,\u00a0\u00bb in which they perform some of The Bee Gees’ greatest hits.<\/b>
\nThe songs are familiar; the arrangements are new. For his latest album, \u00ab\u00a0Greenfields,\u00a0\u00bb Barry Gibb has taken the Bee Gees’ catalogue to Music City. \u00ab\u00a0I was bitten by Nashville,\u00a0\u00bb he said, \u00ab\u00a0because Nashville is about music. It’s about real songs.\u00a0\u00bb The last surviving Gibb Brother reached out to producer Dave Cobb, and said, \u00ab\u00a0This is where I gotta go. This is the kind of music I love.\u00a0\u00bb And he teamed up with some of Nashville’s biggest stars, including Jason Isabel, Alison Krauss, Brandi Carlile and Keith Urban, \u00ab\u00a0CBS This Morning\u00a0\u00bb co-host Anthony Mason asked, \u00ab\u00a0How did you choose what songs you were gonna do?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Well, I let them chose,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said. Little Big Town chose \u00ab\u00a0Lonely Days\u00a0\u00bb; Sheryl Crow chose \u00ab\u00a0How Can You Mend a Broken Heart\u00a0\u00bb; and Dolly Parton chose \u00ab\u00a0Words\u00a0\u00bb: The album was recorded at the historic RCA Studios in Nashville. \u00ab\u00a0Incredible,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said. \u00ab\u00a0Studio 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!\u00a0\u00bb So, that’s very special, very special to be in that environment.\u00a0\u00bb 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. \u00ab\u00a0Yeah, ‘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,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said. How did that song come about? \u00ab\u00a0Kenny called me up and said, would I write a couple of songs? And I went to work on that with Maurice and Robin. We came up with the song called ‘Islands in the Stream,’ which was originally written for Diana Ross.\u00a0\u00bb It’s one of sixteen #1 songs that Barry, now 74, co-wrote, mostly with his late brothers, Robin (who died of cancer in 2012) and Maurice (who died of complications following surgery in 2003). Their extraordinary success is chronicled in the new HBO Max documentary, \u00ab\u00a0The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.\u00a0\u00bb Mason said, \u00ab\u00a0The documentary is getting wonderful feedback.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Yeah, it is staggering,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said. \u00ab\u00a0I don’t understand, but then I never have! And I should probably never see it, I think. I’ve watched bits of it.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0You haven’t seen it all the way through?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0No. No.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Why not?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0‘Cause I can’t handle watching the rest of my family. I just can’t handle it. It’s not \u2013 who would?\u00a0\u00bb Gibb replied. \u00ab\u00a0I think it’s perfectly normal to not want to see how each brother was lost, you know? And I don’t want to address it. I’m past it.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Was that hard for you to let go of?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Yes. Incredibly, incredibly hard. Because we’d never, was never not been together, you know? It was really tough. The first year after the last brother passed, Robin, that was the most difficult period for me. And people have said, ‘He had a breakdown.’ You know, I didn’t have a breakdown, actually. I just didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know what to do. And I didn’t know how to be perceived. I didn’t know how to perceive other people’s opinions. \u00ab\u00a0So basically, I’ve been in lockdown for years now!\u00a0\u00bb he laughed. The documentary charts The Bee Gees’ early success in the Sixties, and how the brothers, known for their ballads, reinvented themselves in the Seventies, with such songs as \u00ab\u00a0Jive Talkin’.\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said, \u00ab\u00a0When ‘Jive Talkin\u00a0\u00bb came out, everybody went, ‘Who?’ The Bee Gees? ‘Broken Heart’ Bee Gees? Are you kidding?\u00a0\u00bb Their soundtrack for \u00ab\u00a0Saturday Night Fever\u00a0\u00bb would spend 24 straight weeks at #1, led by the film’s opening anthem, \u00ab\u00a0Stayin’ Alive.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0That song seems more relevant now than ever,\u00a0\u00bb Mason said. \u00ab\u00a0I think it touches right on where we are now, you know? Feel the city breakin’, everybody’s shakin’ and we’re stayin’ alive,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb said. \u00ab\u00a0Was there something specific that inspired ‘Stayin’ alive’?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0New York,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb replied. \u00ab\u00a0New York was the basic premise for ‘Stayin’ alive.’ It’s really John [Travolta] walking down the street in New York. It’s that climate and that atmosphere that is so electrifying.\u00a0\u00bb The film also inspired one of The Bee Gees’ most enduring ballads: \u00ab\u00a0How Deep Is Your Love?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0I remember we were sitting at dinner during the break, and I remember hearing really the key melody, which is ‘How deep is your love? How deep is your love?'\u00a0\u00bb Barry Gibb is keeping The Bee Gees’ music alive with his new Nashville album. He is alone now. And four years ago, the last Bee Gee went out on his own for the first time. Mason asked, \u00ab\u00a0Do you wanna tour again?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Yeah, I think, if people want me to,\u00a0\u00bb he replied. \u00ab\u00a0I wanna be wanted. And if people want me to do it, then, my goodness, I’d be honored to do it. \u00ab\u00a0It’s lonely up there when you haven’t got your brothers. But you still make it fun. That’s what counts.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Does it feel okay even without them?\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0It’s bittersweet,\u00a0\u00bb Gibb replied. \u00ab\u00a0But, you know, that’s one of the things we live with, is loss. And my goodness, I’ve learned so much from it.\u00a0\u00bb For more info: Story produced by Gabriel Falcon. Editor: Joe Frandino. See also from 2014:<\/p>\n