My top 5 no particular order Jive Talking/Night Fever/Staying Alive/You shoulda be dancing(yeah!)/Grease.I remember we couldn't believe our ears back then.Such perfection. Such a lush Top notch production at the time!Another levelStill are Unbeatable! To me Bee Gees and Abba made the most well crafted stuff of the '70s in maistream music scene ..and also in production terms i would also add the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Frank Farian.
Maurice wasn’t a disco bassist. He was a musician who helped shape Disco. He was an inventor and a songwriter. Bee Gees weren’t a disco band either. They just made music during disco. They made music LONG before and LONG after.
You're right, but the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack made them just about the biggest band on the planet, which is why so many people see them as a disco band. First impressions stick.
My family are close friends with the Gibb family, especially Maurice Gibb. My mother is Godmother to Maurice's daughter Samantha. I used to be personal assistant to Andy Gibb. Thank you for creating this video. 👍👍👍
You are so beyond blessed to be close friends either the Gibb family! Barry is the only man to ever make me pass out the first time I saw him on American bandstand in 1978 and 46 years later I love him even more! I would love to complete my bucket list and meet him but I would probably pass out if I did! Barry has saved my life during the darkest times of my life and PLEASE TELL HIM THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I TRUELY AM SO GRATEFUL THEY SHARED THEIR GIFT WITH THE WORLD!! If I’m ever asked….what was your life all about… my answer…. I loved the brothers Gibb with all my heart almost my entire life💝💝💝💝Andy,Mo,Rob and BARRY🥰 Thank you shawnhealycat1166❤
Thanks for highlighting Maurice's talent. He was so overlooked. The Bee Gees were the combination of three, each with their own unique gifts. May all of their music live on forever. ❤
The Jive Talkin' bassline was one of the earliest synth basslines. It was played by session keyboardist Blue Weaver on an ARP 2600, though Maurice overdubbed some extra bass.
@@TheGerkuman Weaver stated, "Usually Maurice would play bass guitar, but he was away from the studio that night. And when Maurice came back, we let him hear it and suggested he re-record the bass line on his bass guitar". "I really liked the synth bass lines", Maurice said. "I overdubbed certain sections to add bass extra emphasis".
@@kennet7837 Fair enough! Blue often never got the credit he deserved for his work with the Bee Gees. I don't think any of the 70's era band did, or Colin and Vince from the 60's era.
Excellent video. Excellent comments. Mo was really a great musician, and a great arranger too. Bee Gees are my fav band ever❤❤❤ The most prolific songwriters ever: more than 1030 quality songs in around 13 musical genres. Geniuses
In my opinion he had the best voice of the trio. Above and Beyond, Wildflower and Hold Her In Your Hand were some of the songs that demonstrated this. Pity he wasn't given enough recognition for this.
This is amazing. Its never occurred to me how musical and creative these lines are. They define the song! While everyone else would default to octave 8ths (as you just did while i typed this lol). Stunningly intuitive musical and creative.
This was excellent. I didn't know Maurice was the bassist, and how integral he was to The Bee Gees and to disco itself. I wasn't even pronouncing his name correctly! Thank you for this enlightening breakdown!
Grew up in the 70's (born in 63) wasn't a fan of disco, really loved the funk. But also, being a band geek helps me appreciate MG bass playing. Thanks!!!
Great video but you didn't talk about the other part of Maurice's greatness as a bass player ----- the ability to sing and play his great bass lines at the same time. Lots of guys can play great bass, but doing it while singing difficult lines and harmonies is a lot harder.
Maurice sings falsetto we've known ages now n glad other people now know n can see n listen to. He was so funny in our street and his side ways walks and eye brows lifts made us laugh r socks off. Seriously he had a natural best sense of humour n was still our mo our local boy Manchester kid. Talented beyond belief. Best ul ever hear n to grace this planet.ever.xxx❤❤❤😇😇👍👍thank god still got our Barry. N Barry Hun U got this n we got you. X
Thanks for the video… Maurice is a pretty underrated bassist so thanks to expose his work here. And in addition… is like young Steve Jobs is talking about bass isn’t he??
I just smashed like and subscribe. Lifetime pro musician here, a year ago I picked up the bass and man I love it! I learned how deep is your love because of its fluid and melodic line…so glad you included it and yes Maurice was a beast musician thank you
the Bee Gees in general are somewhat of a phenomenon - super successful and influential both a musicians as well as composers/writers across decades and a plethora of genres, all while encapsulating the saying "if you want to be successful, you have to be divisive" (going primarily by my anecdotal experiences of how wide the range of peoples takes on the Bee Gees is)
Talk about playing to the song. Mo may have been heavily influenced by Paul McCartney, but by this time he had developed his own brand of bassing. Thatnk you for putting this together.
It's Mission Accomplished for you, Andrew! I listened to it all my life, I AM a bassist, and I wasn't aware of how insanely good this is! Great video! The idea of "where to play the notes" was mind boggling; and as for what you WOULD play, I'm gonna get a bit cocky here and have called it "the Jazzy Reflex"! Nature hates the void, and apparently so do we... It reminds me of a funny, but also mind-blowing thing I saw once: Pixies' bassist Kim Deal, talking about the bass line in "Where is my mind"; how we bassists always want to CONTRIBUTE to the song by inserting little fills on every bar. And she realized, it was not REALLY necessary for the song, so you have the simplest line, and it's GREAT! Boom. Some ten years later, that idea spawns "Smells like teen spirit" and other Nirvana songs. And YES, "What is hip" is great bass, and yes, "Rio" is great bass too! But isn't it two sides of the same coin?
credit: Howard "couch" Cowart their touring/studio bass player...Cowart’s session work included other chart toppers such as Brook Benton’s “Rainy Night in Georgia,” Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream,” Barbra Streisand’s “Guilty,” Frankie Valli’s “Grease” and Jay Ferguson’s “Thunder Island.” He also played and recorded with the Bee Gees.
I've seen another vid on youtube going through a Maurice bassline, but while it was detailed (think it was for You Should Be Dancing) it was just one song. This is excellent.
Maurice Gibb was the nicest guy always positive, funny and underrated in his base playing and producing, Robin in his early days was the funny one, something changed a little but it was Robin's voice especially in the 1960s that effected me, he had a voice of an angel. Then we have Barry the eldest and some called the front man, awesome singer/song writer especially when blended with his brothers and not many people in the world can write songs like this guy, for decades and decades delivering hit after hit in conjunction with his brothers. To me the Bee Gees were not the disco band all Americans can remember but the English/Australian band that produced the ballads and music with orchestral backing from their earlier hits from the mid 1960s to early 1970s band that made a big impression on me. But as life got older and wiser, reading up about the Bee Gees and their life, it was the quite one in the corner (Maurice) that id admired the most.
In terms of best bass line of the songs you high lighted, I think I gotta go with "You Should Be Dancing", but you missed one of the best in "Wind of Change". Nice to see Maurice being highlighted.
Great educational video for me. I was not aware that Maurice acted as the bass player. I can only remember him on the keyboard. He doesn't get the credit, because he never took on the lead singer role that Barry and Robin had. But I'm sure that Barry and Robin gave him his credit due.
One of my favourite bass lines by Mo has to be heavy breathing. One if the bee gees best songs and one of their heavy ones. The slight distortion on the bass provides a great tone for the song!
I've been a bass player since 1974, inspired to start by geddy lee. Maurice and geezer were early influences, but nobody knocked me out like Dennis Dunaway from Alice Cooper. I still listen to his work in awe. He'd make a great video feature.
There's something that amateur musicians need to understand about bass parts or any instrument in general. You can always play more notes but in the end you have to ask yourself if it serves the song. Always start with simple, distill it down, because it just might turn out to be the best option. You can always add more notes later if needed. But you'll never get the essence of the song by overplaying it. The right space between notes and playing on upbeats are techniques that help create that funky feel. Stay aware of how your part meshes with everything else, the big picture. It’s not just about you.
That Maurice was a singer probably overshadowed his bass playing, kind of like Peter Cetera during his Chicago tenure. That aside, more attention would be given to bass players if more of them sang. Doesn’t hurt that Maurice looked to Paul McCartney for his foundation, kind of the way Peter did. Did Maurice overdub a synth bass part on “Jive Talkin’”? I think that part is more prominent in the mix than any bass guitar part.
Maurice was my first crush. I was attracted to his humor, always “causing trouble” during shows. I was also drawn to his hands. He had very appealing hands with long fingers. At 16, I wasn’t entirely sure why, but had he been my neighbor, we might’ve found out. Rest in peace, dear one. I will see you in Heaven and one day, we’ll sing a duet. ❤️🐈 Maurice. You had me when you mentioned the bassist and I like your channel but will have to beg off. There is just too much usage of foul language that only gives the impression of you as a ruffian (wow - I was finally able to use the word…..it sounds so English upper class!) Good luck with your endeavors (there’s another oldie but goodie!). ❤️🐈
Very talented lad. If you're under the age of 50, it's hard to imagine the backlash this band got from the rock crowd of the late 70s/early 80s. They probably had more album burnings than The Beatles. Got to the point they couldn't even record anymore, instead relegated to songwriters on others' hits. Time smooths the hard edges, and hopefully people appreciate how talented this band really was.
Just seen this clip & read your comment, admittedly there is some music i don't like, but I do have a quite eclectic mix of music i listen to & enjoy, i am one of the rock crowd, but i also enjoy & appreciate good music & musicians, including the Bee gees, talent at all levels, as well as attracting praise, will also unfortunately attract criticism from jealous idiots,
I never burned a BeeGees album but gladly would have given the opportunity. I dislike their high pitched voices. It was impossible to avoid hearing their songs. The whole disco lifestyle was repulsive. That said, it is interesting to hear that really cool isolated bass and realize how important Maurice was to their success.
The beegees weren't just disco......Barry had a really wonderful chest voice...... they had big hits pre disco.....eg...New York mining disaster, To love somebody, Lonely Days, How can you mend a broken heart....tons more to even list here......I feel so bad that such talent is bracketed into the narrow disco period....... ..
I was born in 1974 and I feel like if the Bee Gees had not been over-played on the radio back when they were popular, they would be a constant in today's music scene. You hardly hear them alongside the other 70's stuff because they aren't as 'cool.' Those baselines are incredible.
Thanks for putting him in the spotlight! He was probably often overlooked because he didn't sing as much as Barry and Robin I think...But he played many instruments and wrote songs and sang too a very talented man!!. He was just as important as the other two. When he died, the Bee Gees died. He was irreplaceable.
Mo was a phenomenal artist. He was the glue that held the group together. By all means he was a really funny, loving guy. He had his vices, he overcame alcoholism to become a loving husband and Father. He was truly talented, and hasn't gotten the credit he deserves. I am so glad u did this video on him. Rest easy Mo, you are truly missed. 💓
I've played bass for more than 30 years, how did I not know this already? Life long fan of the Bee Gees already, this just increased my appreciation for their talents.
