Barry Gibb - The King?

Posted Jan 23, 2007 | 11 Comments
tags: barry gibb, brian wilson, music

This is my first real article, and it will be a combination of the article concepts I've described. I basically have become an expert on something I am doing right now.

At this very moment, I'm listening to the Billboard Top 100 of 1978. I randomly came across this selection of hit songs from before I was born. It's pretty impressive that eight out of the top fourteen songs (and 3 out of the top 5) were written by Barry Gibb. In the middle below, his look is a classic, what a pimp. He kind of resembles the new Burger King guy, actually.

I was struck by this claim on Barry's official website:

"As a songwriter he is second only to the Lennon / McCartney relationship."

I guess you could say I'm a big Brian Wilson proponent. His album, "Pet Sounds," is consisitently ranked at or near #1 for album of all time in various lists. Paul McCartney himself has said several times that it is the greatest album ever. This is just one of a handful of artists who is impossible to rank in terms of their artistic merit, no matter how much of a fan you may be of them or of yourself.

So, I was a bit put off by the claim on Barry Gibb's website. Perhaps this is backed up with some objective measure of the money he's made or how his songs have fared on the charts. I'll admit, after listening to "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever" among several other great songs, his songwriting ability is pretty amazing. And he does look a lot like the Burger King guy. Decide for yourself: here are Barry Gibb's top eight from 1978:

Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing
Bee Gees - Night Fever
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love
Andy Gibb - Love is Thicker Than Water
Frankie Valli - Grease
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John - You're the One That I Want
Samantha Sang and the Bee Gees - Emotion

Brian Wilson doesn’t hold a candle to Lennon/McCartney.

#1 bob cannetti Mar 2, 01:27 PM

You can take that opinion and shove it, buddy. Brian Wilson kills both of them and he would also kick their asses in a real fight. He also got fatter than either of them could dream, and that is a true test of someone's genius.

Funny how Barry Gibb rarely finds himself in a debate like this, yet he’s the only one with a claim like that on his website. I don’t have anything against him, it’s just funny.

#2 Andrew Swihart (Author) Mar 2, 10:23 PM

Barry Gibb is the top writer of all time, no doubt about it, disco,soul,pop,country,rock..he has done em all

#3 TEN RECORDS May 30, 02:17 PM

He's great, but I wouldn’t say he’s the “top writer of all time”. If I had to rank, I'd put Brian Wilson in his prime years at number one :).

#4 Andrew Swihart (Author) May 31, 01:51 AM

BARRY GIBB IS THE BEST!!!

#5 CATHY SCHULTZ Jun 7, 04:51 PM

Two Words: Burt Bacharach

#6 Colin Short Jul 5, 04:17 PM

No denying it. It’s Barry Gibb with over 1,200 songs written and still writing
(suggest you listen to Human Nature’s Love Is Blind)

#7 Lowell Goldberg Jul 7, 06:36 PM

Lot of BG fans coming this way lately! I like a lot of his stuff too, but I’m not close to putting him at number one, maybe top 5.

This is probably the most pointless "article" I will ever write on this site, other than my other two comedy "articles". Really I just posted this to get a kick out of seeing something I made on the web.

I'm glad it has sparked such an intense debate about the top songwriters of all time though, as this is a question that needs to be settled once and for all ;-).

#8 Andrew Swihart (Author) Jul 7, 07:17 PM

The above claim refers to writing credits for #1 singles. Barry Gibb has written 16 #1 Billboard (Hot 100) singles. That puts him third on the all time list for songwriters, behind John Lennon (#2) and Paul McCartney (#1). If you consider Lennon and McCartney as a songwriting team (which is how their songs came into being), then Gibb is second on the all time list. The Bee Gees performed some of the #1 singles, but many were sung by other artists.

#9 Jake Martin Feb 9, 01:13 AM

Wow, finally an explanation for his claim. I had a feeling it had something to do with how his songs have charted, it just seemed like he was referring to some objective measure.

Thanks Jake, now we all know why Barry Gibb was able to get away with saying that on his website.

#10 Andrew Swihart (Author) Feb 9, 11:15 AM

I think Barry has written the most awesome songs in the secular realm of music. You can say what you want, but he is a truly talented writer and singer. I just wish the BeeGees music was played more on radio. Their is a generation who needs to hear this music.