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Biography
Distinguish|Maurie GibbUse British English|date=August 2011Use dmy dates|date=April 2012Infobox musical artist|name = Maurice Gibb|image = Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees) - TopPop 1973.png|caption = Maurice Gibb performing on AVRO's TopPop (a Dutch television show) in 1973|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Maurice Ernest Gibb|birth_date = Birth date|1949|12|22|df=y|birth_place = Douglas, Isle of Man|Douglas , Isle of Man |death_date = Death date and age|2003|1|12|1949|12|22|df=yes|death_place = Miami Beach, Florida , US|origin = Raised in: Chorlton-cum-Hardy , Manchester, England Moved to: Brisbane , Queensland, Australia|instrument = Singing|Vocal s, guitar , Bass guitar|bass , piano , keyboard instrument|keyboard s|genre = Pop, rock, soft rock , Adult contemporary music|adult contemporary , blue-eyed soul , disco , funk |occupation = Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer|years_active = 1958–2003|label = Polydor Records|Polydor |associated_acts = Bee Gees |notable_instruments = Rickenbacker|Rickenbacker 4001 |website = Maurice Ernest Gibb , Order of the British Empire|CBE (22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the twin brother of Robin Gibb and younger brother to Barry Gibb|Barry . He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees , formed with his brothers. The trio got their start in Australia, and found major success when they returned to England. The Bee Gees became one of the most successful pop groups ever.
Biography
Born Maurice Ernest Gibb to Barbara (née Pass) and Hugh Gibb on the Isle of Man , Maurice was the fraternal twin brother of Robin Gibb , and was the second-born of the twins, born 35 minutes after Robin. The fourth-born of five children, he had one older sister, Lesley (b. 1945), and three brothers, Barry Gibb|Barry (born 1946), twin Robin Gibb|Robin (1949–2012), and Andy Gibb|Andrew (1958–1988). In the 1950s, the family moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester , England, then in late 1958, they moved to Brisbane , Australia, settling in one of the city's poorest suburbs, Cribb Island, which was subsequently demolished to make way for the Brisbane Airport .
Gibb was married to the Scottish pop star Lulu (singer)|Lulu from 1969 to 1973. Their careers and his heavy drinking forced them apart and they divorced, childless, in 1973.cite web|url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maurice-gibb-601289.html |title=Maurice Gibb – Obituaries, News |work=The Independent |accessdate=5 September 2011 He married his second wife Yvonne Spencely on 17 October 1975. They had two children: Adam and Samantha. Their marriage lasted until his death. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316465/bio
Gibb loved the sport of paintball , and had a team which he called the Royal Rat Rangers, a reference to his being named a Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and to his time at the Little River AA group, where the members referred to each other as "river rats." He promoted the sport at every opportunity, and opened a paintball equipment shop, "Commander Mo's Paintball Shop," in North Miami Beach, Florida .
Death
Maurice Gibb died at a Miami Beach, Florida , hospital on 12 January 2003 of complications resulting from a twisted intestine ( volvulus ).cite news|url= http://articles.cnn.com/2003-01-16/entertainment/gibb.autopsy_1_maurice-gibb-autopsy-cardiac-arrest? _s=PM:SHOWBIZ|title=Gibb autopsy cites twisted intestine|last=CandiottI|first=Susan|date=16 January 2003|publisher=CNN|accessdate=22 December 2010 His brothers Barry and Robin retired the name Bee Gees for a time, declining to perform as a group.cite news | url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1459623/20030122/bee_gees.jhtml | title=Bee Gees Name To Be Retired, Robin Gibb Says |publisher=MTV | first=Joe | last=D'Angelo | accessdate=10 December 2009 However, as time passed, they decided to perform occasionally under the Bee Gees banner.cite news| url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/08/bee-gees-re-form |work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Bee Gees to re-form for live comeback | first=Sean | last=Michaels | date=8 September 2009 | accessdate=12 May 2010
Career
Main|Bee GeesMaurice Gibb's role in the group focused on melody and arrangements. He sang harmony and backing vocals, and played a variety of instruments. Very early on in 1965 and 1966 he played lead guitar, but as early as 1966 he was playing other keyboard and string instruments in the studio. Bee Gees records from 1967 to 1972 are dominated by Maurice playing piano and bass guitar, along with mellotron ("Every Christian Lion Hearted Man" and "Kilburn Towers"), rhythm guitar (along with Barry), and other parts. The piano on songs like "Words" and "Lonely Days" is the Maurice Gibb sound. On stage he usually played bass guitar, with an additional musician taking bass when Maurice switched to piano. Maurice was less influential in the disco Bee Gees sound of 1975 to 1979, when he played mostly bass guitar.David Leaf, "Bee Gees / The Authorized Biography", 1979. After that time for the last 20 years of his life he played primarily electronic keyboard instruments on stage and in the studio, but occasional lead guitar (including the acoustic guitar given to him by John Lennon , which Maurice used on "This Is Where I Came In", 2001).Album credits. In the reunited Bee Gees from 1987 onward, Maurice was the group's resident expert on all technical phases of recording, and he coordinated musicians and engineers to create much of the group's sound.
As a songwriter, Maurice contributed mainly to melody, with his brothers writing the lyrics that they would sing on the finished song (for the most part). It is difficult to identify his contributions because the songs were so shaped to the singer, but his brothers' continued writing collaboration with him on solo projects shows how much they relied on him. Maurice sang lead on average one song per album. He was sometimes known as "the quiet one" for his less obvious contributions to the group, but privately he was a good teller of stories who immensely enjoyed talking with fans. His reputation as a mild-mannered stabilising influence with two very ambitious brothers continued through his life.Melinda Bilyeu, Hector Cook, Andrew Môn Hughes, The Bee Gees / Tales of the Brothers Gibb . London: Omnibus, 2001. His comic personality shone on stage during Bee Gees concerts when the brothers would perform an acoustic medley. Many times during the song " Holiday (Bee Gees song)|Holiday ", Maurice would mock Robin while he was singing or pretend he was bored (Maurice did not sing on the original record).
Away from the Bee Gees, Maurice recorded an unreleased solo album in 1970. He also appeared in a short-lived West End musical, Sing a Rude Song written by Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin that same year. In 1972, Maurice produced Jimmy Stevens' album ''Don't Freak Me Out (called Paid My Dues in the United States). During the Bee Gees hiatus in the mid-1980s, he worked with both Barry and Robin on their solo projects, and did some instrumental writing and recording including the soundtrack for the film A Breed Apart . In 1986, Gibb produced and co-wrote an entire album for Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist|Carola . Of these and other projects, the only work released under his own name were two singles: "Railroad" in 1970 and "Hold Her in Your Hand" in 1984.
Maurice's last project was to produce an album's worth of songs written and sung by his daughter Samantha, which finally appeared in 2005 under the name M E G—Maurice's initials. http://www.megmusic.net M. E. G.
Awards
Citation needed|reason=section|date=November 2009In 1994, Maurice Gibb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame , and in 1997 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .cite web|url= http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20134801,00.html|title=Stayin' Afloat|author=Steve Dougherty|work= People (magazine) |date=2 July 2001|accessdate=17 July 2011 His catalogue is published by BMG Music Publishing .
In 2002, Maurice was made a Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), along with his brothers, but the awards were not presented until 2004, after Maurice's death; his son Adam accompanied Barry and Robin to Buckingham Palace for the ceremony, representing his father.cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1734559.stm|title=Honours in the music world|date=31 December 2001|publisher=BBC News |accessdate=29 August 2010cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753699.stm|title=Surviving Bee Gees collect CBEs|date=27 May 2004|publisher=BBC News |accessdate=29 August 2010
On 10 July 2009, Maurice was posthumously made a Freeman of the Borough of Douglas. The award, was also bestowed on Robin and Barry, therefore confirming the freedom of the town of their birth to all three brothers. http://www.douglas.gov.im/shownews.asp? ID=3181 Bee Gees receive honorary Freedom of the Borough
Discography
Albums:
1970: The Loner (unreleased)
1981: Strings and Things (unreleased)
1984: A Breed Apart (unreleased)
Singles:
1970: "Railroad"
1984: "Hold Her In Your Hand"
2001: "The Bridge" (unreleased)
Film Scores:
1984: A Breed Apart , included several versions of the songs, "Hold Her In Your Hand" and "On Time".
Musicals:
1970: Sing A Rude Song
Productions:
1970: Tin Tin (band)|Tin Tin ; Tin Tin.Including the No.20 Billboard USA hit Toast and Marmalade for Tea .
Bee GeesGrammy Award for Album of the Year 1970s Persondata | NAME = Gibb, Maurice | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Musician, singer-songwriter | DATE OF BIRTH = 22 December 1949 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Douglas, Isle of Man | DATE OF DEATH = 12 January 2003 | PLACE OF DEATH = Miami Beach, Florida DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Maurice Category:1949 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Manx people Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English rock bass guitarists Category:English rock keyboardists Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English child singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English songwriters Category:English record producers Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Musicians from Manchester Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:English tenors Category:Bee Gees members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Paintball players
