Barry Gibb as a guitarist

Same here! First it's ever occurred to me to evaluate him on something like his guitar playing. The genius lies elsewhere, OP!

 

One of the greatest songs ever.

 

Count me as one who likes Barry's rhythm guitar parts. Perfect for the tunes. The real instrumental star in the Bee Gees was Maurice. His bass and keyboards were excellent during the pre-Jive Takin' era.

 

It's pretty solid. It's not fancy, very difficult or technical, but it suits the songs and gives them a very warm athmosphere (much thanks also to the tuning he often uses/used). It's probably not even as "good" as David Crosby's or John Lennon's playing, but whatever...

His songwriting quality kinda makes up for his playing as well.

I know the Bee Gees used studio musicians for some lead guitar lines, so I'm not sure if Barry played some more demanding lead lines on any of the songs? Maybe someone else here knows...

 

Try playing 'new York mining disaster 1941' withOUT the drop tuning, and it is not a even a
shimmer of that sound he had. The Am down to the open D, wow!

 

Sorry but I don't get your post. Do you expect every guitar player to sound like Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page? Never has Barry Gibb's guitar playing been the focus in the Bee Gees' music. The fact that you would focus this much on it while also carelessly dismissing it is just downright bizarre.

 

I don't even know what tracks Barry plays on, I'm sure he played a lot on the 60s material. He's a songwriter, not an instrumentalist, that was more Maurice's department.

 

Barry played guitar on nearly every song The Bee Gees ever did. Vince Melouney played lead guitar in the 60’s and then Alan Kendall joined in 1971 and played lead guitar with the group until the end. They handled the intricate playing. Barry was a solid rhythm guitarist. They both sound great here.

 

Huh.

I've never really given it much thought, but I guess I've always thought he was a pretty decent player. Maurice too.



Obviously worked well enough for their career lol.

 

Here's another isolated track which features both lead and rhythm parts. I think that Barry's rhythm and chords in that tuning are really rather interesting, with some parts of this disco song having a surprising Bo Diddley feel that's not so apparent in the final mix.



So the weird thing about this thread is that it has me noticing that Barry's better than I ever gave him credit for. Thanks!

 

I never knew until recently that Barry was a guitarist. I thought all he did was strut around in a white suite with gold medallions singing Stayin' Alive.

 

Pretty much all the Bee Gees songs were built around Barry's rhythm guitar.

 

I remember once seeing a Bee Gees documentary where Barry is playing some Bee Gees songs on the acoustic guitar and I was amazed at the unusual (at least for me) chords and chord changes/progressions he was playing so I always thought he was an exceptionally good guitarist ( but I am only a very amateurish guitarist and probably the last person to pass a valid judgment)

 

I've always been impressed with Barry Gibb's rhythm playing....it's the foundation to all those great records.

 

If you have the patience for it, it's well worth the bother.

Flawless playing by Barry and singing by Les Tosseurs.

 

I have mad respect for the Bee Gees, but I've never payed attention to Barry Gibb's guitar playing. Perhaps I should.

 

That guitar part at the end of Jive Talkin' just cooks. Probably not played by Barry, looking the personnel, could have been Maurice or Alan Kendall.