Monocled Alchemist

Published in RAVE magazine, October 1968

RAVE gets a special invitation from Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees to go round to see his new £100 a week luxury penthouse. Want to know what it’s like? Maureen O’Grady tells you.

At Home With Barry Gibb | WE thought it might be the wrong time to descend upon Barry Bee Gee at his new home, for when we arrived at the flat in the City of London, Barry had just popped out—but we were ably entertained by Mr. Barnaby Bee Gee, a very extraordinary young man, who did a lovely dive into the fountain for us.

I must explain that Barnaby Bee Gee is a two-month-old Pyrenean mountain puppy.

The Bee Gees, it turns out, are a very doggy group. Maurice has Barnaby’s brother Aston, while Colin and Vince have Yorkshire Terriers, Hercules and Jasper respectively.

Barry fortunately returned before Barnaby could get into further mischief, but he promptly began to steal the show when the photographs were being taken!

Barry’s penthouse costs about £100 a week to rent and run, which in anyone’s books is a rather fantastic amount of money to spend on a place to live. But, if you saw it, you wouldn’t blame him one little bit. It’s just dreamy and fantastic.

Barry took us on a conducted tour, starting with the lounge. “Well, Barnaby’s already shown you the fountain I believe! This is the room where I show movies,” he said pointing to a big projector. “Films like ‘Genghis Khan,'Robin and the Seven, Hoods’, ‘Young Bess,‘The Black Knight’, ‘The Man From Laramie’ -I’m mad about Westerns.”

At Home With Barry Gibb

We then came round to the point where we spoke of a complaint that had been written in a newspaper by a journalist living downstairs, who was under the impression that all the Bee Gees lived in the flat.

Barry said, “I don’t think I make too much noise. And anyway, some of the other people in the building came up and told me not to worry. They were all behind me, and they certainly hadn’t heard a single thing.”

Anyway—back to the lounge. It had gilt mirrors. with a row of brown leather seats along one wall and in the middle of the room, golden green velvet armchairs, a remote control TV set, chestnut coloured wood floors and walls. with a royal blue carpet.

A spiral marble staircase carried your eyes upward—and at the top of the stairs Barry showed us his two roof gardens and a sort of indoor patio with white fur rugs and wicker chairs. From there you could see. and this is our only clue to its whereabouts, the whole of the busy City, very close to St. Paul’s.

“I like it here,” said Barry. “The money doesn’t matter to me because it’s my home and I’m happy here. Few of my fans know I’m here, although some that knew my old address have tracked me down. I opened the lift door the other day, which opens straight onto my hall, and found five girls inside!”

The Bee Gees new album

As we drifted through the penthouse, the Bee Gees’ new album drifted with us. as the flat is fitted with stereo speakers.

We were asked to excuse the unwashed crockery in the kitchen, and came to the dining room. In the middle of the room is a gold leaf dome, with a chandelier hanging from it. Colourful Ming ornaments were carefully arranged on shelves. with cupboards full of silver cutlery.

The round marble dining table, with its very high-backed chairs, reminded him he said, of the Knights of the Round Table. “Do you know, I can’t remember the last time I used this room. I always seem to eat in the kitchen. I didn’t know till recently that the dome was covered in real gold. I’ll tell you what, I’ve got a shower done in gold leaf. Would you like to take some photos of me under the shower?” We gracefully declined.

At Home With Barry Gibb

We went through the mirrored hall with its ivory inlaid floor, past the two guest rooms and two bathrooms, Barnaby galloping with us, on to the master’s bedroom. A lovely room with wild silk maroon curtains and bedspread, with an open wardrobe exposing rows of colourful frilly shirts, and a huge silver crucifix on his bedside table, which he bought when he visited the Vatican in Rome.

As we went back to the lounge for coffee, Barry told us he was flying off to the States that afternoon. “I’m so tired today though, I think I’ll try and get a flight in the morning. By the time you get there it’s the same time as you left England. Everyone wants you to socialise and meet people, when really all you want to do is drop straight into bed. No, I think I’ll go in the morning!”

The Graduate

We then talked of many things, like that great film “The Graduate”. “I haven’t seen it yet,” said Barry, “but if it’s got Simon and Garfunkel playing music in it then it’s a definite for me.”

We spoke of their last single, “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You”. At the time, he wasn’t worried about it, but just pointed out that when critics raved over their records, they did nothing, and when they didn’t rate them, they did fantastic things.

“This one didn’t get marvellous reviews, so it was a hit! But really there are loads of things I’d like to do musically. For instance, I’m rushing off to the States ahead of the others to do recording production work for Atlantic Records. I’ll be working with such fantastic people as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, who are doing some of our numbers.

If someone’s doing your songs. you’ve got to be at the recording or some very odd things can happen. If a song is being credited to me, I want it to sound right, the way it was when I wrote it. I don’t necessarily like everything we do, but we must be commercial.

At Home With Barry Gibb

Our LP for example takes a very long time. We try to make each track as though it’s a single. Listen to a Beatles LP. Every track they do could have been released as a single. This is what we aim at. At this precise moment I have about a dozen songs going round in my head that I haven’t had time to write down but I’ll never forget them.

I just pick up a guitar and they all come back to me. Not one of us can write a note of music!”

Barry then handed me the script of their film, to be started probably in October, of “Lord Kitchener’s Little Drummer Boys”.

Barry plays a pen-pushing clerk, who wears glasses and high stiff collars; Maurice and Robin are street photographers who are also con-men, with Colin playing a pickpocket. It tells of the Boer War, and how each, for different reasons, finds himself in the Army, Vince already being in South Africa diamond-mining.

Frankie Howerd will probably play Lord Kitchener, Barry reckons, and they’ll be doing all the music and soundtrack themselves. Quite a challenge!

Does Barry play the romantic lead? “I wouldn’t say that,” he said shyly “but if you mean do I get the girl then I suppose I do!”

More Barry Gibb on the Monocled Alchemist.