The Bee Gees - Wollongong concerts and connections 1963-66
The Bees Gees on Bandstand, 1963-65 (coloured), 26 June 2021, YouTube, duration: 33.43 minutes.
1. Introduction
Two Facebook groups have recently played an important part in chronicling the history of appearances in the Wollongong area between 1963-66 by the famous group the Bee Gees, and their relationship with the local band Denis Williams and the Delawares.
On 28 October 2023 a posting by Patrick Deegan on the Lost Wollongong Facebook (FB) page asked if the Bee Gees - Barry (b. 1 September 1946) and twins Robyn and Maurice (b. 22 December 1949) - briefly lived at the Berkeley Migrant Hostel, Wollongong upon migrating from England. History tells us that shortly after their arrival in Sydney during August 1958, and perhaps processing at the Villawood Migrant Hostel, the family was moved to Redcliffe, Queensland, where they lived through to the end of 1962. They subsequently moved to Maroubra, Sydney, and remained there until the end of 1966. The general consensus was therefore "No", at no time was the Gibb family resident at Berkeley. The posting, however, generated some 116 comments (up to 1 November 2023), many of which also verified, or provided information on, their performances in the Wollongong area during the 1960s. This was from 1963 up to their departure for England in January 1967, whereupon they subsequently, and quickly, achieved international fame. The discussion also mentioned liaisons and connections with the area during those early years of 1960s. The following is a summary of some of that information.
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2. Recordings
They first recorded at Corrimal with Aussie Byrne’s (Facebook: Des Byrne, 28 October 2023)
The Bee Gees had first performed in England as young kids during 1956. According to Joseph Brennan's comprehensive Gibbs Songs website, following their arrival in Australia in 1958, they were recorded singing their own compositions in Queensland the following year by DJ Bill Gates (Brennan 2006, Rylah n.d.). At the time they were managed by their father Hugh Gibb. Upon being introduced to famous Australian singer Col Joye and his brother Kevin Jacobson in 1962, they were given a Festival Records contract. The family then moved to Sydney in January 1963 where they recorded with Leedon Records. By the end of 1965 Festival had lost interest in the Bee Gees after their failure to achieve a hit amongst their nine singles, numerous EPs and an LP. They were therefore released to Spin Records, which also had a connection with Festival. The following listing of the group's Australian single recordings, with both Leedon and Spin (not including EPs or LPs), is as compiled by Michael De Looper in his comprehensive summary of their early work (De Looper 2014):
Bee Gees 45 inch singles 1963-66
- LEEDON LK 346 - THE BATTLE OF THE BLUE AND GREY / THREE KISSES OF LOVE March 1963
- LEEDON LK 412 - TIMBER! / TAKE HOLD OF THAT STAR June 1963
- LEEDON LK 534 - PEACE OF MIND / DON’T SAY GOODBY E March 1964
- LEEDON LK 696 - CLAUSTROPHOBIA / COULD IT BE August 1964
- LEEDON LK 745 - TURN AROUND, LOOK AT ME / THEME FROM JAIMIE MCPHEETERS October 1964
- LEEDON LK 829 - HOUSE WITHOUT WINDOWS / AND I’LL BE HAPPY (TREVOR GORDON & THE BEE GEE S) January 1965
- LEEDON LK 920 - EVERY DAY I HAVE TO CRY / YOU WOULDN’T KNOW March 1965
- LEEDON LK 1070 - WINE AND WOMEN / FOLLOW THE WIND September 1965
- LEEDON LK 1150 - I WAS A LOVER, A LEADER OF MEN / AND THE CHILDREN LAUGHING October 1965
- LEEDON LK 1282 - CHERRY RED / I WANT HOME March 1966
- SPIN EK 1345 - MONDAY ’S RAIN / PLAYDOWN May 1966
- SPIN EK 1384 = MONDAY ’S RAIN / ALL OF MY LIFE June 1966
- SPIN EK 1474 = SPICKS AND SPECKS / I AM THE WORLD September 1966
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| Barry Gibb & The Bee Gees, The Bee Gees sing and play 14 Barry Gibb songs, Leedon Records, 12" LP, November 1965. |
The aforementioned 2023 Facebook discussion noted that at some point during the early 1960s the Bee Gees recorded at Corrimal in Wollongong's northern suburbs, with Ossie Byrne. A 2017 article by Joseph Davis outlines the connection between Byrne and the Bee Gees (Davis 2017). Another, by Juliet Rylah on the group's early years in Australia, notes the following (Rylah n.d.):
By the time of the release of Spicks and Specks, which went on to become their first Australian and international hit, the Bee Gees and family had decided to return to England. They left on 3 January 1967 and on 24 February in London signed with Brian Epstein's NEMS Agency and with Australian Robert Stigwood, then managing the famous rock band Cream, on the Polydor label in the UK and ATCO (Atlantic) in the US.
Prior to leaving Australia, the Bee Gees recorded with Ossie Byrne (1926-83), an independent record producer and sound engineer who worked with Spin Records. Byrne - illustrated above with the group - owned the St Clair Studio in Hurstville, Sydney. Born in Queanbeyan, Byrne was a musician and, according to Wikipedia:, after the end of WWII: .... in the mid-1950s he moved to Wollongong where he built a small recording studio in his house [at Tarrawanna]. In 1961 he recorded a local group, the Del-Fi's, whose recordings had some success, and in 1965 he moved to Hurstville, Sydney, and set up a new studio behind a butcher's shop.
During 2012 the In Sydney magazine provided the following information on the St Clair studio:
St Clair Recording Studio was located at 56 Queens Road, Hurstville. Many of Australia's earliest rock and roll hits were recorded at St Clair Recording Studio. Located behind a butchers shop, the studio was operated by Ossie Byrne and featured two mono recorders. The Bee Gees recorded all their early work there including the hit Spicks and Specks. It was recorded there in 1965 [July 966]. The 1960s Australian TV show Bandstand had its music backing tracks recorded at St Clair in 1966. Other artists to record at St Clair included The Twilights, MPD Ltd., and Ronnie Burns. After Ossie left for England with the Bee Gees to manage them [in the studio], Warren Morton took over. The St Clair Recording Studio was closed in late 1966. The butchers shop and studio were demolished in the 1970s.
The 2014 Ossie Byrne and the Bee Gees blog posting notes that Byrne was a big fan of the Bee Gees and encouraged them to keep writing, plus granted them free rein of his Sydney studio during 1966 when it was not already booked. He made a number of recordings with them (refer the list above), most notably their last three Australian singles and the music presented in their Spicks and Specks album release on Spin Records in November 1966. They were performing in Victoria as late as 17 November 1966. They left for England on 3 January 1967 on the Fairsky.
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| The Bee Gees - Spicks and Specks, Spin Records, 12" LP, November 1966. |
Spicks and Specks, 1966, Vintage Video Clip, 7 May 2020, YouTube, duration: 2.49 minutes.
He also travelled with them to England in 1966 and was sound engineer on their first UK LP, released the following year. According to his Wikipedia entry:
Byrne recorded the single "New York Mining Disaster 1941" with them at the IBC Studios in Portland Place. It became a hit in the UK, and internationally, and Byrne then produced the group's album, Bee Gees' 1st (although the group had released two albums previously in Australia).
It therefore appears that there is no definitive record that Ossie Byrne ever recorded the Bee Gees in Wollongong at his Tarrawanna studio.
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3. Performances
The Bee Gees made numerous live appearances in the Illawarra between 1963-66, at various clubs, outdoor events and on the local WIN4 television station program the Channel 4 Club. Michael De Looper's The Bee Gees Itinerary, 1958 to 1966 lists the following Illawarra performances by the Bee Gees prior to their return to England at the end of 1966:
1963
* March / 1 April 1963 - Wollongong Oval Showground. This appears to be the group's first regional performance outside of Sydney following their move from Redcliff, Queensland, to Lakemba in January 1963.
1964
* No local performances precisely identified.
1965
* Saturday, 6 February 1965 - Thirroul RSL. At this stage they were dressed in a similar style to The Beatles. Their only accompaniment on the road appears to have been Barry on acoustic guitar, though they were also known to be backed by local bands or other bands whilst on package tours.
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| The Bee Gees, Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford, 20 February 1965. Source: Flickr. |
* Sunday, 11 April 1965 - Wollongong Leagues Club.
* 1 May 1965 - Thirroul RSL.
Dianne Hall (FB): I used to go to the dance held every Saturday in the RSL. The resident band was Dennis Williams and the Delawares. Who remembers them in the 60's? I wonder where they are now.
Narelle McEntee (FB): Wow! A blast from the past! I remember them playing at the Thirroul stomp, mid '60's. I think they were back up for early Bee Gees.
* 23 October 1965 - Thirroul Leagues Club - Easybeats and Bee Gees.
* No local performances precisely identified.
Additional, undated performances noted in the Lost Wollongong 2023 Facebook discussion include the following:
- CRM Christmas Party, Lysaght's Oval / Lysaght's Christmas Party. These may be the same event, or two different events.
- Pioneer Hall, Wollongong. $1 admittance.
- Police Boys Club, Wollongong.
- Collegians Club, Wollongong.
- Workers Club, Woonona.
- Shellharbour Hotel, Shellharbour. Narelle Telfer (FB): They played at Shellharbor pub too. My aunty Pam saw them there.
- Channel 4 Club program, WIN4 Television station, Mount St Thomas.
- Bulli-Woonona Sports Club - Freda Day (FB): They certainly played at Bulli - Woonona Sports and Social club, Hopetoun St. Woonona, early 1960s. It was a great show.
- Wollongong Town Hall. Virginia Charity (FB): My dad, Ray Vane, was a bouncer at the Town Hall dances. He bought the Bee Gees home one night for supper….!!! I had no idea who they were.
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4. Illawarra liaisons and Bee Gees connections
Within the Lost Wollongong Facebook discussion, the following notable mentions of personal encounters with the Bee Gees are worth highlighting:
* Christine Shereen (FB): Maurice Gibb accompanied one of the female students to a Berkeley High School dance in either 1963/64… I think it was ‘64.
* Sandra Mangles (FB): I was there [Lysaght's Christmas Party] as well. I got up on stage and sang with them. They were so lovely. ❤️
* Birgit Bade (FB): I remember that [Lysaght's Christmas Party] too. My neighbour had a brief boyfriend / girlfriend relationship with Barry.
* Carol Mcnamara (FB): I saw them at Pioneer Hall, maybe 1963.
* Peter Goodger (FB): I was the original drummer for The Tornadoes band of Wollongong and I remember the Bee Gee while appearing at the Shellharbour Community Hall with our band one night and they were so unknown at that time the kids rudely threw pennies on the stage during their performance, which of course was an insult. During a music break I remember Barry Gibb in the dressing room while holding his guitar, said "Where gonna be real big one day" he was not wrong. On another occasion they played at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in a tent in the fairground area, at this time they were still very young and I remember them enjoying a little puff on a shared .
* Roslyn Ring (FB): They performed on the Channel 4 club.
Another Wollongong connection appeared in the Australian Women's Weekly of 26 August 1964 when the following was reported:
A new group hailing from Wollongong, N.S.W., makes its recording debut backing the Bee Gees - the Delawares - who are now in Sydney attempting to hit the big time.
Denis Williams and the Delawares had formed in 1962, with subsequent appearances, for example, in Canberra during May 1962 at a 'Rock-'N'-Roll' dance, YWCA Hall, and a gig at the Pioneer Hall, Wollongong, on Friday, 17 April 1964. They most famously made a recording and appearance with the Bee Gees in 1964, backing them on their single Claustrophobia and appearing with them on TV.
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| Bee Gees, Claustrophobia, Leedon, 45rpm 7" single, 17 August 1964. |
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| The Delawares backing the Bee Gees on Claustrophobia. |
The 1964 single features the following: Barry Gibb - lead vocals, guitar; Robin Gibb - harmony and backing vocals, melodica; Maurice Gibb - harmony and backing vocals, guitar; Bruce Davis - guitar; Leith Ryan - guitar; Bill Swindells - bass; and Laurie Wardman - drums. It is unclear if Ryan and Swindells were members of the Delawares at the time of recording, though Davis/Davies and Wardman were as they are elsewhere listed as members of Denis Williams and the Delawares (1965-66), which included: Denis Williams (vocals), Michael Morris (rhythm guitar, vocals), Bruce Davies (guitar), Terry Smith (bass), Laurie Wardman (drums), Bob Daisley (bass). Daisley went on to work in Kahvas Jute and in the UK with Ozzie Osborne and Richie Blackmore.
Denis Williams and the Delawares, Bad Girl / They Say (Barry Gibb), 45rpm 7" single, 1965, YouTube, duration: 1.53 / 1.57 minutes.
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5. References
Brennan, Joseph, Gibb Songs, 1946-62, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2006-2013.
Davis, Joseph L., How Tarrawanna helped make the Bee Gees famous, The Author, academia.edu, November 2017, 3p.
De Looper, Michael, The Bee Gees Itinerary, 1958 to 1966, Big Three Publications, October 2014, 11p.
Henderson, Brian, [The Delawares], Australian Women's Weekly, 26 August 1964.
Mardon, Cydonee, Illawarra singer remembers the Bee Gees, Illawarra Mercury, 22 May 2012.
Ossie Byrne and the Bee Gees, Bee Gees Fan Fever [blog], 24 June 2014.
Rylah, Juliet Bennett, The Very Very Beginning of the Bee Gees [blog], n.d.
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Acknowledgements
Facebook has proven over recent years to be a significant resource for historians. Postings on sites such as Lost Wollongong often provide first hand accounts and reminiscences of recent (usually post World War II) events. Though they may be lacking in factual data such as precise dates, they often nevertheless provide information available nowhere else, information that is uncensored, information that reveals the feelings and emotions of participants in significant popular and local events, and information that reinforces that contained in other manuscript, published and audiovisual sources such as diaries, letters, newspapers, books, photographs, film, audio recordings and oral history interviews. Ordinary, everyday and pop cultural events are recorded, as opposed the to usual political, financial and industrial happenings. I would therefore like to thank all those Facebook individuals who provided comments on the Lost Wollongong page with regards to memories of the Bee Gees in Wollongong during the 1960s. Some slight editing and grammatical correction of the comments have been made in order to enhance readability and provide clarification where needed. No information has been censored or omitted. I would also like to thank David Lowrie for additional information on the Bee Gees local performances.
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Last updated: 2 November 2023
Michael Organ, Australia
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