Original Bee Gee drummer bringing his band to town

HOW deep is your love, for the Bee Gees?

Even for the most casual of fans the upcoming Best of the Bee Gees show at The Capital Bendigo is going to be a must attend event, just to see and hear from the band’s original drummer Colin ‘Smiley’ Petersen.

Smiley, as he is affectionately known due to his starring role in the movie of the same name, will be back behind the drums and talking to the crowd about the smash hit songs and his time with the renowned band.

“I give my little anecdotes and I communicate with the people who are interested in me giving them an insight into what was going on with the original Bee Gee line-up at the time,” he said.

With such a colourful past that includes starring in three hit films including Smiley, A Cry from the Streets and The Scamp, in which he starred alongside Sir Richard Attenborough, Smiley has lived quite the life.

He took some convincing to become a part of the tribute shows, especially considering he had hardly looked at a drum kit in the last 50 years.

“I hadn’t played the drums apart from parties, on about four or five occasions, since the Bee Gees,” he said.

“Since our last recording, which was 1969 around August or something like that.”

Known as a bit of a child prodigy it’s not surprising, he has picked it back up so easily.

But his career nearly didn’t get off the ground at all, or wouldn’t have if not for his bookmaker uncle, Billy.

After showing potential in a school band, Smiley’s mother wanted him to get lessons but couldn’t afford a drum kit for their home.

“Billy says, ‘what’s the point of that? There is no point in him going to Brisbane to have lessons if he doesn’t have a drum kit to come home too’,” Smiley said.

So, Billy purchased Smiley a Premier brand drum kit, on the proviso if he wasn’t putting it to good use, it would be returned.

It was never returned, and Smiley was on his path to joining the disco super group.

Smiley still fondly recalls his time as part of the Bee Gees, playing a crucial part in their sound, and his time with the Gibb brothers.

“I think I was the perfect player at that time for the Bee Gees because I kept it simple. I established exactly the right tempo for the song. And just gave it a little bit of colour here and there,” he said.

“But you know those three brothers, they just had hits!

“Goodness me, they sold so many records and wrote so many great songs over the decades.”

When it comes to the upcoming shows, the Bee Gee legacy and sticking to their sound is important to Smiley.

He couldn’t be happier with the group of musicians he’s taking the stage with for the concerts.

“I’ve seen on YouTube glimpses of other bands that are doing tributes, you know there are 180 tribute bands out there,” he said.

“But this band, we are so close to the original recordings, there’s so much dedication to this and none of this sort of virtuosity thing going on.”

It’s about checking your ego at the door according to Smiley, which is not something musicians are particularly know for, but this group of guys are more than happy to do so.

“I think a lot of musicians are out there to impress, they’re not there to be part of the band, they just want to show how f***** clever they can be,” he said.

“There’s none of that in this band. Our job is to take people back to the original recordings as close as we can get.”

The Best of The Bee Gees will be at The Capital Bendigo on Friday, 10 February, with tickets on sale now at GOTIX or you can call 5434 6100.