The Rattlesnakes (1955 band)

The Rattlesnakes
The Rattlesnakes in Manchester, early 1958, from left to right: Frost, Horrocks, Maurice, Barry and Robin.
Background information
Also known as	Wee Johnny Hayes and The Blue Cats
Origin	Manchester, Lancashire, England
Genres	Skiffle, rock and roll, doo-wop, roots rock
Years active	1955–58
Associated acts	Bee Gees
Past members	Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb Paul Frost Kenny Horrocks

The Rattlesnakes were a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by Barry Gibb in Manchester in 1955, which eventually evolved into the Bee Gees in 1958. They were one of the many skiffle bands that were formed in the United Kingdom in the 1950s since the revival of the American skiffle in the UK that was originally started in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Barry started a skiffle group which his younger brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb also joined as vocalists, after they returned to their parents' hometown in Manchester, England in 1955. Their friends/neighbors, Paul Frost (drums) and Kenny Horrocks (tea-chest bass) later joined. Their debut performance in public happened in December 1957 in Gaumont Cinema, performing The Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie". Some of their influences at that time were Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Tommy Steele, Buddy Holly and Paul Anka.

On 12 January 2003, Maurice died unexpectedly at the age of 53, of a cardiac arrest, while waiting to undergo surgery for a twisted intestine. On 20 May 2012, Robin died at the age of 62 from liver and kidney failure. On 17 November 2012, Frost died in England after a long battle with cancer at age 64. As of 2015, Barry Gibb and Kenny Horrocks were the only remaining survivors of The Rattlesnakes.

In 1955, the Gibbs moved back to Manchester where they attended school, but Barry didn't like school at all, and he and his brothers soon stopped attending to focus only on music. Following the family's return to England, the three brothers were influenced by rock and roll as their older sister, Lesley, had some records by rock 'n' roll artists as the genre became popular in the 1950s. After that, they formed a skiffle band, The Rattlesnakes, in 1955. According to Horrocks, the name The Rattlesnakes was hand-painted by Barry on the side of the tea-chest bass.