Massachusetts

"Massachusetts" is a song by the Bee Gees, released in 1967.[2]  Written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb. Robin Gibb sang lead on this song and it would become one of his staple songs to perform during concerts. It later appeared on their 1968 album, Horizontal. It was their first No. 1 hit in Australia and theUK[1]  and eventually became one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling over five million copies worldwide.[3]  When the Bee Gees wrote the song, they had never been to Massachusetts.[2]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Writing  ==Writing[ edit] == The song was written in the Regis Hotel, New York City during a tour of the United States. The song was intended as an antithesis to flower power anthems of the time such as "Let's Go to San Francisco" and "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" in that the protagonist had been to San Francisco to join the hippies but was now homesick. The idea of the lights having gone out in Massachusetts was to suggest that everyone had gone to San Francisco. The song was originally intended for The Seekers. Upon arriving in London from Australia (following in the path of the Seekers who had arrived several years earlier) the Bee Gees had been unsuccessful in getting the song to the group, so they recorded it themselves. During a chance meeting in London between the Seekers' lead singer Judith Durham and Maurice Gibb, Durham learned that "Massachusetts" was originally intended for her group and in 2003 the Seekers performed this song as a tribute to Maurice following his death earlier that year. The Bee Gees had never actually been to Massachusetts when they recorded this; just liked the sound of the name.[5]  Robin Gibb explained about "Massachusetts" in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh:
 * 2 Recording and release
 * 3 Personnel
 * 4 Chart performance
 * 5 Cover versions
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

"We have never been there but we loved the word and there is always something magic about American place names. It only works with British names if you do it as a folk song. Roger Whittaker did that with Durham Town." Robin Gibb also recalled to The Mail on Sunday on 1 November 2009: "This was a bittersweet victory. The day it went to No. one it was Bonfire Night and I was in the Hither Green rail crash in Lewisham. Forty-nine people died and it was one of Britain's worst rail disasters. Luckily I didn't get injured. I remember sitting at the side of the carriage, watching the rain pour down, fireworks go off and blue lights of the ambulances whirring. It was like something out of a Spielberg film. I thought, at least there is one consolation, we have our first UK number one."[5] ==Recording and release<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Barry feels Bill Shepherd's orchestral score is perhaps the arranger's finest: "We never expected him to do that. Sometimes we would sing what we would [imagine] the strings doing. But in this case he did that himself, and I thought it was great. <<Massachusetts>> was our first #1 in England".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-song_4-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Before the release of this song, Australians Colin Petersen and Vince Melouney were facing deportation, and it appeared that they might be leaving the band sooner than later. On 12 August, British fans staged a protest on behalf of the musicians at the cottage of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Three days later Bee Gees fan Deirdre Meehan chained and handcuffed herself to Buckingham Palace to protest the possible deportation. Ultimately, the musicians were allowed to stay, and the issue made nary a dent in the band's hectic schedule.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-song_4-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]  When it was released in England, the title was "(The Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts" but was changed later, Atco Records delayed it to release "Holiday".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The song has a minor claim to fame in the history of British radio. While many people know "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move was the first record played on BBC Radio 1, "Massachusetts" was the second.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">This single was the first No. 1 hit single by a non-Japanese artist on Japan's official hit chart, Oricon Singles Chart. "Massachusetts" was released as a single in 19 September, and on the next day, it entered the UK chart. The song reached No. 11 in the United States. ==Personnel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Chart performance<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Cover versions<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Robin Gibb – lead vocal
 * Maurice Gibb – bass, piano, mellotron
 * Barry Gibb – guitar, backing vocal
 * Vince Melouney – guitar
 * Colin Petersen – drums
 * Former Yugoslav band Siluete covered the song in 1967.
 * Ed Ames recorded a version of this song on his album Who Will Answer? in 1968.
 * Also in 1968, Hong Kong female singer Betty Chung covered this song in Mandarin Chinese with Chinese lyrics written by Wei Yin (魏因) and given the title name of <<我祝福他>>, appearing on her LP album Wild Flame (<<野火>>)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  and released by EMI Pathe Records.
 * Between 1972 and 1974, this song was covered by Singapore-based female singer Ervinna, backing music by the Charlie & His Boys, on her LP album Golden Hits of 20th Century Vol. 6 with White Cloud Record of Singapore.
 * Ylvis published a song with the same title, however has no direct correlation with the Bee Gees song