Background
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb wrote and had their first UK #1 with this song in 1967, but it wasn't until some years later, during a chance meeting in London between the Seekers lead singer Judith Durham and Maurice Gibb, that Judith learned the amazing truth that "Massachusetts" was originally intended to fulfill The Bee Gees' dream of becoming an early hit 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. But in 2003, The Seekers finally performed this song as a tribute to Maurice. The Bee Gees had never actually been to Massachusetts when they recorded this; just liked the sound of the name.
Robin Gibb explained "Massachusetts" in 1000 UK#1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh:
"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 November 1, 2009:
"This was a bittersweet victory. The day it went to number 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."
Read more about this topic: Massachusetts (Bee Gees Song)
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)