Rhino Factoids: The Bee Gees Make Their Live Debut in America
48 years ago today, Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb – the brotherly trio known as the Bee Gees – made their live debut in America.
The Gibb brothers waited a fair awhile before making their way to the United States for their first concert, but by the time they finally took the stage of the Anaheim Convention Center on January 27, 1968, they’d managed to build plenty of anticipation for their first American concert. Indeed, when one scans down the set list for that particular performance, there are five songs in particular that stand out: “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” “To Love Somebody,” “Holiday,” “Massachusetts,” and “Words,” all of which had been top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
Given that they only played a total of 12 songs that evening, that’s a pretty remarkable hit rate –by which, of course, we mean the rate at which they were playing hits – but that’s only speaking of the singles that were successful in the US up to that point. Also in the set list: “Spicks and Specks,” which had made it into the top five in the UK, “Jumbo” and “The Singer Sang His Song,” which hit #20 in the UK as a double A-side, and “I Started a Joke,” which would go on to be a hit on both sides of the Atlantic later in ’68. Oh, and you might also know “I Can’t See Nobody,” which found considerable fame after being included on the Best of the Bee Gees compilation.
Beyond all these notable numbers, the Bee Gees also delivered another pair of songs that casual fans may not recognize. Diehards will likely know “Really and Sincerely” immediately, as it can be found on Horizontal, but “Morning of My Life” might not ring a bell. It was originally called “In the Morning,” and the Gibbs recorded it during the 1966 sessions for their Spicks and Specks album, but it ended up not making the cut and was left unreleased until the 1970 compilation Inception/Nostalgia. Funnily enough, that’s also the same year that they re-recorded it during the sessions for their 2 Years On album, but it didn’t make the cut then, either, and didn’t see release until the following year, when it was included on the soundtrack of the film Melody. Yes, it did eventually end up on Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2, which was released in 1973, but even at that it might’ve slipped past you, since it was never released as a single.
Anyway, we’ve gotten away from our point, which is this: 48 years ago today, the Bee Gees made their live debut in America with a set list that was, for all practical purposes, a greatest-hits set. Not a bad way to kick off their US concert career, eh?
