Pop Music
Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb wrote the song “Massachusetts” and released it in 1967, first as a single and then on their 1968 album Horizontal. It’s a nice piece of Sixties folk rock. Actually, at the time, the brothers Gibb had not been to Massachusetts. The song came about while they were at the Regis Hotel In New York City, as they were touring in the United States. They liked the sound of the name Massachusetts and wanted the song to be an answer in way to the movement of the hippies to California and songs such as “Let’s Go to San Francisco” and “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).” In “Massachusetts,” the lights have gone out in there because folks have left to go West. However, the singer of the song is now homesick and wants to go back to Massachusetts. They originally intended the song for The Seekers, but they recorded it first themselves. It became an international smash. It was their first #1 hit in Australia and the U.K. The song went to #1 in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and New Zealand. It was #2 in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and Switzerland. And it rose to #11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The record sold more than five million copies and is one of the best-selling singles of all time.
On the track were Robin Gibb (lead vocals), Barry Gibb (guitar, backing vocals), Maurice Gibb (bass, piano, Mellotron, backing vocals), Vince Melouney (guitar), and Colin Peterson (drums).
The Bees did eventually travel to Massachusetts.
