"Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" is a song written by
Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
released by the
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
in 1967 on their album ''
Bee Gees' 1st
''Bee Gees' 1st'' is the third studio album by English group Bee Gees, and their first international full-length recording after two albums distributed only in Australia and New Zealand. ''Bee Gees' 1st'' was the group's debut album for the UK P ...
''. It was released as the B-side to "
Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
" in the US, Australia and Canada.
The song was revived in concert by
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...
on his 2013-14 Mythology tour.
Recording
This track was recorded on March 23, 1967 along with "Please Read Me", "In My Own Time" and the unreleased track "Life". It was also released as the B-side of "
Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
" in Australia in October 1967 and US in September 1967. Though it was not released as a single anywhere, it appeared on the 1969 compilation ''
Best of Bee Gees
''Best of Bee Gees'' is a 1969 compilation album by the English-Australian rock band Bee Gees. It was their first international greatest hits album. It featured their singles from 1966-1969 with the exception of the band's 1968 single "Jumbo".
...
''.
Maurice Gibb talks about the
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
on this track: "We started off with a mellotron and we used that on "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show", I had to repeat that on stage, but I used an organ".
The Bee Gees denied rumours that
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
performed on this record.
Musical structure
The introduction of the song features the line ''Oh solo dominique'' chanted by Robin four times - this motif also features after each chorus. The verses are sung by Barry whose electric rhythm guitar features prominently. Music critic Bruce Eder describes this track as "close in spirit to the Moody Blues of this era, opening with a Gregorian chant backed by a
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
, before breaking into a strangely spaced-out, psychedelic main song body."
Personnel
*
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...
-
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
harmony vocal
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring Audio frequency, frequencies, pitch (music), pitches (timb ...
,
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...
*
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main le ...
-
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
,
organ,
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
*
Robin Gibb
Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...
- harmony vocal
*
Colin Petersen
Frederick Colin Petersen (born 24 March 1946) is an Australian drummer, record producer and former child actor. He played as a member of the bands Steve and the Board, the Bee Gees and Humpy Bong. In August 1969, he left the Bee Gees and he wa ...
-
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
*
Vince Melouney
Vincent Melouney (Maloney) (born 18 August 1945) is an Australian musician, singer and songwriter best known as an official member of The Bee Gees from 1967 to 1969 during the group’s initial period of worldwide success.
Prior to joining Be ...
-
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
* Bill Shepherd - orchestral arrangement
Cover versions
*Australian singer
Johnny Young
Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong; 12 March 1947) is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, his family settled in Perth in the early ...
released it on his LP ''Surprises''.
*
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...
recorded this song as an intro to their early live versions of "Shine on Sweet Jesus" as documented on the compilation, ''
20 Years of Weird: Flaming Lips 1986-2006''.
* The Posies recorded the song and it appeared on several bonus/promotional discs in 1996.
* LA based band
Goon Moon
Goon Moon is an American rock band composed of Jeordie White (also known as Twiggy Ramirez) and Chris Goss. The band released the mini-LP ''I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine'' in 2005 and have since recorded a full-length album, ''Licker's Las ...
on their second release ''
Licker's Last Leg
''Licker's Last Leg'' is the first full length studio album by Goon Moon, and the follow-up to 2005's ''I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine''. The record was released via Ipecac Recordings on May 8, 2007. The album features cameos by longtime Gos ...
'' in 2007.
*
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
included a version on their album Sorry! in 1994.
References
{{authority control
1967 songs
Bee Gees songs
Songs written by Barry Gibb
Songs written by Robin Gibb
Songs written by Maurice Gibb
Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood
Johnny Young songs
The Flaming Lips songs