"Town of Tuxley Toymaker, Part One" is a song written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1966. It was recorded by Jon Blanchfield in 1966,

Billy J. Kramer William Howard Ashton (born 19 August 1943), known professionally as Billy J. Kramer, is an English pop singer. With The Dakotas, Kramer was managed by Brian Epstein during the 1960s and scored hits with several Lennon–McCartney compositions ...

in 1967 and Shane (

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) in 1968. It was recorded first by Jon Blanchfield. His version was only released in Australia as a B-side of the A-side single "Upstairs, Downstairs", a song also written by Barry, Robin and Maurice. The song was recorded in November or December 1966 at St. Clair Studio, Hurstville in Australia. Blanchfield also adds that Barry wrote " Coalman" around the same time. The melody was inspired by " Matchmaker" from ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

''. It was released as a single in February 1967, when the Bee Gees were in England, and they recorded another version of the song with

. The Gibb brothers also participated on this song. The Blanchfield version was included on the various artists compilation called ''Assault The Vaults: Rare Australian Cover Versions Of The Brothers Gibb''.

Billy J. Kramer version

Kramer's version was recorded on 4 March 1967, the Gibb brothers with

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 was ...

. It was also the Bee Gees' first recording session, after they returned in England, the song was recorded at

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

. and Kramer recalled:

Shane version

New Zealand singer Shane Hales, using his stage name Shane, released a version on the Zodiac label in 1968. Three versions of "Town of Tuxley Toymaker, Part 1"
at poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2020

Personnel

The musicians played on the Jon Blanchfield recording were: * Jon Blanchfield —

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

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 ...

—

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

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 ...

—

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,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, guitar (12-string) * Uncredited —

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 ...

, horns *

Ossie Byrne Oswald Russell "Ossie" Byrne (1926 – December 1983) was an Australian record producer, best known for producing the early recordings of The Bee Gees, including their first international hit, "New York Mining Disaster 1941". The youngest of ...

— engineer * Nat Kipner — producer The musicians played on the Billy J. Kramer recording were: *

— lead vocals * Barry Gibb — background vocals * Robin Gibb — background vocals * Maurice Gibb — background vocals *

— drums * Bill Shepherd — orchestral arrangement

References

{{Reflist 1967 songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood 1967 singles Reaction Records singles