"First of May" is a song 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 ...

with lead vocals 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 ...

, released as a single from their 1969 double album ''

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

''. Its B-side was "

Lamplight "Lamplight" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as the B-side of " First of May", but featured as the single's A-side in Germany. It also featured on their double album '' Odessa'' in March 1969. The song was written and composed by Barry, Robin ...

". It also featured as the B-side of "

Melody Fair A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

" when that song was released as a single in the Far East in 1971 as well as in 1976 and 1980 on

RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several maj ...

. It was the first Bee Gees single to be released after lead guitarist

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 ...

had left the group.

Origin and recording

The song was first recorded in

Atlantic Studios Atlantic Studios was the recording studio of Atlantic Records. Although this recording studio was located at 1841 Broadway (at the corner of 60th Street), in New York City, Atlantic Recording Studios was initially located at 234 West 56th Street ...

in New York and was continued in

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 ...

, London. Barry said in the booklet with ''

Tales from the Brothers Gibb ''Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song'' is a box set compilation released by the Bee Gees in 1990. Originally released on four cassettes and four compact discs, ''Tales'' is a summary of the Bee Gees output from their third album, ...

'' that the title of the song came from the birthday of his dog, Barnaby. Maurice recalled the session in which that song came about. "Barry and I were sitting at the piano", he said, "And I started playing the chords, and Barry started singing, 'When I was small and Christmas trees were tall' and I started singing along with it. We put a demo down with a vocal and we kept the piano track. Went back to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and went into

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, added onto that piano track and Barry's vocal stayed on as well. We had a choir and an orchestra all on this one piano". This song was initially taped in demo form in New York City on 16 August 1968. The orchestral arrangement from maestro Bill Shepherd was featured on the second chorus. The song starts with a piano on the first verse and chorus. Shepherd's orchestra is featured in the second verse and second chorus. After singing the second chorus, the singer repeats the first verse. The music stops when he sings "Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by, Someone else moved in from far away".

Aftermath

The flip side of the single was "

" on which

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 ...

sang the lead.

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like ''Hair'' ...

, the Bee Gees manager chose "First of May" for the A-side. No other singles were released from the ''

'' album, as

already had left the group. The song was partially responsible for Robin's brief departure from the

, because he had wanted his song, "Lamplight," to be the album's first single, while Barry preferred "First of May." In the end, Barry's judgment won, relegating "Lamplight" to the B-side and as a result Robin quit the band, but he returned a year later. "First of May" debuted at #55 in ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazine charts the week of March 22nd 1969. ''Cash Box'' described it as a "low-key love ballad with the same mystic quality that has proved captivating in the team's work" with "hypnotic arrangements" and a "singular vocal sound." After its release, "First of May" enjoyed a resurgence several times. In 1971, the song was featured in the soundtrack to ''

Melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

'', a British motion picture about two children in love. In 1996, the song was used as a theme of the Japanese drama ''Wakaba no Koro''. The song was consequently reissued as a CD single in Japan, also featuring " How Deep Is Your Love" and peaked at No 25, selling more than 100,000 copies.

Later renditions by group members

Although the originally released version was basically just

's vocal backed with Bill Shepherd's orchestral arrangement, the other two credited writers would later appear performing the song.

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 ...

sang the song in duet with his former wife

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

on her 2002 TV special ''An Audience with Lulu'', while

guested on G4's cover of the song, released on ''

G4 & Friends ''G4 & Friends'' is the second album released by X Factor runner-up group, G4. It entered at #6 in the UK charts with first week sales of 97,100. The album includes the band singing with guest stars Cliff Richard, Lesley Garrett and Robin Gibb. ...

'' in 2005. This version was also released as a single.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Of May (Bee Gees Song) Bee Gees songs 1969 singles 1969 songs Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb Pop ballads Robin Gibb songs