"Morning of My Life" (originally known as "In the Morning") is a song written 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 popula ...

in 1965 whilst in the town of

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, Australia and later recorded by the Bee Gees and several other artists. It was recorded in 1966 during sessions for the album '' Spicks and Specks'', and later was released as the opening track on the compilation '' Inception/Nostalgia'' in 1970. The first recording of the song to be released by any artist was by Ronnie Burns, first as a B-side to his ''Exit, Stage Right'' single in June 1967 and a month later on his ''Ronnie'' LP. In 1969, Barry and

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 lea ...

performed an acoustic version with their sister Lesley, in a BBC Two special, made during the period when Robin Gibb had left the group to pursue a solo career. They re-recorded the song on September 30, 1970 (by which time Robin had rejoined the group), during sessions for ''

2 Years On ''2 Years On'' is the eighth studio album by the Bee Gees, which reached No. 32 on the US charts. Released in 1970, the album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after an earlier disagreement and subsequent split following '' Odessa''. ...

'' on the same day as "Every Second, Every Minute", "The First Mistake I Made", and the unreleased "Don't Forget Me Ida". This recording did not make the album but gave the song a whole new audience when used on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the 1971 film '' Melody'' along with other Bee Gees songs. Its first inclusion on a Bee Gees album was the compilation '' Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2'' in 1973 and it subsequently appeared on the

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, ...

and

Mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

box sets. Throughout their career, the Bee Gees performed the song live on many occasions, most notably at the One Night Only concert in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in 1997.

Esther & Abi Ofarim version

Israeli duo Esther & Abi Ofarim recorded the song in 1967. Although they had been recording for many years, this song was their first UK release. It was released as a single on

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

in September 1967, and became a hit single in Germany, reaching No. 2, and it peaked at No. 9 in Austria. The B-side, "Garden of My Home", was written by all three Gibb brothers. Both tracks were produced by

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 (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

with orchestral arrangement by Phil Dennys (who also arranged some songs on ''Bee Gees' 1st''). The single was released in mono and the song also appeared on the Ofarims' album '' 2 in 3''.

Other covers

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

recorded a version of the song for her 1968 album 'Nuff Said!. This version was recorded in the studio but applause was later added to give the effect of a live recording, following the theme of the rest of the album. The album also included a live cover version of the Bee Gees track "Please Read Me". * Also in 1968,

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

did a bilingual English/Welsh version of "Morning of my life". *

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the younger brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice, who went on to form the Bee Gees. Gibb came to prominence in the late 1970s through th ...

recorded this song in 1980, while recording songs for his compilation '' Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits'' including "Time Is Time", "Me (Without You)", and a cover version of "

Will You Love Me Tomorrow "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song with words by Gerry Goffin and music composed by Carole King. It was recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, and hit n ...

" with

P.P. Arnold PP, pp or Pp may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pianissimo'', a music term meaning ''very quiet'', from musical dynamics * Production code for the 1967–1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Enemy of the World'' * Police Procedural - a subgen ...

. His version of "Morning of my Life" was not released. *

Baptist Generals The Baptist Generals are an American indie band from the town of Denton, Texas. Baptist Generals formed in 1998 by singer-songwriter Chris "Cee" Flemmons and drummer Steve Hill. Originally they played for beer money as a street act on Denton's ...

have included a version of this song on their 2013 album ''Jackleg Devotional to the Heart''. *

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

released a recording on her 1972 album ''Unforgettable Songs''. *

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for ...

released a recording on her 1972 album ''Jennifer''. * John Holt covered the song on his 1973 reggae album ''1000 Volts of Holt. * Emmy award-winning Faith Rivera released a ukulele version of the song on her 2005 album "Suncatcher" * David Gray, a British singer-songwriter, released the song on his 2007 live album A Thousand Miles Behind * Sabrina Starke, a Dutch singer, released a single version in 2014. *

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), ...

covered this song for Record Store Day 2018, backing a choral version of their song ''Crack-Up''.
The Bluegrass 45
released a bluegrass version as the title song of the 1973 LP ''In the Morning'' (Rebel SLP 1516) *

covered this song on their live album '' A Very Lonely Solstice'' in 2020.

References

{{authority control 1965 songs 1967 singles Bee Gees songs Songs written by Barry Gibb British folk songs Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb Andy Gibb songs Esther & Abi Ofarim songs Philips Records singles