"Really and Sincerely" is a song by the Bee Gees. 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 ...

in 1967 and released in 1968 on the album '' Horizontal'', it is also featured as the B-side of "

And the Sun Will Shine "And the Sun Will Shine" is a song by the British rock band Bee Gees, it was written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb and released in February 1968 on the album '' Horizontal''. The song's opening chord was D7, consisting of the notes ...

" in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It was issued in 1970 as the B-side single to " Let There Be Love". According to Bruce Eder of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, "the song descends into an even more emotionally melodramatic mood than "

"".

Writing and recording

Its first version (which featured piano instead of organ as the song was written on and ultimately released with) was recorded on November 28th 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 ...

. This version was released in 2006 on ''The Studio Albums 1967-1968''. The second take, recorded the following day, was chosen for the album. This track was Robin's musical response to his involvement in the

Hither Green rail crash On 5 November 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service from to derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in London, between and railway stations. Of the twelve coaches, many full of standing passengers, eleven were derailed and four ...

, a resigned meditation on trying reach out to someone as Robin explained: "I was in the Hither Green train crash, and it’s kind of a song after that". Robin's girlfriend and future wife, Molly Hullis was in the crash with him. Robin added: "It was kind of about our relationship at the time, so it had a personal tone to it, We nearly got killed. It was written on a piano accordion that I bought in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Particularly the chorus was written on that in Paris the first night I bought it".

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by

Personnel

* Robin Gibb — lead vocals, accordion, Hammond organ *

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 ...

—

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 strin ...

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 ...

—

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 ...

* Bill Shepherd — orchestral arrangement

References

External links

Really and Sincerely - Lyrics
{{Authority control 1968 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 Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb Songs about trains Songs about transport