"The Singer Sang His Song" is a song written by

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

, Robin 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 ...

and recorded by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rock group Bee Gees, released in early 1968 as a single along with

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

. In some countries the song was the B-side of Jumbo but in others they were promoted as a double A-side.

Recording and mixing

This track was only issued as a single and not included on a studio album at the time, so by standard practice at the time, it was not mixed to stereo. The song was recorded on 8 January 1968, the same day the song "Down to Earth" was recorded, which was included on their third international album ''

Idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...

'' and " Chocolate Symphony", now included on the expanded version of ''Idea'' released in 2007. The song was unavailable until 1990 when it was mixed in stereo for the first time and extended to 3:19 for inclusion 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, ...

'' boxset. A remastered version featured on the deluxe edition of ''Idea'' released in 2006. Its promotional video was filmed in black and white, which featured a man and woman running in a park interspersed with The Bee Gees performing on stage. It reached #25 in the UK.

Release

Maurice Gibb explained about this song:

The only time
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was wrong when he said to release "Jumbo" as the A-side instead of the flipside "The Singer Sang His Song." We thought that was going to be the A-side, but
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
convinced Robert, and Robert had been convinced by
Vince Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...
and Colin 'cause they liked playing a bit more bluesy stuff, Robert said 'never again will I let anybody talk me into anything'.

The band's manager Robert Stigwood also explained about this song:

I also now realise it was a mistake to release it umboas an A-side in Britain because the public still want big, emotional ballads from the boys.

In a '' Billboard'' magazine interview with the Bee Gees, Maurice said of the song, "I love 'The Singer Sang His Song' from way back n 1968 But the songs are like our kids, and you feel funny favoring one to the other".

Personnel

* Robin Gibb — lead vocals, 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 ...

— backing and

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

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 ...

— backing vocals, 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 keybo ...

, organ, mellotron *

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 ...

— acoustic guitar *

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 * Bill Shepherd — orchestral arrangement

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer Sang his Song 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 Pop ballads Rock ballads 1968 singles