"Melody Fair" is a song by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

, written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb in 1968 and released in 1969 on their album ''

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

''. It was not released as a single, but this song was played on many radio stations, and was a hit in Japan.

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...

's 1974 group, named Melody Fayre was named after this song. It also featured as the theme to ''

Melody A melody (), 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 combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

'', a British film featuring a number of Bee Gees songs in its soundtrack.

Writing and recording

According to

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

, "I think 'Melody Fair' was written in the studio, we used to write a lot of stuff on the spot in the studio. We often used to go to recording studios without any songs at all. Because the time was booked ndwe had to be there. So we'd turn up at seven at night, and we'd basically start writing and cutting the backing track of a song that wasn't finished. We would just create it in that way. A lot of albums were done in a month or five weeks. The first one was three weeks, 'Melody Fair' was probably influenced by ' Eleanor Rigby', I was wanting to make the same kind of statement". In ''The Billboard Interview'' on 24 March 2001, Maurice talks about this track, "For 'Melody Fair', I think we were just in IBC Studios jamming together". The group finished writing "Melody Fair" on October 25 and recorded its demo the next day at IBC. An alternate mix made on October 27, featuring the

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

that was mixed out later, appears on the ''Sketches for Odessa'' bonus disc released with the remastered edition in 2009. Robin appears to be absent with Maurice singing the opening lines of the refrain directly after Barry finishes singing the verses. This is one of a handful of songs to make some use of Barry Gibb singing in a falsetto voice, which would become a featured part of the Bee Gees' sound starting with their 1975 hit single " Nights on Broadway". The demo features an acoustic guitar and drum backing track. Unlike the other songs on ''Odessa'', the lyrics are also the same on the demo and its finished version. The only different lyric on the demo was ''She shouldn't cry, she should smile all day, Just like a merry-go-round''. The alternate mix, which was released on ''Sketches for Odessa'' has a different, fuller and more backing track and Barry's vocals on that mix were also the same on the demo and finished version; however, the drums on that version are removed from the final recording of the song.

Other releases

The song has appeared on many compilations, and featured on singles in some countries. After its release on ''Odessa'', it was included on their EP ''Marley Purt Drive''. In May 1971 it was released as a single only in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where it reached #3. The song was recorded again on August 27, 1970, while they were recording for their album '' 2 Years On''. This version was never released. The song was featured over the opening titles of the 1971 movie ''

'' which made use of other Bee Gees songs in its soundtrack. It was not released as a single in the US and UK, but become a favourite of fans and later appeared on the band's compilation album '' Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2''. They performed the song in

in early 1972 before they began recording their album '' To Whom It May Concern''. The song was performed in acoustic form on the '' One For All Tour'' in 1989. and the One Night Only tour in the late 1990s but did not feature on the video releases of either tour.

Critical reception

Donald A. Guarisco at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

describes this song as "a graceful melody that makes them sound like a grand, mournful proclamation".

Commercial performance

Song has sold 500,000 copies in Japan.

Personnel

–

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 the ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb wer ...

– lead and

backing 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 us ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, rhythm guitar *

Colin Petersen Frederick Colin Petersen (24 March 1946 – 18 November 2024) was an Australian musician and 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 replaced ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Bill Shepherd –

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

Cover versions

*The New Dawn released their version as a single in 1969 on Imperial Records. *Brothers Pride recorded their version of "Melody Fair", released as a single in 1969 on GNP Crescendo. *

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 ...

, married to Maurice Gibb at the time, released a version as the title song to '' her 1970 album''.

References

{{authority control 1969 songs 1969 singles 1971 singles Polydor Records singles Imperial Records singles 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 Lulu (singer) songs