"On Time" is a song written by

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 ...

and recorded 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 ...

; it was released on 14 January 1972 as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the single " My World".

Background

It was recorded on 21 October 1971 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the day that they finished the song " Alive", which was included on their 1972 album '' To Whom It May Concern''. The swamp rocker "On Time" was one of Maurice's favourites, this being the first of three recordings he made of it. Maurice and guitarist Alan Kendall share a few tracks of acoustic and electric guitars, accompanied by Geoff Bridgford on

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 ...

and string arrangement by Bill Shepherd that should not fit in, but does. Maurice later described this number as his "

Swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

period". "On Time" was only available on vinyl until it was included in the 1990 box set ''

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, ...

''. The single was released as a double A in the UK,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. In Mexico, the song was released under the title "A Tiempo". The song was released in 1971 in other countries like France, Germany and Italy.

Personnel

—

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

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 ...

, acoustic lead guitar *Geoff Bridgford —

Alan Kendall Alan Kendall (born 9 September 1944) is an English musician and was the lead guitarist for the Bee Gees, in an unofficial capacity from 1971 until 1980, and again from 1987 until 2001. Career His first recording was " Don't Play That Song (Yo ...

— electric lead guitar,

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...

*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, ...

l arrangement

Cover versions

* Mike Berry and Bob Saker covered the song on their album ''Drift Away'' which was produced and played on by Maurice Gibb. * Maurice Gibb re-recorded "On Time" in 1983 for the film '' A Breed Apart'' and its accompanying soundtrack, but it was the 1972 Bee Gees recording that was used in the film, and the 1983 version sounds like a home demo with guitars and drum track. The several guitar tracks may include a contribution from Alan Kendall. This version was recorded at the brothers' Middle Ear studios in Miami Beach, Florida. *

Richard Ashcroft Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1990 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime. Ashcroft was ...

sampled "On Time" on his song "Are You Ready?" which featured in the 2011 film '' The Adjustment Bureau''. "Are You Ready?" was credited to Ashcroft and Maurice. * Steve Gibb performed this in his father

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 ...

's, concert at the Hard Rock in Miami as well as on Barry's Mythology Tour (2013-2014). He also recorded his own version for the Gibb Collective project Please Don't Turn Out the Lights.

References

{{Authority control 1972 singles Bee Gees songs Songs written by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Polydor Records singles Atco Records singles Maurice Gibb songs 1972 songs