If you enjoy the Bee Gees early period, then look no further than Massachusetts. The concert in Las Vegas in 1997 we watched frequently as a family on DVD. It’s ‘Mainstream Pop’ delivered at the highest level. They initially hit the big time in Brisbane, Australia (1963) as kids. There is a great video ‘Melody‘ of one of their earliest performances in Brisbane. For that reason, we like to say the Bee Gees are really Aussies.
There is no disputing their talent and dedication. One of the greatest (if not the best) mainstream pop bands of all time. I was tossing up between adding their performance of Massachusetts from the Johnny Carson show or the performance from the Las Vegas show. The performance on the Carson show demonstrates their magnificent harmony and even their Beatles ‘like’ whimsical demeanour (see Maurice).
[Verse 1]
Feel I’m going back
To Massachusetts
Something’s telling me
I must go home
[Chorus]
And the lights all went out down in Massachusetts
The day I left
Her standing on her own
[Verse 2]
Tried to hitch a ride
To San Francisco
Gotta do the things
I wanna do
This is the second song to be presented here from Bee Gees. The first was Islands in the Stream. Sharon commented in response to that post:
I grew up in the Bee Gees era. Love them and their music. Great songwriters and performers. Only Barry left, very sadly. If I could write half the songs for the stars they wrote for, I would be a happy camper!
– Sharon at Writers Tidbits
From Wikipedia:
(The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts was written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb and released in 1967. Robin Gibb sang lead vocals on this song and it would become one of his staple songs to perform during both Bee Gees concerts and his solo appearances. It later appeared on their 1968 album, Horizontal.
The song became the first of the group’s five No. 1 hits in the UK Singles Chart, reached No. 1 in twelve other countries, peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually sold over five million copies worldwide. When the brothers wrote the song, they had never been to Massachusetts.
The song was written in the Regis Hotel, New York City during a tour of the United States. The song was intended as an antithesis to flower power anthems of the time such as “Let’s Go to San Francisco” and “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” in that the protagonist had been to San Francisco to join the hippies but was now homesick. The idea of the lights having gone out in Massachusetts was to suggest that everyone had gone to San Francisco.
Reference:
1. Massachusetts (Bee Gees song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Hi Matt, when did I miss this?!!! The Bee Gees, can do no wrong for me. I grew up listening to their music! They shaped the late 70s the 80s… So much talent! Fantastic song-writers!! I can’t bear the thought that only Barry is left now!
I have been writing lots of articles and just publishing them because I have lots of songs to get through and I’m only at ‘M’. Their performance of this on Johnny Carsen is one for the ages. Maurice’s expressions are the best. I wish I was on what he was haha
Matthew! Thank you so much for mentioning me in this post and for the link to my site! Three amazing brothers!
Sometimes when I’m lacking something in a post, I’ll read comments from previous articles of the same group / artist and find good stuff just like your comment about the Bee Gees. So thank you! Yes, they were quite the group. Very sad what happened to the 3 brothers passing away very young.
Yes, very sad and they passed way too young. Thanks again for the link to my blog.