New York Mining Disaster 1941

2011-02-22T19:59:32Z

69.231.44.102: /* Bee Gees version */

{{Infobox Single
| Name = New York Mining Disaster 1941
| Cover = New_York_Mining_Disaster_1941.gif
| Artist = [[Bee Gees]]
| from Album =[[Bee Gees' 1st]]
| B-side = "[[I Can't See Nobody]]" (GER, JP, SA, USA, CA)<br>"[[Close Another Door]]" (UK, AUS)
| Released = April 14, 1967
| Format = [[vinyl record]]
| Recorded = 13, 16 March 1967
| Genre =
| Length = 2:09
| Label = UK: [[Polydor]], AUS: Spin, USA/CA: [[Atco Records|Atco]]
| Writer = [[Barry Gibb]]/[[Robin Gibb]]
| Producer =
| Reviews =
| Last single = "[[Born a Man]]"<br>([[1967]])
| This single = "'''New York Mining Disaster 1941'''" <br>([[1967]])
| Next single = "[[To Love Somebody (song)|To Love Somebody]]" <br>([[1967]])
}}

"'''New York Mining Disaster 1941'''" was the first song to be released by the [[Bee Gees]] in the [[United States]], and their first song to hit the charts in the US or UK. At the time, rumours circulated that the [[Bee Gees]] were the [[Beatles]] recording under a pseudonym (the Bee Gees' name was supposedly code for "Beatles Group"), in part because the record referenced NEMS Enterprises ([[Brian Epstein]]'s management agency, which had just been joined by Bee Gees' manager [[Robert Stigwood]]).

==Bee Gees version==

The song recounts the story of a miner trapped in a cave-in. He is sharing a photo of his wife with a colleague ("Mr. Jones") while they hopelessly wait to be rescued. According to the liner notes for their box-set ''[[Tales from the Brothers Gibb]]'' ([[1990]]), this song was inspired by the 1966 [[Aberfan disaster|Aberfan mining disaster]] in [[Wales]].

The song's lyrics do not contain the song's title. However, some copies were pressed with the title '''"New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones?)'''", and the bracketed subtitle does appear in the lyrics of the song. In the second and third verses, the lyrical lines get slower and slower, as to indicate that life is about to expire for the miners.

In the movie ''[[Cucumber Castle]]'', - the movie that the Bee Gees starred in minus [[Robin Gibb]] - Maurice's character begins to sing this song while playing the banjo, only to end abruptly when a pie is thrown at his face.

Maurice Gibb recalled in an interview with ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' magazine: "The opening chord doesn't sound like a conventional A minor. Barry was using the open D tuning he'd been taught when he was nine, and I was playing it in conventional tuning. It gives an unusual blend. People went crazy trying to figure out why they couldn't copy it." <ref> [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7494 New York Mining Disaster 1941 Songfacts] </ref>

==Chart performance==
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#ebf5ff"
!align="left"|Chart
!align="left"|Peak position
|-
|align="left"|South Africa
|align="center"|2
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand
|align="center"|3
|-
|align="left"|Netherlands
|align="center"|4
|-
|align="left"|Holland
|align="center"|7
|-
|align="left"|Germany
|align="center"|10
|-
|align="left"|Australia
|align="center"|11
|-
|align="left"|United Kingdom
|align="center"|12
|-
|align="left"|United States
|align="center"|14
|-
|align="left"|France
|align="center"|31
|-
|align="left"|Canada
|align="center"|34
|-
|}

==Cover versions==
[[Ashton, Gardner and Dyke]] recordered a version of this song for their self-titled debut album from [[1969]].

[[David Essex]] recorded another version of this song for his 1993 covers album ''Cover Shot''. British anarchist band [[Chumbawamba]] recorded an ''[[minimalist]]'' version for their 2000 album, ''[[WYSIWYG (album)|WYSIWYG]]'', and The [[Levellers_(band)|Levellers]] covered the song as a B-side to their single ''Bozos''. It has also been performed by folksinger [[Martin Carthy]]. In 2008 singer songwriter [[Trevor Tanner]] released a version entitled ''Mr. Jones'' on his album ''Eaten By The Sea''.

[[Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt]] recorded a song called "New York Mining Disaster 1996" for their 1996 EP ''[[Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt]]'' but this song is not a cover and has no resemblence to the original Beegees song.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.brothersgibb.org/history-part-4.html History of the song]
*[http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/13716838/review/13750860/the_studio_albums_19671968 Rolling Stone Review]
*[{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t3116604|pure_url=yes}} AMG Review]

{{Bee Gees}}

{{1960s-song-stub}}

[[Category:Bee Gees songs]]
[[Category:1967 singles]]
[[Category:Songs about New York]]
[[Category:Songs written by Barry Gibb]]
[[Category:Songs written by Robin Gibb]]

[[fi:New York Mining Disaster 1941]]
[[pt:New York Mining Disaster 1941]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

New York Mining Disaster 1941