Barry Gibb recently sat down in an interview on Apple Music’s Essentials Radio series to talk about Bee Gees classics.
On the Bee Gees classic “Massachusetts,” Barry talked about the song being written at the Saint Regis Hotel in New York. He also discussed their classic “To Love Somebody” being written after a meeting with soul legend Otis Redding. Barry said the Gibb brothers had originally wanted Otis to record that song, but he passed away before the session.
Barry also touched on Janis Joplin’s performance of the song at Woodstock, which he called “amazing.”
Barry called the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive” “as prophetic” and “appropriate” in this day as it was when it was first heard in the movie Saturday Night Fever.
Barry said he is proud of the lyrics in “Stayin’ Alive,” saying:
"The New York Times' effect on man; whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you're staying alive." Gibb recalled "people who had heart attacks being saved by that groove," because doctors were doing CPR to the beat of "Stayin' Alive." He said that "gratifying."
Barry also remembered that John Travolta "couldn't dance to 'Stayin' Alive,' but was comfortable walking to it." That’s how the movie’s opening sequence was filmed.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]