- New York Mining Disaster 1941
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"New York Mining Disaster 1941" 
Single by Bee Gees from the album Bee Gees' 1st B-side "I Can't See Nobody" (US, CA)
"Close Another Door" (UK)Released April 1967 (UK)
May 1967 (US)
June 1967 (AUS)Format vinyl record Recorded March 13, 16, 1967 Genre Acoustic rock Length 2:09 Label Polydor (UK/CA)
Atco (US/MEX)
Spin (AUS/NZ)Writer(s) Barry & Robin Gibb Producer Robert Stigwood Bee Gees singles chronology "Born a Man"
(1967)"New York Mining Disaster 1941"
(1967)"To Love Somebody"
(1967)Music sample "New York Mining Disaster 1941""New York Mining Disaster 1941" was the first song to be released by the Bee Gees in the United States (released 1967), and their first song to hit the charts in the US[1] 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).
Contents
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 mining disaster in Wales.
The song's lyrics do not contain the song's title.[1] 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: "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." [2]
Chart performance
Chart Peak position South Africa 2 New Zealand 3 Netherlands 4 Germany 10 Australia 11 United Kingdom 12 United States 14 France 31 Canada 34 Cover versions
Ashton, Gardner and Dyke recordered a version of this song for their self-titled debut album from 1969.
The Sorrows recorded this song in early 1969 as part of a demo album that was prepared before the release of their second album Old Songs New Songs; however, the song remained unreleased until it was included in a two-CD reissue of that album by Wooden Hill in 2009.
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, and The 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 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 resemblance to the original Bee Gees song.
References
External links
The Bee Gees Studio albums The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965) · Spicks and Specks (1966) · Bee Gees' 1st (1967) · Horizontal (1968) · Idea (1968) · Odessa (1969) · Cucumber Castle (1970) · 2 Years On (1970) · Trafalgar (1971) · To Whom It May Concern (1972) · Life in a Tin Can (1973) · Mr. Natural (1974) · Main Course (1975) · Children of the World (1976) · Spirits Having Flown (1979) · Living Eyes (1981) · E.S.P. (1987) · One (1989) · High Civilization (1991) · Size Isn't Everything (1993) · Still Waters (1997) · This Is Where I Came In (2001)Singles 1960s"Spicks and Specks" (1966) · "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967) · "To Love Somebody" (1967) · "Holiday" (1967) · "Massachusetts" (1967) · "World" (1967) · "Words" (1968) · "Jumbo" (1968) · "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (1968) · "I Started a Joke" (1968) · "First of May" (1969) · "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" (1969) · "Don't Forget to Remember" (1969)1970s"If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else" (1970) · "I.O.I.O." (1970) · "Lonely Days" (1970) · "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (1971) · "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" (1971) · "My World" (1972) · "Run to Me" (1972) · "Alive" (1972) · "Saw a New Morning" (1973) · "Wouldn't I Be Someone" (1973) · "Mr. Natural" (1974) · "Throw a Penny" (1974) · "Charade" (1974) · "Jive Talkin'" (1975) · "Nights on Broadway" (1975) · "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" (1976) · "You Should Be Dancing" (1976) · "Love So Right" (1976) · "Boogie Child" (1977) · "Edge of the Universe" (1977) · "How Deep Is Your Love" (1977) · "Stayin' Alive" (1977) · "Night Fever" (1978) · "Too Much Heaven" (1978) · "Tragedy" (1979) · "Love You Inside Out" (1979) · "Spirits (Having Flown)" (1979)1980s"He's a Liar" (1981) · "Living Eyes" (1981) · "The Woman in You" (1983) · "Someone Belonging to Someone" (1983) · "You Win Again" (1987) · "E.S.P." (1987) · "Crazy for Your Love" (1988) · "Ordinary Lives" (1989) · "One" (1989)1990s"Bodyguard" (1990) · "Secret Love" (1991) · "When He's Gone" (1991) · "Paying the Price of Love" (1993) · "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1993) · "How to Fall in Love, Part 1" (1994) · "Alone" (1997) · "I Could Not Love You More" (1997) · "Still Waters (Run Deep)" (1997)2000s"This Is Where I Came In" (2001)Soundtracks Live albums Compilation albums Best of Bee Gees (1969) · Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 (1973) · Bee Gees Gold (1976) · Bee Gees Greatest (1979) · Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990) · The Very Best of the Bee Gees (1990) · Their Greatest Hits: The Record (2001) · Number Ones (2004) · Love Songs (2005) · The Ultimate Bee Gees (2009) · Mythology (2010)Gibb Productions Andy Gibb's "Flowing Rivers" (1977), "Shadow Dancing" (1978) & "After Dark" (1980) · Jimmy Ruffin's "Sunrise" (1980) · Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" (1980) · Dionne Warwick's "Heartbreaker" (1982) · Kenny Rogers' "Eyes That See in the Dark" (1983) · Diana Ross' "Eaten Alive" (1985) · Carola's "Runaway" (1986) · Barbra Streisand's "Guilty Pleasures" (2005)Videography Cucumber Castle (1969) · Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) · The Bee Gees Special (1979) · One For All Tour (1990) · Keppel Road (1997) · One Night Only (1998) · This Is Where I Came In (2001) · Live By Request (2002) · In Our Own Time (2010)Related articles Categories:- 1960s song stubs
- Bee Gees songs
- 1967 singles
- Songs about New York
- Songs written by Barry Gibb
- Songs written by Robin Gibb
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