Frankie_Violet

<p><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">"First of May" is a song by the&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Bee Gees</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;with lead vocals by&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Gibb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Barry Gibb</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">, released as a single from their 1969 double album&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_(Bee_Gees_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong><em>Odessa</em></strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">. Its B-side was "</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamplight" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Lamplight</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">". It also featured as the B-side of "</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody_Fair" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Melody Fair</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">" when that song was released as a single in the Far East in 1971 as well as in 1976 and 1980 on&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSO_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>RSO Records</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">.</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_of_May_(Bee_Gees_song)#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">^{<strong>[3]</strong>}</a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;It was the first Bee Gees single to be released after lead guitarist&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Melouney" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Vince Melouney</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;had left the group.</strong></p><p><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">The song was first recorded in&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Studios" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>Atlantic Studios</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;in New York and was continued in&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBC_Studios" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>IBC Studios</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">, London. Barry said in the booklet with&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Brothers_Gibb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong><em>Tales from the Brothers Gibb</em></strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;that the title of the song came from the birthday of his dog, Barnaby. Maurice recalled the session in which that song came about. "Barry and I were sitting at the piano", he said, "And I started playing the chords, and Barry started singing, 'When I was small and Christmas trees were tall' and I started singing along with it. We put a demo down with a vocal and we kept the piano track. Went back to&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>England</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">, and went into&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBC_Studios" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>IBC Studios</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;in&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><strong>London</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">, added onto that piano track and Barry's vocal stayed on as well. We had a choir and an orchestra all on this one piano".</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_of_May_(Bee_Gees_song)#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">^{<strong>[4]</strong>}</a><strong style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34);">&nbsp;This song was initially taped in demo form in New York City on 16 August 1968.</strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_of_May_(Bee_Gees_song)#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">^{<strong>[5]</strong>}</a></p>