Although this is my 2nd “Found Performance” featuring The Bee Gees, let me emphatically state that I am not the world’s biggest Bee Gees fan … although I am a huge fan of great harmony vocals and admittedly they are among the best in that category. My personal preference to their recordings is anything from their “pre-disco” era .
This acoustic version of the brothers singing their hit “Massachusetts” is a particularly fine example of sibling harmony. The Bee Gees wrote the song while staying at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City during a 1967 U.S. tour and recorded it in London in August of that year … with its release in September. The brothers had never been to Massachusetts when they wrote the song, but it was written as an antitheses to the flower power anthems of the time. On their return to England the Bee Gees planned to offer the song to The Seekers to record. In the end, The Seekers didn’t do so at that time, but they did in 2003 as a tribute to Maurice Gibb following his death earlier that year. 
When the Bee Gees recorded the record in 1967, they were still a 5-piece group, with the 3 brothers (Barry, Maurice and Robin) plus fellow Aussies’ guitarist Vince Melouney and drummer Colin Peterson. The song charted #1 in the UK, #11 in the US and #2 in Australia. It was also the first #1 single, by a non-Japanese artist, on Japan’s official hit chart peaking at #1 on April 1, 1968.
Here are the Bee Gees, in 1981, doing a terrific acoustic version of their hit record from 14 years earlier, “Massachusetts.” Click twice on the video, once to go to Vimeo and the second time to start the video.
So Steven, do you think it’s worthy of a noble Nobel?
Jay…you had planned to “seek” out the Seekers. That is a noble play on words.
Mike ~ I had planned to seek out The Seekers cover, but got sidetracked. Thanks for the assist!
Steve & Mike ~ The truth be known, I literally stumbled upon both of those Bee Gees acoustic performances while looking for something else. I guess it was just a case of being in “harmony” with the universe!
Jay – it’s in your DNA: once a DJ always a DJ, right? 🙂 I found the 2003 version by The Seekers on Youtube which I’ve never heard before. As with other tunes by this group, they bring a distinctive sound & production to this song & do it justice as a cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUfUNNN68eQ
Jay – what a nice find! It’s a very sweet version of my favourite Bee Gees tune. I love the bass-heavy production on the original. I next had to browse & discover the Seekers take on this lovely song
Jay, you have an uncanny ability to locate interesting and out of the ordinary Bee Gees’ performances.