Jumbo (Bee Gees song)

"Jumbo" is a single released in 1968 by English band Bee Gees.

Following a string of Top 20 singles on both sides of the Atlantic, "Jumbo" was the first A-side to miss that mark in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It's a peppy guitar-heavy number with two tracks of guitar laid done by Vince, and Barry singing so fast at the end that it is hard to make out the words. Many, including The Bee Gees themselves, have felt that the flip side was the stronger of the two songs and should have been promoted as the A-side. "Jumbo" managed to reach number 25 in the UK but stalled at number 57 in America, breaking a streak of five consecutive Top 20 singles. Until the release of the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb, "Jumbo" was available only on vinyl.

In other versions "The Singer Sang His Song" was the A-side and the B-side was this single.

Versions

This song, along with "The Singer Sang His Song", were only released on a single in 1968, so it was mixed only to mono at that time. It wasn't until 1990 that a stereo version was prepared by Bill Inglot for the release of the Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set.

The instrumental version of this song was included on their Unrealeased Demos (1966 - 1972), but still unreleased.

Track listing

• "Jumbo" - 2:07
• "The Singer Sang His Song" - 3:07

Bonus tracks

• "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" - 2:59
• "Kitty Can" - 3:20

Personnel

• Barry Gibb - vocals, guitar
• Maurice Gibb - bass
• Vince Melouney - guitar
• Colin Petersen - drums
• John Pantry, Damon Lyon Shaw - engineer

Chart performance