Jive Talkin'

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For the language, see African American Vernacular English.
"Jive Talkin'"
Single by Bee Gees
from the album Main Course
B-side "Wind of Change"
Released 31 May 1975
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded Criteria Studios,
Miami, Florida,
30 January —
19 February 1975
Genre Funk,[1] disco[2]
Length 3:44 (album version)
3:33 (single version)
Label RSO
Writer(s) Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
Producer(s) Arif Mardin
Bee Gees singles chronology

"Charade"
(1974)		 "Jive Talkin'"
(1975)		 "Nights on Broadway"
(1975)

Saturday Night Fever track listing
Side A
  1. "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees)
  2. "How Deep Is Your Love" (Bee Gees)
  3. "Night Fever" (Bee Gees)
  4. "More Than a Woman" (Bee Gees)
  5. "If I Can't Have You" (Yvonne Elliman)
Side B
  1. "A Fifth of Beethoven" (Walter Murphy)
  2. "More Than a Woman" (Tavares
  3. "Manhattan Skyline" (David Shire)
  4. "Calypso Breakdown" (Ralph MacDonald)
Side C
  1. "Night on Disco Mountain" (David Shire)
  2. "Open Sesame" (Kool & the Gang)
  3. "Jive Talkin'" (Bee Gees)
  4. "You Should Be Dancing" (Bee Gees)
  5. "Boogie Shoes" (KC and the Sunshine Band)
Side D
  1. "Salsation" (David Shire)
  2. "K-Jee" (MFSB)
  3. "Disco Inferno" (The Trammps)

"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in 31 May 1975 on RSO. This was the lead single from the album Main Course which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top-five on the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's "comeback" song, it was their first US top ten hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971.

Recording

By 1975, the Bee Gees assembled a studio group consisting of Alan Kendall on electric guitar, Blue Weaver on keyboards and Dennis Bryon on drums. This combination, with Maurice Gibb on bass and Barry Gibb on rhythm guitar, recorded all the Bee Gees albums of the late '70s and also went on tour with the group. Recording for "Jive Talkin'" took place on 30 January and 2 February 1975. The scratchy guitar intro was done by Barry and the funky bass line provided by Maurice.

The song was originally called "Drive Talking". The song's rhythm was modelled after the sound their car made crossing the Julia Tuttle Causeway each day from Biscayne Bay to Criteria Studios in Miami.[3]

According to Maurice, while hearing this rhythmic sound, "Barry didn't notice that he's going 'Ji-Ji Jive Talkin'', thinking of the dance, 'You dance with your eyes'...that's all he had...exactly 35mph...that's what we got." He goes on to say, "We played it to Arif [producer Arif Mardin], and he went 'Do you know what "Jive Talkin'" means?' And we said 'Well yeah, it's, ya know, you're dancing.' He says 'NO...it's a black expression for bullshitting.' And we went 'OH, REALLY?!? Jive talkin', you're telling me lies...' and changed it". Maurice goes on to describe how Arif gave them "the groove, the tempo, everything." Robin Gibb then goes on to mention that, because they were English, they were less self-conscious about going into the "no go areas", referring to musical styles that were more black in styles, etc. He then said, "We didn't think that there was any 'no go' areas, it's music!"

Release

Upon its release to radio stations, the single was delivered in a plain white cover, with no immediate indication of what the song's name was or who sang it. The DJs would only find out what the song was and who played it when it was placed on the turntable; RSO did provide the song with a label on the record itself. It was the second time in the band's career that this strategy had been employed to get airplay for their music, after a similar tactic had popularized their debut US single "New York Mining Disaster 1941" in 1967.

The original studio version was included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, as it was used in a scene that was cut from the final film. Later pressings of the album used the live version of "Jive Talkin'" from the Bee Gees 1977 album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live due to contractual distribution changes. The CD version restores the use of the studio version.

Cover versions

  • In 1975, the funk band Rufus covered "Jive Talkin'" on their album Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.
  • In 1987 this song was covered by the Boogie Box High. Boogie Box High was a musical project by Andros Georgiou in the late 1980s, that featured a range of vocal collaborations such as his relative George Michael (of Wham!) and Nick Heyward (of Haircut One Hundred). The cover was their biggest hit in 1987.
  • On Iron Maiden's song "More Tea Vicar", towards the end, Bruce Dickinson sings a bit of the song in a voice imitating The Bee Gees as a joke, then follows it up with "No, no no! You got the wrong track, you have to go in the studio next door." Then sings "Okay" in a Bee Gees voice.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[ 1] 24
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[5] 24
Canada (CHUM)[6] 1
Canada (RPM Pop Music Playlist)[7] 27
Canada (RPM Top Singles)[8] 1
Germany (Media Control AG)[ 1] 23
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 5
Italy (FIMI)[10] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[ 1] 23
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[ 1] 26
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[ 1] 4
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[citation needed] 26
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[ 1] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 1
US Billboard Hot Disco Singles[11] 9
US Cash Box[12] 1
US Record World[13] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 69
Canada (RPM Top 200 Singles)[15] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 11
US Cash Box[17] 43

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Silver 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑
    • Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs : 1975". Columbia University. Retrieved 29 January 2014. "‘Jive Talkin’’ now continues on from ‘Nights on Broadway’ as another funk song, but there is no falsetto." 
    • DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist. Random House. p. 833. ISBN 978-0-6797-3729-2. "Collecting the best of the Gibb brothers' born-again funk phase (like the itchy "Jive Talkin' ") and some authentic dance-floor jams (like the Trammps' blazing "Disco Inferno"), Saturday Night Fever deserves its preeminent status." 
  2. ↑ Guarisco, Donald A. "Jive Talkin' – Song Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ "The Bee Gees – 35 Years of Music". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media) 113 (12): 22. 24 March 2001. ISSN 0006-2510. 
  4. ↑ bulion. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  5. ↑ "Jive Talking – BEE GEES". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ "CHART NUMBER 966 – Saturday, July 26, 1975". CHUM. Archived from the original on 7 November 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Adult Contemporary – Volume 23, No. 24, August 09 1975". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  8. ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 23, No. 25, August 16 1975". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". IRMA. Retrieved 6 July 2013.  When searching "Jive talking"
  10. ↑ (Italian) "Indice per Interprete: B". HitParadeItalia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Main Course – Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  12. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending AUGUST 9, 1975". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  13. ↑ "RECORD WORLD 1975". Geocities.com. Record World. Archived from the original on 1 August 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  14. ↑ BigKev. "Forum - ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  15. ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 24, No. 14, December 27 1975". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  16. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 – 1975". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  17. ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1975". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014. 
  18. ↑ "British single certifications – Bee Gees – Jive Talking". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 January 2014.  Enter Jive Talking in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Click Go
  19. ↑ "American single certifications – Bee Gees – Jive". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 January 2014.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

Preceded by
"One of These Nights" by Eagles		 US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
9 August 1975 – 16 August 1975 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Fallin' in Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
Preceded by
"Please Mr. Please" by Olivia Newton-John		 US Cash Box number-one single
16 August 1975 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John
Canadian RPM number-one single
9 August 1975 – 16 August 1975 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"I'm Not in Love" by 10cc
Preceded by
"Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille		 Canadian CHUM number-one single
26 July 1975 – 23 August 1975 (5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
by James Taylor
Side one
Side two
Side three
Side four
Bee Gees singles discography
1960s
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970s
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
  • "Mr. Natural" / "It Doesn't Matter Much to Me"
  • "Throw a Penny" / "I Can't Let You Go"
  • "Charade" / "Heavy Breathing"
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980s
1981
1983
1987
1988
1990s
1990
1991
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1994
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2000s
2001
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