Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: The Bee Gees, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”

44 years ago today, the brothers Gibb – well, three of them, anyway – earned their very first #1 hit in the US with a single that, believe it or not, didn’t even chart in the UK.

Written by Barry and Robin Gibb, who shared lead vocals on the track, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” was the lead single from the group’s 1971 album, Trafalgar, which brought the brothers back together after a period of time spent apart. Barry and Robin met up and wrote the song in an afternoon, which in turn led them to call Maurice, and before long they had headed into the studio to record the track. Interestingly, after years of crediting the song solely to Barry and Robin, the release of the Ultimate Bee Gees compilation suddenly added Maurice to the mix as a songwriter; we’re not really sure what the story is there, but if he contributed to its composition at some point in the process, then we’re certainly glad he finally got his due.

There’s a report that the Gibbs offered the song to Andy Williams at some point early on in the proceedings, but all things being equal, we’re rather happy that the Bee Gees recorded it themselves. With that said, however, Al Green went on to do an outstanding version of the song in 1972 that’s right up there with the original, and it’s also been covered by Johnny Mathis, Cher, Teddy Pendergrass, Michael Buble, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Rod Stewart, and – on a very special episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour – even Florence Henderson took a stab at it.

Once upon a time, Robin Gibb remarked that the song took all of about an hour to record. If that’s so, then it was one of the best hours the Bee Gees ever spent.