New York mining disaster 1941 - Bee Gees

'New York mining disaster 1941' recounts the story of a miner trapped in a cave-in. He is sharing a photo of his wife with a colleague ('Mr. Jones') while they hopelessly wait to be rescued. In the second and third verses, the lyrical lines get slower and slower, as to indicate that life is about to expire for the miners. According to the liner notes for the Bee Gees box-set 'Tales from the Brothers Gibb' (1990), this song was inspired by the 1966 Aberfan mining disaster in Wales.

Maurice Gibb recalled in an interview with Mojo magazine: 'The opening chord doesn't sound like a conventional A minor. Barry was using the open D tuning he'd been taught when he was nine, and I was playing it in conventional tuning. It gives an unusual blend. People went crazy trying to figure out why they couldn't copy it.'

My collection: 7" single no. 5102
Found: Vrijmarkt, Den Haag, April 30, 2011
Cost: 0,2 euro
Tracks: 'New York mining disaster 1941' / 'I can't see nobody'