On March 20, 1999, something amazing happened to me. I was 17 years old and got to go backstage at a big concert in Auckland, New Zealand, to meet the Bee Gees—Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. There were 70,000 fans waiting outside to hear them sing, and I was so excited I could hardly believe it. I had won a radio contest about the Bee Gees, and my prize was meeting my favorite band. I wore my new corduroy pants and my best shirt, and I even got to shake their hands and take pictures with them.
That day is a little fuzzy in my memory, but I’ll never forget two special moments with Maurice. I had practiced what I wanted to say to him. I told him, “If I ever got to meet you, I’d tell you that Railroad is one of my favorite songs ever.” Maurice laughed and said, “I’m glad somebody liked it!” He thought it was funny because his song Railroad, which came out in 1970, wasn’t a big hit everywhere. But I knew it did pretty well in places like Malaysia and Singapore, even if most people didn’t notice it back then.
At that time, the Bee Gees were having a tough time. Robin had left the band in 1969, and Barry and Maurice were trying to keep it going while also working on their own music. Maurice’s song Railroad came out at the same time as another Bee Gees song called I.O.I.O, which confused some fans. People thought the band might be finished. But I.O.I.O did well in Europe, Asia, and New Zealand, proving the Bee Gees still had lots of fans. By the end of 1970, all three brothers came back together and went on to make some of the most popular music of the 1970s—and really, of all time.
Still, I think Railroad is a fantastic song, even if it didn’t get the attention it deserved at first. I remember the first time I heard it. I had saved up money from my after-school job at Woolworths, where I worked with meat (which I didn’t like), to buy a big Bee Gees CD collection called Tales From The Brothers Gibb. It cost me $119.99 back in 1998, which would be about $186 today— a lot for a kid earning just $7.36 an hour! That set had special songs like Railroad, and I fell in love with it right away.
What got me hooked was the violins in the chorus. They start about a minute into the song and last for six seconds. I was listening in the car, and that part made me sit up and turn the volume louder. The song has a quiet beginning and end, with fun verses in the middle that sound a little like country music, which Maurice and Barry really liked. The deep singing, the high harmonies, the piano, and the extra strings that come in later—it’s a simple song, but it’s put together so well.
The words in Railroad, which Maurice wrote with his brother-in-law Billy Lawrie, tell a story about someone leaving a town to go back home. They’re going back to their family and someone they love. The song says things went wrong where they were, but there were good times too. One of my favorite lines is, “I ain’t juiced none of that glory,” which means the person isn’t bragging about the good stuff. Maurice had a cool way of singing it, and it makes you wonder if the character did something bad or if people just told lies about him. Maybe he’s like a fun outlaw from an old cowboy movie!
The song feels big and proud, like someone saying they’re coming back stronger. The other side of the record, called I’ve Come Back, is just as good and even harder to find. I’d love for Maurice’s daughter, Samantha, who’s a great singer too, to sing it someday. She did a new version of Railroad a few years ago for its 50th birthday and shared it online. She said trains can be like time passing, and she hoped it would help people enjoy their days at home during the quarantine.
Before the Bee Gees went on stage that night in 1999, I said goodbye to them. I told them, “I really hope to meet you all again someday.” Maurice smiled and said, “You absolutely will, I guarantee you that.” Sadly, I never got to see Maurice or Robin again because they passed away years later. But I’ve been lucky to get to know Barry Gibb over the years through interviews. He’s a kind and talented man, and talking to him has been one of the best parts of my life.
I told this whole story to Samantha recently in an email, and she said it’s always nice to hear how her dad, Maurice, made people happy when they met him. He had a special way of making everyone feel good—even a nervous teenager like me in funny pants and a shirt that didn’t quite fit!
