BEE GEES - HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE

Publicació: setembre de 1977

Llistes: Regne Unit: #3  EUA: #1

"How Deep Is Your Love" és una balada pop escrita per The Bee Gees el 1977 i llançada com el primer senzill de la banda sonora de la pel·lícula "Saturday Night Fever". Els Bee Gees van escriure aquesta cançó d'amor al Château d'Hérouville a França: el "Honky Chateau" on Elton John va gravar tres àlbums a principis dels anys 70. Quan van arribar a gravar cançons per a "Saturday Night Fever", van trobar que estava molt descuidat: l'estudi funcionava, però el terreny era un desastre. Però es van centrar i van seguir perquè tenien poques raons per abandonar l'estudi (basicament d’impostos).

Robin Gibb va explicar el so únic que ell i Barry van crear combinant les seves veus: "Si escoltes 'How Deep is Your Love' creus que és una sola veu, però som jo i Barry cantant a l'uníson, això produeix un so agradable, ja ho vam fer a 'New York Mining Disaster'. És un so que fem, és gairebé com una veu única, però no ho és, i no és una doble pista d’estudi, són les nostres dues veus juntes. És una cosa que hem practicat molt."

Un compositor i comerciant d'antiguitats d'Illinois anomenat Ronald Selle va demandar als Bee Gees, afirmant que una cançó que va escriure el 1975 anomenada "Let It End" era la base de "How Deep Is Your Love". El cas es va portar a judici el 1983. Els Bee Gees van afirmar que mai havien escoltat "Let It End" i no hi havia proves que ho fessin (aquesta cançó mai es va publicar: Selle va fer una gravació casolana que havia enviat a les discogràfiques). El cas es basava en les similituds entre les cançons, i un testimoni expert de Selle -un musicòleg anomenat Arrand Parsons- va intentar convèncer el jurat mitjançant l'anàlisi tècnica de les notes que els Bee Gees van plagiar la cançó. El jurat ho va acceptar i va decidir que els Bee Gees van copiar la cançó de Selle. El jutge, però, va anul·lar la sentència. Més tard, Selle va apel·lar i va tornar a ser rebutjat. El cas va posar de relleu el problema dels jurats que fan judicis sobre música i va donar lloc a una decisió històrica que les "semblances sorprenents" entre les cançons no eren suficients per demostrar el plagi. A partir d'ara, un compositor havia de demostrar que la part infractora realment va escoltar la cançó abans que el cas pogués avançar. Aquesta és una de les raons per les quals els editors de música i els compositors es neguen a escoltar la majoria del material no sol·licitat.

Aquesta va ser la primera de les quatre cançons noves de la banda sonora de "Saturday Night Fever" que va encapçalar el Hot 100 dels Estats Units. Va ser llançada com a senzill abans que la pel·lícula i la banda sonora es publiquessin, i va arribar al primer lloc de la llista una setmana després del debut de la pel·lícula. "How deep is your love" va ser un gran èxit als Estats Units. Va ser número 1 durant tres setmanes i es va mantenir al Top 10 durant 17 setmanes, que va ser un rècord en aquell moment. La cançó també va ser un gran èxit a la llista d'Adult Contemporary, on va estar sis setmanes al número 1. Posteriorment va guanyar el premi Grammy de 1977 a la millor interpretació pop d'un grup.

La cantant nord-americana Yvonne Elliman havia de gravar aquesta cançó, però Robert Stigwood, que va produir la pel·lícula, va dir a Barry: "Has de fer aquesta cançó tu mateix, no l'has de donar a ningú". Així doncs, els Bee Gees la van interpretar ells mateixos per a la banda sonora. Elliman va cantar "If i can't have you" que va també va ser escrita pels Bee Gees i inclosa a la banda sonora. Aquesta cançó també va ser més tard número 1 als EUA.

Quan "How Deep Is Your Love" va arribar al número 3 al Regne Unit, Barry va exclamar: "No tens ni idea quina emoció és tenir un senzill al Top Five a Anglaterra. Amb tota la new wave i el punk rock que està sortint, he pensat que 'How Deep Is Your Love' no tindria cap oportunitat. Seguim avançant i ens fem més forts cada dia".

Brian Wilson, de The Beach Boys, va parlar positivament de la cançó, afirmant: "Sempre m'han agradat molt els Bee Gees. 'How Deep Is Your Love' és realment fantàstica. Pujo el volum de la ràdio sempre que la posen”.

BEE GEES - HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE

Released: September 1977

Charted:  UK: #3  US: #1

"How Deep Is Your Love" is a pop ballad written by The Bee Gees in 1977 and released as the first single of the soundtrack of the movie “Saturday Night Fever”. The Bee Gees wrote this love song at the Château d'Hérouville in France - the "Honky Chateau" where Elton John recorded three albums in the early '70s. When they arrived to record songs for “Saturday Night Fever”, they found it had been neglected - the studio worked, but the grounds were a mess. This gave them focus because they had little reason to leave the studio.

There was a beautiful room with a piano where their keyboard player, Blue Weaver, would play. One day, he played as Barry Gibb worked out "How Deep Is Your Love." In the documentary How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Weaver explained how it came together: "We went into a room at the Chateau. Chopin had stayed there, so every time I looked at this piano I envisioned Chopin playing. I sat down at the piano and thought of his 'Prelude In E-flat,' and I knew Barry could sing in E-flat. Through the stained-glass window came a beam of sunlight, and Barry sang, 'I know your eyes in the morning sun.'"

Robin Gibb explained the unique sound he and Barry created by combining their voices: "If you listen to 'How Deep is Your Love' you think it's a single voice but it's me and Barry singing in unison, which produces a nice sound, as it does on 'New York mining disaster'. There's a sound that we do, it's almost like a single voice, but it isn't, and it's not double-tracked, it's two voices together. It's something that we've done a lot."

A songwriter/antiques dealer in Illinois named Ronald Selle sued the Bee Gees, claiming a song he wrote in 1975 called "Let It End" was the basis for "How Deep Is Your Love." The case went to a jury in 1983. The Bee Gees claimed that they had never heard "Let It End," and there was no evidence that they did (that song was never released - Selle made a home recording that he had sent to music publishers). The case was based on the similarities between the songs, and an expert witness for Selle - a musicologist named Arrand Parsons - tried to convince the jury through technical analysis of the notes that the Bee Gees plagiarized the song. The jury bought it, and ruled that the Bee Gees did copy Selle's song. The judge, however, nullified the verdict. Selle later appealed, and was once again rebuffed. The case underscored the problem of juries making judgments on music, and it led to a landmark ruling that "striking similarities" between songs was not enough to prove plagiarism. Henceforth, a songwriter had to prove that the infringing party actually heard the song before the case could move forward. This is one reason why music publishers and songwriters refuse to hear most unsolicited material.

This was the first of four new songs on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack to top the US Hot 100. It was released as a single before the film or the soundtrack were issued, and rose to the top spot a week after the film debuted. “How deep is your love” was a massive hit in the US. It was #1 for three weeks and stayed in the Top 10 for 17 weeks, which was a record at the time. The song was also a huge hit on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it spent six weeks at #1. This won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Group.

The American singer Yvonne Elliman was supposed to record this song, but Robert Stigwood, who produced the film said, "You've got to do this song yourself, you should not give it to anybody". So, The Bee Gees performed it themselves for the soundtrack. Elliman did sing "If i can’t have you" which was written by the Bee Gees and included on the soundtrack. That song was also a #1 hit in the US.

When "How Deep Is Your Love" reached No. 3 in the UK, Barry exclaimed: "You have no idea what a thrill it is to have a Top Five single in England. With all the new wave and punk rock out, I would have thought something like 'How Deep Is Your Love' wouldn't have a chance. We always kept going forward and we're getting stronger every day".

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys spoke positively of the song, stating, "I always liked the Bee Gees very much. 'How Deep Is Your Love' is one that I think is really great. I turn the radio up a little bit when it comes on”.