A singer named Randy had a bit of an odd request for a song. He’s in Monticello, Indiana, working the lobby of a place called The Brandywine Inn.  Apparently, he sits in a corner with a microphone and nothing else.  Well, I’m guessing he’s dressed, but one never knows.  Anyway,  he wants this Bee Gees classic without any violins, trumpets, or harps.  What?  You’re killing me here, Randy.  Just piano, bass, guitar, and drums?  That’s it?  It’s the Bee Gees, man!  But all is not lost.  He needs a backup vocal track.  At least that gives me a little bit of fun.   But you know best, Randy.  It’s your gig, after all, not mine.  There might be other people who need it this way, so I’m putting this arrangement on the Pop/Rock list.  But couldn’t we throw in just one violin?  Guess not.

Barry and Robin Gibb wrote “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” in 1970 in an hour and a half.  They composed it in the style of Andy Williams (who never sang anything without a violin, by the way… Randy).  They offered it to Williams, but he turned it down.  So The Bee Gees recorded it themselves and it became their first No. 1 hit in the United States.  Before that they had minor hits with terrible songs like “I Started a Joke”, but this tune was a turning point for them.  Then along came Disco and the rest is history.

If you ever stop in at the “Brandywine”, you might casually walk up to Randy and say, “Ya know, that song would really sound good with strings.”  Just for fun…