To love somebody

To love somebody was the second single released off of the Bee Gees debut album Bee Gees 1^st. Written by Berry and Rob Gibb, it was originally intended for Otis Redding who was killed in a plane crash before he was able to record it. I’ve heard that Bee Gees 1^st is considered a great record, and is often compared to the Beatles’ Revolver, but I have never listened to the entire thing myself. To love somebody was fairly successful making it on to the charts in several countries: it placed at 41 in the UK, 17 in the US, 9 in Canada, and 6 in Australia to list a few.

The Flying Burrito Brothers covered To love somebody sometime between 1968 and 1970 during the time Gram Parsons was still in their lineup. It remained unreleased until it was included on the 1974 compilation album Close up the Honkey Tonks, which was likely an attempt to capitalize on posthumous interest in Parsons' music. Parsons died in 1973 at the age of 26 from an overdose of morphine and alcohol. Interestingly enough, Otis Redding was also 26 when he died.

To love somebody has also been covered by several other artists including Michael Bolton, the Animals, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, and like 50 other notable ones.

Bee Gees:

Flying Burrito Bothers:

The Burrito Bros. win! Come on. They have Gram Parsons on vocals. What did you expect?

Part of me feels like that’s all I should have said about it, but another part of me wanted to write this paragraph. Depending on which part of me you prefer, you can choose not to read this one: I like how the FBB gave their version a classic country sound, but what really gets it over for me, is that Parsons empties his soul into it. He really sounds heartbroken. They took the song to another level. I do like the Bee Gees version, but I'm not a fan of the string arrangement that is included in it. It’s too much.