On 3 January 1967, the Gibb brothers, along with their parents and Byrne, traveled from Australia to England on the ship Fairsky, reaching Southampton on 6 February.

[4] Barry and Robin Gibb wrote "New York Mining Disaster" while sitting in a darkened stairway at Polydor Records following a power outage.

[6] According to the liner notes for the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990), the song was inspired by the October 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales.

On the second verse, when Robin sings the line "I keep straining my ears to hear a sound," a violin is heard in response.

On 7 March, the Bee Gees recorded "New York Mining Disaster 1941" in six takes, along with three other songs: "I Can't See Nobody," "Red Chair, Fade Away," and "Turn of the Century."

I got a guitar for my ninth birthday and the guy who lived across the road from us just came back from Hawaii and he was the one who taught me that tuning, that's how it started and I never changed.

"[8] Maurice Gibb recalled in a June 2001 interview with Mojo magazine: "The opening chord doesn't sound like a conventional A minor.

"[11]Robin Gibb explained about this track: "...all the DJs on radio stations in the US picked it up immediately thinking it was the Beatles, and it was a hit on that basis.

We weren't all totally convinced that Stigwood was picking the right song to plug, but at the end of the day, he was a forceful character.

When the Disc & Music Echo reported "widespread rumours" that this song had been written by Lennon and McCartney, Robin countered with, "Rubbish!

"[11]Billboard described the single as "infectious, compelling material set to a rocking driving beat [that] has all the earmarks of a fast smash.

When the BBC Light Programme's Saturday Club presented by Brian Matthew was broadcast on April 22, it was noted that there were "rave reviews from the audition panel.

"[11] The group (Barry, Robin, Maurice, Colin and Vince) made their first British TV appearance on Top of the Pops performing this song on May 11 and were rather awe-struck at the company they were keeping.

[15] The song usually began the acoustic medley during The Bee Gees' concerts starting in the mid-70's and continued until their final shows in 2001.

The 1969 David Bowie song "Space Oddity" owes a debt to the style, arrangement and lyrics of "New York Mining Disaster 1941."

Like "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "Space Oddity" is about a trapped man who is doomed to die, and the song is similarly structured as a series of statements addressed to another person.

"[24] As Marc Bolan explained: "I remember David playing me 'Space Oddity' in his room and I loved it and he said he needed a sound like the Bee Gees, who were very big then."