Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts

When you dive into Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts, you encounter a piece that deviates quite a bit from what you might expect from the rest of the album Bee Gees' 1st. It's as if, at the end of the first side of the record, the Bee Gees decided to take a breather and show a more intimate facet. The recording, which took place on March 21, 1967, after orchestral parts were added for the other songs, stands out for its simplicity: just piano and vocals. This choice gives the song a very particular atmosphere, almost like a whisper, which strongly contrasts with the energy of the surrounding tracks.

This particularity also caught the attention of other musicians. Australian singer Johnny Young, who was a friend of the Gibb brothers, recorded his own version of Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts in July 1967 at IBC Studios. For this performance, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb contributed their vocals on the backing chorus. The production of this version was handled by Robert Stigwood, and the musical direction was by Bill Shepherd. It was released as a single in August 1967 by Polydor Records in the UK and by Clarion Records in Australia. As the B-side, another Bee Gees track, I Am the World, written by Robin Gibb in 1966, was included. Johnny Young's version was well-received, playing for the last four weeks of broadcast on Radio London and being one of the most popular tracks on the Big L'97 chart. It was even mentioned as being part of Caroline's playlist. In terms of chart impact, the song reached number 14 on the Go-Set charts in Melbourne and on the Kent Music Report in Sydney.