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Barry Gibb Harmonizes With Gillian Welch, David Rawlings on New ‘Butterfly’

Released by the Bee Gees in 1970, this version appears on Gibb’s upcoming album ‘Greenfields’

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings lend their stellar harmonies to Barry Gibb for “Butterfly,” a track off Gibb’s forthcoming country/roots album Greenfields, produced by Dave Cobb.

The song was first released as a deep track on the 1970 Bee Gees outtakes compilation Inception/Nostalgia. Written by Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, it was cut by the British group United 4 + 2 in 1967, three years before the Bee Gees released their own version.

Greenfields, due January 8th, features collaborations with artists as varied as Keith Urban, Brandi Carlile, Dolly Parton and Olivia Newton-John. Last month, Gibb offered a preview of the album with “Words of a Fool,” a duet with Jason Isbell.

“From the first day we stepped into RCA Studios in Nashville… the album took on a life of its own,” Gibb said in a statement. “I feel deep down that Maurice and Robin would have loved this album for different reasons. I wish we could have all been together to do it…but I think we were.”

An upcoming documentary on the story of the Bee Gees, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, premieres Saturday on HBO. Welch and Rawlings, meanwhile, have been releasing their lost-songs project Boots throughout 2020. A physical box-set collection of the songs is out now.

From Rolling Stone US