It’s hard to say The Bee Gees’ ’60s output is underrated, given the hits and reappraisals, but somehow, their album ‘1st’ is still somewhat slept on, despite it being almost like a companion piece to The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’.

All the Gibb brothers were huge fans of the Fab Four, with Maurice being particularly fond of the group, his bass playing influenced by McCartney’s, and going ga-ga in the face of John.

The brothers Gibb would appear in the pretty awful Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie, but their paths were to cross in a much more peculiar way in 1969.

A record was released called ‘Have You Heard the Word’ was recorded on 6th August that year, and released in 1970. The track was recorded by Steve Kipner and Steve Groves of the group Tin Tin, the vocals by Bee Gee Mo.

Maurice Gibb intentionally sang the track in the style of Lennon, but ask any of them why, and there’s not much info forthcoming. That’s because Gibb had broken his arm falling down a flight of stairs, possibly something to do with his fondness for the drink at the time, but who knows? Either way, he was hopped up on painkillers, and Billy Lawrie – Gibb’s brother-in-law thanks to his marriage to Lulu and a musician all by himself – can’t remember much, with the ’60s being something of a haze to him when asked.

The record was released in early 1970, and failed to chart. Not before rumours circulated that it was The Beatles performing under a different name. This wasn’t unusual, as Klaatu and The Moles would also find themselves being under similar investigation.

Listening to the song now, it’s pretty obviously not up to scratch and Mo’s impression is fun, but not that accurate. However, it’s got something about it, because in 1985, Yoko Ono was convinced enough to register the song under John’s name for Lenono Music.

The song was recorded for a laugh, and not intended for release – it was a bootleg that saw the light of day, which we can hear now.

A piece born of a bottle of scotch or two, and now a fun footnote in the weird and wonderful world of The Beatles and Bee Gees.