The song was originally called "Drive Talking" in its early stage. The song's rhythm was modelled after the sound their car made crossing the
Julia Tuttle Causeway each day from
Biscayne Bay to
Criteria Studios in
Miami. Recording for "Jive Talkin took place on 30 January and 2 February 1975. The scratchy guitar intro was done by Barry and the funky bass line by Maurice. The pulsing synthesiser bass line, which featured in the final recording, was (along with the pioneering work of
Stevie Wonder) one of the earliest uses of "synth bass" on a pop recording. It was overdubbed by keyboardist
Blue Weaver using a then state-of-the-art
ARP 2600, which producer
Arif Mardin had brought in for the recording of the
Main Course album. Weaver stated, "Usually Maurice would play bass guitar, but he was away from the studio that night. And when Maurice came back, we let him hear it and suggested he re-record the bass line on his bass guitar". "I really liked the synth bass lines", Maurice said. "I overdubbed certain sections to add bass extra emphasis". "Jive Talkin was also influenced by "You're the One" (written by
Sly Stone) by
Little Sister. According to Maurice, while hearing this rhythmic sound, "Barry didn't notice that he's going 'Ji-Ji-Jive Talkin'', thinking of
the dance, 'You dance with your eyes'...that's all he had...exactly 35 mph...that's what we got." He goes on to say, "We played it to [producer] Arif [Mardin], and he went 'Do you know what "Jive Talkin means?' And we said 'Well yeah, it's, ya know, you're dancing.' [...] And he says 'No, it's
a black expression for bullshitting.' And we went 'Oh, really?!? Jive talkin', you're telling me lies...' and changed it." Maurice goes on to describe how Arif gave them "the groove, the tempo, everything."
Robin Gibb then goes on to mention that, because they were English, they were less self-conscious about going into the "no-go areas", referring to musical styles that were more black in styles, etc. He then said, "We didn't think that there was any 'no go' areas, it's music!" Barry's guitar strumming has a smoother version of
Kool and the Gang's signature chicka-chicka and funky Nassau version of
KC and the Sunshine Band's Caribbean strumming. The song's rhythm riff perhaps resembles the riff from "
Shirley & Company's "
Shame, Shame, Shame", with a prominent use of the
Bo Diddley beat. After hearing "Jive Talkin,
Lindsey Buckingham of
Fleetwood Mac, and co-producer
Richard Dashut built up the song "
Second Hand News" (released on the band's
Rumours in 1977) with four audio tracks of electric guitar and the use of chair percussion to evoke
Celtic rock. ==Release==