The Loner (Maurice Gibb album)
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The Loner is the first solo album recorded in late 1969 by Bee Gee Maurice Gibb but was never released.[1]
Background
The last Cucumber Castle sessions was on October 16, 1969, when they record two songs: "End of My Song" and "Julia", but both songs was not released and included on the album. Around November 1969, Gibb continued to work with Australian group Tin Tin on which the band recorded "Nobody Moves Me Like You", "Loves Her That Way", "Flag/Put Your Money On My Dog".
Although Gibb's plans as a solo artist were accelerating, saying "I'd seriously love to get back to the old Bee Gees again. I really loved the group, and I miss the unit a lot. It's things like sitting in hotel rooms together after a show and taking people off that made working in a group such fun. I miss all that being solo".[2]
Recording
By December, Gibb began recording songs for a solo album. He said in an interview that he played all of the instruments: guitar, bass, piano, organ and Mellotron. Other musicians who played on the album include Leslie Harvey of Stone the Crows and Geoff Bridgford from The Groove. The first song recorded was the track "Railroad", which was later released as a single however it did not chart in the US or the UK.[3]
Tom Kennedy was present for the recording at Nova Studios of this album. Kennedy revealed:
"Billy Lawrie was involved of it, of course, and the various members of Tin Tin. It was just a good, fun time, really - working in the studio with Maurice always was. It's quite a nice piece of work for someone who, no one really, than a singer, although he can sing harmonies".[2]
Gibb himself was interviewed by Nicky Horne on Radio 1:
"My solo LP is one thing that, well, to tell you the truth, I don't think it should be worth releasing because I did it a while ago, and I was under a great depression at the time when I did it, because I missed the boys very much. I just did it because I thought I had to do it."[2]
Track listing
- All tracks written and composed by Maurice Gibb and Billy Lawrie.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Journey to the Misty Mountains" | 3:08 |
| 2. | "The Loner" | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Please Lock Me Away" | 2:34 |
| 4. | "I've Come Back" | 2:40 |
| 5. | "Soldier Johnny" | 2:39 |
| 6. | "She's The One You Love" | 3:27 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Railroad" | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Laughing Child" | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Something's Blowing" | 2:28 |
| 4. | "Silly Little Girl" | 2:07 |
| 5. | "Insight" | 2:11 |
An album master was compiled on 14 November 1970 although it would remain unreleased.[4] Bootleg releases with the same title collects additional recordings unrelated to this album.[5]
Personnel
- Maurice Gibb - lead and backing vocals, guitar, piano, bass, organ, Mellotron
- Leslie Harvey - guitar
- Johnny Coleman - piano
- Geoff Bridgford - drums
- Gerry Shury - orchestral arrangement
References
- ^ Discogs.com. "Maurice Gibb: The Loner".
- ^ a b c Hughes, Andrew. "The Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb". Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ^ Joseph Brennan. "Gibb Songs: 1969".
- ^ Sandoval, Andrew (2012). Bee Gees: The Day-By-Day Story, 1945-1972 (First ed.). RetroFuture Day-By-Day. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-943249-08-7.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Maurice Gibb: The Loner". Archive.org: Discogs.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2013.