Life in a Tin Can | ||||
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Studio album by the Bee Gees | ||||
Released | 19 January 1973 (United States) 1 March 1973 (United Kingdom) | |||
Recorded | September 1972 | |||
Studio | Record Plant (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 32:11 | |||
Label | RSO [1] | |||
Producer | Bee Gees | |||
The Bee Gees chronology | ||||
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Singles from Life in a Tin Can | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [1] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [3] |
Life in a Tin Can is the Bee Gees' eleventh studio album (ninth worldwide), released in January 1973.
The Bee Gees travelled to Los Angeles to record Life in a Tin Can. However, it was unable to prevent a commercial decline with the album criticised for a lack of innovation.[ citation needed ] Despite its low sales and poor chart performance, Life in a Tin Can was awarded "Album of the Year" by Record World magazine. It was the first Bee Gees album to bear the RSO label in the US.
Four of the eight songs were written by all three brothers with the other four being Barry Gibb compositions. "Saw a New Morning" was a No. 1 hit in Hong Kong. During the sessions, Robin Gibb had to leave the sessions suddenly when his son Spencer was born a month early. He returned to Los Angeles a week or so later to continue on into the next album. [4] The musicians who participated on Life in a Tin Can were Jim Keltner, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Tommy Morgan, Jerome Richardson, Ric Grech, Jane Getz and Johnny Pate. [4]
When asked by Billboard why they moved from London to Los Angeles, Maurice says: "We don't want to talk about it yet. But we're going to attempt a concept album that's a major departure from our usual Bee Gees trademarks. And if that doesn't work out, we'll do something else". [5]
Rolling Stone called the album "vaguely pleasant and certainly innocuous enough to fit right in with the prevalent Seventies soft-rock ambience." [6]
All tracks written and composed by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, except for songs with asterisks, which are by Barry Gibb.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Saw a New Morning" | Barry and Robin | 4:24 | |
2. | "I Don't Wanna Be the One" | * | Robin and Barry | 4:05 |
3. | "South Dakota Morning" | * | Barry | 2:26 |
4. | "Living in Chicago" | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 5:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "While I Play" | * | Barry | 4:29 |
2. | "My Life Has Been a Song" | Robin and Barry | 4:21 | |
3. | "Come Home Johnny Bridie" | * | Barry | 3:50 |
4. | "Method to My Madness" | Barry and Robin | 3:10 |
Credits from historian and sessionographer Joseph Brennan. [7]
Chart (1973) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia Kent Music Report Albums Chart [8] | 19 |
Canadian RPM Albums Chart [9] | 54 |
Italian Albums Chart | 10 |
US Billboard 200 [10] | 69 |
Year | Song | Chart | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | "Saw a New Morning" | Billboard Hot 100 | 94 |
The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Maurice Ernest Gibb was a British musician. He achieved worldwide fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lead singers, most of their albums included at least one or two songs featuring Maurice's lead vocals, including "Lay It on Me", "Country Woman" and "On Time". The Bee Gees are one of the most successful pop-rock groups of all time.
Cucumber Castle is the seventh studio album by the Bee Gees, released in April 1970. It was produced by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robert Stigwood. It consists of songs from their television special of the same name, which was named after a song on their 1967 album Bee Gees' 1st. Cucumber Castle is the only Bee Gees album not to feature any recorded contributions from Robin Gibb, as he had left the group before the album was recorded.
This Is Where I Came In is the twenty-second and final studio album by the Bee Gees. It was released on 2 April 2001 by Polydor in the UK and Universal in the US, less than two years before Maurice Gibb died from a cardiac arrest before surgery to repair a twisted intestine.
Mr. Natural is the twelfth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1974. It was the first Bee Gees release produced by Arif Mardin, who was partially responsible for launching the group's later major success with the follow-up album Main Course. The album's rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and hard rock sounds initiated the group's reinvention as a disco and blue-eyed soul act, which would solidify on subsequent albums. However, Barry Gibb has said that the album was "whiter" than Main Course. The cover photograph was taken at 334 West 4th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City by Frank Moscati, which is today known as The Corner Bistro tavern.
Horizontal is the fourth studio album by the Bee Gees, and their second album to receive an international release. The LP was released in early 1968, and included the international hit singles "Massachusetts" and "World". On 5 February 2007, Reprise Records reissued Horizontal with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs, non-album tracks, and alternate takes. The album was released in Polydor in many countries and on Atco only in the US and Canada. "And the Sun Will Shine" was released as a single only in France. The influences displayed on the album range from the Beatles to baroque pop.
Idea is the fifth album by the Bee Gees. Released in September 1968, the album sold over a million copies worldwide. The album was issued in both mono and stereo pressings in the UK. The artwork on the Polydor release designed by Wolfgang Heilemann featured a "beehive" neon lightbulb with a group photo in its base, while the North American ATCO release designed by Klaus Voormann featured a composite head made from each band member. It was their third internationally released album – the first two albums being released only in the Australian market.
2 Years On is the eighth studio album by the Bee Gees, which reached No. 32 on the US charts. Released in 1970, the album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after an earlier disagreement and subsequent split following Odessa. 2 Years On was the first album with drummer Geoff Bridgford, who remained a full-time member of the group until 1972 although he was not pictured on the sleeve. The best-known track is "Lonely Days". Released as the first single by the reunited brothers, it charted high in the US, but peaked at No. 33 in the United Kingdom.
To Whom It May Concern is the tenth album by the Bee Gees. Released in October 1972, it is the follow-up to, and continues the melancholic and personal sound of its predecessor, Trafalgar. The album was recognised as "a farewell to the old Bee Gees" as the album marked the end of an era for the group in several ways: it was their last album to be recorded solely at IBC Studios, in London, their last with conductor and arranger Bill Shepherd, who had guided them since 1967, and their last under their first contract with Robert Stigwood. Some of the songs were old ones finished or rewritten for the occasion.
Spicks and Specks is the second studio album by the Bee Gees. It was released in November 1966, on Spin. Primarily written by Barry Gibb, the album includes the first Robin Gibb composition "I Don't Know Why I Bother With Myself" and a Maurice Gibb composition "Where Are You".
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees in 1971. It was written by Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 album Trafalgar. It was their first US No. 1 single and also reached No. 1 in Cashbox magazine for two weeks.
Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2 is a compilation album of hits by the Bee Gees released in 1973. The album, briefly revived on CD in the late 1980s, went out of print, but was reissued by Rhino in November 2008.
Bee Gees' 1st is the third studio album by the Bee Gees, and their first international full-length recording after two albums distributed only in Australia and New Zealand. Bee Gees' 1st was the group's debut album for the UK Polydor label, and for the US Atco label. Bee Gees 1st was released on 14 July 1967 in the UK. On 9 August it entered the UK charts; on that same day, the album was released in the US, and it entered the US charts on 26 August.
Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live is the first live album by the Bee Gees. It was recorded on December 20, 1976 at the LA Forum and was released in May 1977 by RSO Records. It reached No. 8 in the US, No. 8 in Australia, No. 1 in New Zealand, and No. 2 in Spain.
"Run to Me" is a song by the Bee Gees, the lead single from the group's album To Whom It May Concern (1972). The song reached the UK Top 10 and the US Top 20.
"Wouldn't I Be Someone" is a song by the Bee Gees. It was released on 22 June 1973 in the United Kingdom and in July 1973 in the United States. The photo on the cover of the single was also used on Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2.
"Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" is a song written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb released by the Bee Gees in 1967 on their album Bee Gees' 1st. It was released as the B-side to "Holiday" in the US, Australia and Canada.
"Saw a New Morning" is the 1973 single released by the Bee Gees. It was also the group's first single released on Robert Stigwood's newly created records label RSO Records. The Bee Gees moved to Los Angeles in 1972 to record the album Life in a Tin Can which was a new direction for the group, who had been recording in England since 1967. The B-side, "My Life Has Been a Song" features lead vocal by Robin Gibb as well as Barry Gibb.
A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants is an unreleased studio album by the Bee Gees. Originally known as The Bee Gees Album, recording began in late 1972 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles around the same time as tracks for Life in a Tin Can were being recorded. Ten tracks were recorded in October 1972 and four more were recorded in January 1973 in London, England.
"Railroad" is the first solo single released by Maurice Gibb, best known as a member of the Bee Gees. It was released in April 1970. Like the Bee Gees' songs from 1967 to 1972, the single was released by Polydor in most parts of the world while in the US and Canada it was released by Atco. In Canada it was also released by Atlantic and Cotillion. Gibb did not release a follow-up single until 1984 when he released "Hold Her in Your Hand".