Bee Gees - Mr. Natural (1974)

Mr. Natural is the twelfth studio album (tenth internationally) 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 Bee Gees went for a new sound in the hands of producer Arif Mardin. The result was Mr. Natural, the sultriest and most soulful record they had ever delivered up to that time. 

Shedding their pop sensibilities here and singing in a freer, more soulful idiom (with a strong Philadelphia soul influence) on songs such as "Throw a Penny," and with a funky beat backing them up on a lot of this record, the group is scarcely recognizable in relation to their previous work. 

Mr. Natural was the liveliest, most invigorating body of music to come from the group since their debut, but it also had moments of extraordinary sensuality, most notably "Charade" and "Had a Lot of Love Last Night." 

In between those two bookends were the beginnings of the sound that would reach maturity on Main Course, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and Children of the World. 

Most of it is extraordinarily lively and upbeat, which was also a major change for the group; there are still some ballads here in their old style, such as "Down the Road" (which includes the extensive use of a Mellotron), but even these have a subtlety and freshness that had been lacking in the group's work since their debut. 

The main virtue throughout is, of course, the singing, which is some of the finest that all three Gibb brothers had ever turned in on a single LP up, mated to some of their loveliest and liveliest songs.

The LP was the Bee Gees' poorest charting album at the time, reaching No. 178 on the Billboard 200.

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.

Side One

1.  Charade - 4:13

2.  Throw a Penny - 4:54

3.  Down the Road - 3:35

4.  Voices  (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 4:50

5.  Give a Hand, Take a Hand  (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 4:44

Side two

1.  Dogs - 3:43

2.  Mr. Natural - 3:46

3.  Lost in Your Love  (Barry Gibb) - 4:36

4.  I Can't Let You Go  (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 3:45

5.  Heavy Breathing - 3:26

6 . Had a Lot of Love Last Night  (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 4:07 

 

All tracks written by Barry and Robin Gibb, except where noted.

Bee Gees

• Barry Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocals; rhythm guitar
• Robin Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocals
• Maurice Gibb – harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar (except “Had a Lot of Love Last Night”), Mellotron, Hammond organ

Additional musicians

• Alan Kendall – lead guitar
• Dennis Bryon – drums, percussion
• Geoff Westley – piano, keyboards
• Ben Law – fretless bass on "Had a Lot of Love Last Night"
• Phil Bodner – clarinet on "Charade"
• Arif Mardin – orchestral arrangement

Production

• Damon Lyon-Shaw – engineer
• Andy Knight, Alan Lucas, Gene Paul – engineer
• Arif Mardin – producer

Notes

Released:  May 1974 

Recorded: 14 November 1973 – 28 January 1974 Studio IBC (London), Command (London). Atlantic (New York)

Genre:  Soul, soft rock

Length:  45:26 

Producer:  Arif Mardin 

Label - RSO Records