Life in a Tin Can is the Bee Gees' eleventh studio album (ninth worldwide), released in January 1973.
| Life in a Tin Can | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Life in a Tin Can | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [3] |
Background
editThe 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]
Critical reception
editRolling Stone called the album "vaguely pleasant and certainly innocuous enough to fit right in with the prevalent Seventies soft-rock ambience."[6]
Track listing
editAll 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 |
Personnel
editCredits from historian and sessionographer Joseph Brennan.[7]
- Bee Gees
- Barry Gibb – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
- Robin Gibb – lead, harmony, and backing vocals
- Maurice Gibb – harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar (except “Saw a New Morning” and “While I Play”), rhythm guitar, piano, keyboards
- Additional musicians
- Alan Kendall – lead guitar
- Jim Keltner – drums
- Sneaky Pete Kleinow – lap steel guitar on “South Dakota Morning” and “Come Home Johnny Bridie”
- Tommy Morgan – harmonica on “South Dakota Morning” and “My Life Has Been a Song”
- Jerome Richardson – flute on “Living in Chicago”
- Rick Grech – violin and bass guitar on “While I Play”
- Jane Getz – piano on “Come Home Johnny Bridie”
- Johnny Pate – orchestral arrangement
- Production
- Bee Gees – producer
- Mike D. Stone – engineer of the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California
- Chuck Leary – engineer
Chart performance
edit- Album
| 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 |
- Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Saw a New Morning" | Billboard Hot 100 | 94 |
References
edit- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 507.
- ^ "Life in a Tin Can - Bee Gees | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 47.
- ^ a b Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1972". Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ Freedland, Nat (25 August 1973). "Bee Gees Aim for Peak Stellar Performance in All Areas". Billboard. p. 18. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ Barnes, Ken (10 May 1973). "Life In A Tin Can". Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Gibb Songs : 1972".
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Canadian Albums". RPM Canada. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "Billboard Top LP's & Tape". Billboard. 10 March 1973. p. 58. Retrieved 8 February 2015.