Life in a Tin Can
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. 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.
Life in a Tin Can | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 19 January 1973 (United States) 1 March 1973 (United Kingdom) | |||
Recorded | September 1972 | |||
Studio | The Record Plant, Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Pop rock, acoustic rock, folk rock, country rock | |||
Length | 32:11 | |||
Label | RSO | |||
Producer | Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb | |||
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 | link |
Rolling Stone | (not rated) link |
Four of the eight songs were written by all three brothers with the other four being Barry Gibb compositions. The album reached No. 10 on the Italian charts and sold 175,000 copies worldwide. "Saw a New Morning" was a No. 1 hit in Hong Kong. No recording dates are available for the sessions on this album. At the time of the sessions, Robin Gibb had to leave the sessions suddenly when his son Spencer was born a month early. That date was 21 September. Atlantic Records' log dates the whole album as 22 September. Robin returned to Los Angeles a week or so later to continue on into the next album.[1] The musicians who participated on Life in a Tin Can were Jim Keltner, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Tommy Morgan, Jerome Richardson, Rick Grech, Jane Getz and Johnny Pate.[1]
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".[2]
Track listing
All tracks written and composed by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "Saw a New Morning" | Barry and Robin | 4:24 | |
2. | "I Don't Wanna Be the One" | Barry Gibb | Robin and Barry | 4:05 |
3. | "South Dakota Morning" | Barry Gibb | Barry | 2:26 |
4. | "Living in Chicago" | Barry, Robin and Maurice | 5:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "While I Play" | Barry Gibb | Barry | 4:29 |
2. | "My Life Has Been a Song" | Robin and Barry | 4:21 | |
3. | "Come Home Johnny Bridie" | Barry Gibb | Barry | 3:50 |
4. | "Method to My Madness" | Barry and Robin | 3:10 |
Chart performance
- Album
Chart (1973) | Peak position |
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Australia Kent Music Report Albums Chart[3] | 19 |
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[4] | 54 |
Italian Albums Chart | 10 |
US Billboard 200[5] | 69 |
- Singles
Year | Song | Chart | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | "Saw a New Morning" | Billboard Hot 100 | 94 |
Personnel
- Bee Gees
- Barry Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
- Robin Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocals
- Maurice Gibb – harmony and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards
- Guest musicians
- Alan Kendall – lead guitar
- 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"
- Jim Keltner – drums
- Johnny Pate – orchestral arrangement
- Production
- Mike D. Stone – engineer of the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California
- Chuck Leary – engineer
References
- 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: 18. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- 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: 58. 10 March 1973. Retrieved 8 February 2015.