Tuesday, February 25, 2014

40 Year Itch : Chicken on the Run




[Purchase]


On February 25, 1974 ( or so the YouTube poster would have us believe) , The Bee Gees performed their new single, "Mr Natural" on The Mike Douglas Show. ( My guess is this happened in late March at the earliest.) In any case it was our first chance to hear what the Bee Gees had been up to since the poorly received Life in a Tin Can.



The title cut may not do much for you but , believe me, the album Mr Natural is worth a listen if only for the soulful single "Dogs" and the rocking "Down the Road" which would also appear on the 1977 live album Here At Last...Bee Gees Live. Recorded in London, with Arif Mardin producing for the first time in what would be a fruitful collaboration , Mr Natural shows the Bee Gees searching for a new sound.

When we did Mr Natural we didn't have a positive direction. We were thrashing about.
-Maurice Gibb

Mr Natural only reached #179 on the Billboard album charts. But The Bee Gees search for a new sound would pay off with the following album, 1975's Main Course , and its three big hits "Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway " and "Fanny ( Be Tender With My Love)".

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