THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,640) Maurice Gibb — “Silly Little Girl”
Another lovely buried treasure from Maurice Gibb’s (see #353, 354, 466, 861, 1,336, 1,584) lost solo album recorded during the Bee Gees’ split. With a “topflight vocal and melody” (Brian Doherty, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/with-the-sun-in-my-eyes-brothers-gibb-bee-gees-andy-gibb-song-by-song-thread.1188605/page-337) very reminiscent of John Lennon, it “very strongly recalls the Beatles’ more piano-based late-’60s work, though with a more naive and downbeat flavor”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-loner-mw0001053220) “[T]he chorus– where you learn it’s not his partner being sung to, but someone he’s missing– really makes it work.” (bRETT, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/with-the-sun-in-my-eyes-brothers-gibb-bee-gees-andy-gibb-song-by-song-thread.1188605/page-337)
Bruce Eder writes of the lost LP:
In contrast to Barry and Robin, who have shared and alternated the spotlight as lead vocalists, Maurice . . . [was] almost exclusively a backing vocalist for his four-decade career, providing a key part of the harmony singing for his brothers. In less overtly visible ways, however, he [was] essential to the group’s sound from the beginning of their recording career — in addition to sharing arranging chores with his brothers and playing bass . . . he . . . also played guitar, piano, organ, and Mellotron on their recordings, and even occasionally the drums on their demos. . . . Gibb’s voice is the least familiar to the public, concentrated as it usually is on backup and harmony singing. The major exception arose during the 1969 split between Robin Gibb and his two brothers, when Barry and Maurice carried on as a two-man version of the Bee Gees. Cucumber Castle, the one album that they completed together before the two of them, in turn, parted company, included a delightful African-flavored number entitled “I.O.I.O. []” [see #594,] which featured Maurice intoning the title throughout, as far forward in the mix as Barry Gibb’s lead. Maurice Gibb did begin work on a solo LP, and released a single, “Railroad[]” [see #861,] co-authored by Billy Lawrie, a songwriter and singer, and also the brother of the British pop/rock legend Lulu [see #960], who became Maurice’s wife in 1969. Gibb handled all of the vocals on the single . . . . [H]e did begin work on a solo LP to have been called “The Loner.” He worked for three months with Billy Lawrie playing and singing, and with guitarist Les Harvey of Stone the Crows, drummer Geoff Bridgeford, and John Coleman and Gerry Shurry, the latter three members of the Australian band Tin Tin [see #355, 1,121] — whose 1970 debut album Maurice Gibb had produced — filling out what instruments Gibb didn’t wish to play himself. . . . [T]he sessions . . . only yielded one released song, “The Loner[]” [see #353] . . . . credited to “The Bloomfields” and appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Bloomfield . . . . Like the other solo albums begun by his brothers in 1970, Maurice Gibb’s LP was never released officially, though large parts of it have appeared on bootlegs over the years. Later in the same year, he and his brothers were able to patch up their differences and resume working together, and there’s been little serious talk of “The Loner” ever being issued since then.
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