1969/1970: A Very Bee Gee Intermission

This post is mostly an intermission that encompasses the period that the Bee Gees entered into a brief hiatus.

Post-Cucumber Castle hangover

Bee Gees, with drummer Colin Petersen (far left), 1969.

Towards the end of 1969, the Bee Gees broke up informally, until when the brothers effectively confirmed their break-up. Several journalists were surprised with the decision, as the Bee Gees were a rising group with a successful album and a film set to be released in a few months. However, it was understood these ambitious factors were decisive in a stressful, and then a cold break-up. The only one that would interact with his brothers was Maurice, as the relations between Barry and Robin were cold.

"We talked for a very few times throughout those months. I was the phone between Robin and Barry. They didn't have that big, heartbreaking fight, but they just lost their enthusiasm of working with each other, as I did myself. But I kept working with them, as they liked me as a session musician, and eventually I've seen myself as a mailman between the two, haha."

-Maurice Gibb, 1987

The effects of the break up ranged between affecting the popularity of the group at the time and music sales, to affecting later albums, such as From Trafalgar to Waterloo and To Whom It May Concern, when the Bee Gees became a singles group, making eventual appearances here and there. It wouldn't be until Main Course that the band would reassert their name in music industry by going Disco.

A new day is born with a trail of despair

Robin Gibb at his home studio, 1969.

The first one who decided to make a solo album was Robin. Actually, this decision was taken back when he still was recording The City on the Black Sea, as the tensions between Barry and him were high. As they've reached on release First of May and Lamplight as a double A-side single, the decision was left aside for a while. However, as Cucumber Castle was being such a another stressful project, Robin began to compose new, much more personal songs at his own home studio. As the Bee Gees broke up, Robin could finally focus into a solo debut soon.

"Things were going sour and I already knew that. I've had composed and recorded a lot of songs for Trail of Despair, some of then even during Cucumber Castle, and so much that I have some that still are unreleased until today. That album and that brief solo times were quite a therapeutic experience, as far I can say! But it wasn't the same thing without my brothers."

 -Robin Gibb

For the drums, Robin used a drum machine, while he mainly played an acoustic guitar, and the Hammond organ. Maurice also helped in the album, recording the double bass on Mother and Jack, and co-wrote the songs Alone Again and Sincere Relation. Kenny Clayton did the majority of orchestral arrangements, but Zack Lawrence also helped with Gone, Gone, Gone and The Worst Girl in This Town, while Vic Lewis was the conductor.

Robin's work was the first one to be shared to the general public with the release of the controversial C'est la vie, au revoir as the first single promoting his upcoming album, adding more to the controversy and rumours regarding his band's break up. Manager Robert Stigwood commented that Robin's songs were promising, as Robin was slowly becoming the main character of the solo period of the Bee Gees, conceding interviews and touring throughout the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

"That song [C'est la vie, au revoir] was the song that made me go solo. I felt a lot from what Robin was saying at the time, and I knew that song was to me. It was the moment when I saw that he wasn't content with what was happening in the band. I needed to respond in the best way I could, and that's how I started to do The Kid's No Good."

 -Barry Gibb

The album was named Trail of Despair, based in a verse of Farmer Ferdinand Hudson ("Now it is dawn and a new day is born/But with a trail of despair"). As the first solo debut of a Bee Gee, the album was widely promoted and commented by the fans of the group and music critics in general of what people could expect from the second Bee Gee?

Robin Gibb – Trail of Despair

Robin Gibb - Trail of Despair (1970)¹

Genre: Baroque pop

Total: 40:35

All tracks written by Robin Gibb, except when noted.

Side A - 20:01

1. "Mother and Jack" - 4:06

2. "Gone Gone Gone" - 2:35

3. "Alone Again" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 3:00²

4. "The Worst Girl in This Town" - 4:30

5. "Give Me a Smile" - 3:05

6. "Down Came the Sun" - 2:45

Side B - 20:34

7. "Farmer Ferdinand Hudson" - 3:05

8. "Sincere Relation" (R. Gibb, M. Gibb) - 3:00²

9. "Lord Bless All" - 3:15

10. "I'm Weeping" - 2:45²

11. "C'est la vie, au revoir" - 3:17³

12. "Most of My Life" - 5:12

Trail of Despair is the debut solo album of Robin Gibb, released in 9 May 1970 by Polydor Records. The album was produced by Vic Lewis and Robin Gibb, and it is the first solo work done by a Bee Gee. It also features one of the early uses of a drum machine in a rock album by Robin. The album was promoted by his most-known single C'est la vie, au revoir.

The production of the album started during the sessions of The City in the Black Sea, as Robin was getting unsatisfied with the demands, particularly from his older brother Barry, and by a suspected favouritism of Robert Stigwood over Barry. Tensions eased with the release of the album, but the relation didn't get any better with Cucumber Castle, as Robin began to record Trail of Despair.

Aside from the album, C'est la vie, au revoir was Robin's most successful single reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, but struggling to reach number 87 in Billboard Hot 100. In the end, Trail of Despair wasn't a commercial success, despite getting a mild reception by music critics. The album peaked at number 19 in UK Album Charts while it failed to chart in the United States. Robin wouldn't release another solo album until Secret Agent, in 1984.

Crying while wandering through the darkness

Barry Gibb in This is Tom Jones, 1969.

For Barry, the Bee Gees didn't officially break up until December 1st, when he announced that he was going solo. The oldest of the brothers began to record his solo album with the release of Robin's single C'est la vie, au revoir. Barry recruited singer P. P. Arnold and arranger Bill Shepherd, who he had already previously worked with in Cucumber Castle and previous albums with the Bee Gees. Maurice also was credited due to two songs that were written but not recorded during Cucumber Castle, playing the bass guitar in One Bad Thing.

Bummed by the band's break up, the cold relations with Robin, and with the help from manager Robert Stigwood, Barry Gibb started to sporadically tour in the United Kingdom, Germany, and a few months later, Australia. On the occasion, he was invited to act as a compere on Go-Set, and gave an interview to a magazine revealing that he wasn't ready to resume the activities with his brothers.

"No doubt those months were sad times. There was a certain part of the tour in Germany where I was thinking about giving it up, I didn't feel it was the same with my brothers, but I was trying to make my own way, and Robert [Stigwood] was helping me on that one, so I couldn't refuse his help."

-Barry Gibb

Barry's debut single was I'll Kiss Your Memory, backed by This Time. The song reached number 9 in UK Singles Charts, significantly worse than Robin's debut there, but it reached number 81 in the US, six positions better than his brother. The longing lyrics reflects similarly to the break up of the band, disguised as a song of love. Later reviews drew similarities between the arrangements of the single with the Bee Gees' hit single How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.

Polydor announced Barry's album as The Kid's No Good, and the second solo album from a Bee Gee after Trail of Despair. There was a certain hype thanks to Robin's album, and the rumours revolving around the brothers.

Barry Gibb - The Kid's No Good

Barry Gibb - The Kid's No Good (1970)¹

Genre: Country rock, baroque pop, folk

Total: 46:17

All tracks are written by Barry Gibb, except where noted.

Side A - 22:34

1. "Born" - 3:54

2. "One Bad Thing" (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 3:32

3. "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" (B. Gibb, M. Gibb) - 3:07

4. "Happiness" - 3:28

5. "Peace in My Mind" - 4:10

6. "Clyde O'Reilly" - 5:23

Side B - 23:43

7. "I Just Want to Take Care of You" - 3:57

8. "I'll Kiss Your Memory" - 4:26

9. "The Victim" - 3:59

10. "This Time" - 3:24

11. "What's It All About" - 3:09

12. "Mando Bay" - 4:48

The Kid's No Good is the debut album of Barry Gibb, released in 27 May 1970 by Polydor Records, one month after Cucumber Castle, and three weeks after Robin Gibb's Trail of Despair. The production of the album is credited to Barry Gibb himself. The album is mostly known by its singles, I'll Kiss Your Memory, The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine, and One Bad Thing.

Recorded amidst the solo period of the Bee Gees, The Kid's No Good is the album that drew a lot of similarities and comparisons to the Bee Gees' work, as the orchestral arrangements were done by Billy Shepherd, and the Country-influenced sound is reminiscent from the Everly Brothers influence in the band. Some critics dubbed the album as a Sinatra-esque version of the Bee Gees.

Barry Gibb's solo debut peaked in number 20 in the UK Albums Chart, ironically displaced by Trail of Despair, however, it performed better in the US as it reached number 182 in Billboard 200. Barry released three singles, with the most successful being I'll Kiss Your Memory. The other ones were One Bad Thing and The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine, this one released when the Bee Gees had already reunited.

Troubles don't get me down

Maurice was one of the club of the third members. Generally the ones who are behind the scenes, and are regarded as 'the quiet ones' under the public view, such as George Harrison, John Entwistle, Richard Wright, the list is endless. Anyway, behind the scenes, Maurice had a good reputation inside the music industry, as a competent musician, skilled multi-instrumentalist, and sometimes producer, being a close friend to figures such as Eric Clapton and George Harrison. And that's because, ironically, Maurice was the one with the best tools in his hand, contrasting with the lo-fi production of Robin's Trail of Despair and Barry's Bee Gee-derived sounds of The Kid's No Good.

Maurice Gibb, somewhere in the 1970s.

As a competent multi-instrumentalist and producer, Maurice knew the people to work with, and also how to make his own way during the process, after all, he played a lot of instruments during the Bee Gees era. By helping both of his brothers in the process of their respective solo albums, and producing a few singles to the Australian group Tin Tin in late 1969, Gibb recruited Billy Lawrie as a songwriting partner, Steve Groves and Steve Kipner from Tin Tin to play guitar and piano, respectively, and guitarist Leslie Harvey. Other musicians were hired by Gibb to play in the album, like Gerry Shury, who made the orchestral arrangements for the album.

The sessions of Maurice were far more lighthearted than the lonesome sessions of Robin and the painful sessions of Barry. Many songs emerged from conversations between Maurice and Lawrie, and the recording sessions with Tin Tin were relaxed, with some instrumentals coming from jam sessions (such as Piano/Insight). For a time, Maurice even considered release the album under The Fut, a supergroup jokingly formed between him, Steve Groves, Steve Kipner, and Billy Lawrie, but the idea was soon discarded.

"The sessions of Something's Blowing were a mess, but in a good way actually! I felt like I was producing another album for Tin Tin, and I kept forgetting that I was the main artist, haha! The record really shown some of my abilities in every range, and it was a great exercise that helped me to throw the weight that was in my back."

 -Maurice Gibb

Far more modest than his brothers, Maurice did a very short tour in England along with Tin Tin and Stone the Crows. The first copies were distributed by Maurice himself as a gift to his family and friends, being very complimented by his brothers. The album was announced as Something's Blowing by Polydor, with Soldier Johnny being released as a single, becoming a hit.

Maurice Gibb – Something's Blowing

Maurice Gibb - Something's Blowing (1970)¹

Genre: Rock, progressive pop, folk rock

Total: 39:39

All tracks written and composed by Billy Lawrie and Maurice Gibb.

Side A - 21:29

1. "Journey to the Misty Mountains" - 3:05

2. "Soldier Johnny" - 2:45

3. "Please Lock Me Away" - 2:36

4. "I've Come Back" - 2:41

5. "She's The One You Love" - 3:00

6. "Have You Heard The Word" - 4:18

7. "'Till I Try" - 3:04

Side B - 18:10

8. "Piano/Insight" - 2:58²

9. "Lay It on Me" - 2:07³

10. "Leave Me Here" - 2:26

11. "Laughing Child" - 3:13

12. "Something's Blowing" - 2:33

13. "Danny" - 2:40

14. "Silly Little Girl" - 2:13

Something's Blowing is the debut and only solo album released by Maurice Gibb. The album was produced by himself and released by Polydor Records in 10 July 1970. Recorded during the solo period of the Bee Gees, and in contrast with his brothers' records, although being promoted by Polydor, Something's Blowing had little to no hype, despite spawning Maurice's hit Soldier Johnny.

Maurice was the last one that planned to do a solo album, recruiting a few people that he previously worked with. The inspiration came after contributing to the sessions for his own brothers' albums, desiring to do a record as an exercise on composition, nothing similar to the friendly rivalry between Barry and Robin at the time. Most of the lyrics were written by Billy Lawrie while the music was composed by Maurice himself.

The album didn't chart in the United States, and reached number 43 in the UK Album Charts. The only hit, Soldier Johnny, also failed to chart in the US, but became a minor hit in Europe and a hit in Britain, reaching number 15 in UK Singles Charts. In following years, Maurice's album is regarded by many fans as the best one between the three solo albums. Barry appointed that the album has shown the abilities that Maurice had as a great music composer.

Good morning mister sunshine

Bee Gees and, at least, their happy ending, 1970.

Somewhere in the middle of 1970, Robin and Maurice Gibb reunited with new drummer Geoff Bridgford, who played drums on Maurice's album, and recorded new music. According to Barry, his return happened when Robin rang him in the middle of a vacation in Spain to 'do it again'. From there, the Bee Gees would never break-up again, and quite literally, since they even contributed to each solo records. But don't be mistaken, because their plot doesn't end here.

The group recorded a set of four songs that would be released in the comeback extended play 2 Years On. At the time, the band was preparing another adventure, going back in time, with a... Napoleonic approach, if I say so. But first, the group needed to finish the sessions of the EP, which they did by early October of that year.

The extended play was named 2 Years On, and secured a very warm reception of a comeback with the worldwide hit single Lonely Days, which was regarded by the harmonies reminiscent of The Beatles' Because and Carry That Weight, and marked the turning point of the Bee Gees as a successful singles band rather than an album band. The simple lyrics reflected the time that the band broke up and was done in ten minutes.

Bee Gees – 2 Years On

Bee Gees - 2 Years On (1970)

Genre: Baroque pop

Total: 12:33

Side A - 6:56

1. "2 Years On" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 3:57

2. "Man For All Seasons" (Barry Gibb, R. Gibb & M. Gibb) - 2:59

Side B - 5:37

3. "Back Home" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb & M. Gibb) - 1:52

4. "Lonely Days" (B. Gibb, R. Gibb & M. Gibb) - 3:45

2 Years On is the third extended play of the Bee Gees, and the first one released internationally. The production of the album was credited to Robert Stigwood and the Bee Gees, being released in 15 November 1970. It is the first Bee Gees work after the brief solo period, and contains the hit single Lonely Days. The album cover didn't contain new drummer Geoff Bridgford.

The album reached number two in UK Record Retailer EPs chart and number nine in Billboard Hot 100. Apart from Lonely Days, the work is overshadowed by the predecessor Cucumber Castle and successor From Trafalgar to Waterloo.

Author's note: Well, here's the deal, every time the members of a band decides to do solo albums in a short space of time between one and another, there will be an intermission focused just on solo albums. And that's what happened now, wow! Now, let's calm down, because this will not happen with the Bee Gees anymore, but with another quite famous band that you may know, and you can be sure that will happen more than once.

Sources and references:

• Robin Gibb - Trail of Despair

1. Robin Gibb - Robin's Reign
2. Bee Gees - 2 Years On
3. Robin Gibb - Saved by the Bell: The Collected Works of Robin Gibb 1969-1970

• Barry Gibb - The Kid's No Good

1. Barry Gibb - The Kid's No Good (bootleg)

• Maurice Gibb - Something's Blowing

1. Maurice Gibb - The Loner
2. Combination of "Improvisation on Piano" and "Insight".
3. Bee Gees - 2 Years On

• Bee Gees - 2 Years On

1. Bee Gees - 2 Years On

1969/1970: Going out in the midday sun

Wearing a crown and all the things

Barry and Maurice Gibb filming Cucumber Castle.

By 1969, as the hard times passed through, the Bee Gees had the idea to make a film. Based in the song Cucumber Castle, the concept of the film revolves into three heirs, Prince Frederick (Barry Gibb), Prince Edmund (Robin Gibb), and Prince Marmaduke (Maurice Gibb), and their dying father, the King (Frankie Howerd). The King orders his kingdom divided into three parts, the Kingdom of Jelly, Kingdom of Pudding and the Kingdom of Cucumbers. Before the king dies, Prince Frederick declares himself the "King of Cucumber", Prince Marmaduke becomes the "King of Jelly", and Prince Edmund becomes the "King of Pudding".

The film has several cameo appearances, such as the artists Lulu and Blind Faith, and also The Who's Roger Daltrey, Donovan, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and his then-girlfriend, Marianne Faithfull. Cucumber Castle contains comedy sketches from the Bee Gees along with performances by Lulu, Blind Faith, and the Bee Gees themselves.

In the studios, things have been gone smoothly, except maybe for the drummer Colin Petersen, who was fired during the sessions. He was replaced by session drummer Terry Cox, who played in the remaining tracks. During the same time, the Bee Gees found themselves in several contemporaneous activities to the album, such as producing music to other artists, and fired Petersen, a decision later regretted by Robin.

"There were many things going on at that time. Similar to the other year too. But this time there were more people that we were helping, Samantha Sang, P.P. Arnold, Tin Tin, and then we agreed on fire Petersen? That was quite stupid, thinking now."

-Robin Gibb

By September, the group returned to the studios to finish the recording sessions, and the things weren't seem to be going on as previously. The brothers lost the enthusiasm, starting to drift apart when the album was finished, putting the band in a hiatus for a year, and then, each one would record a solo record at the same time.

"We lost our inspiration by doing... really ambitious stuff. I realised that when we finished the album. Tours, two concept albums, a goddamn movie and other artists. That was too much in two years, and we lost two members in less than a year. Everything there bummed us a lot, so we decided to stop being the Bee Gees for a while."

-Barry Gibb

The album was titled Cucumber Castle, even though the film wasn't released yet, and the track that the film was based on wasn't in the track list either. Don't Forget to Remember, Tomorrow Tomorrow, and Saved By the Bell were previously released as singles to become three of the Bee Gees' greatest hits by the end of the 1960s. Critics praised the songwriting from the brothers in general.

Bee Gees – Cucumber Castle

Bee Gees - Cucumber Castle (1970)

Genre: Baroque pop, folk rock, country folk

Total: 37:40

All songs written and composed by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb & Maurice Gibb, except when noted.

Side A - 18:47

1. "If Only I Had My Mind On Something Else" - 2:33

2. "Tomorrow Tomorrow" - 4:05

3. "August October" (Robin Gibb) - 2:31

4. "Saved By the Bell" - 3:06

5. "Bury Me Down the River" (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb) - 3:25

6. "The Loner" (M. Gibb, Billy Lawrie) - 3:07

Side B - 18:53

7. "I Was The Child" - 3:14

8. "Railroad" (M. Gibb, Lawrie) - 3:37

9. "One Million Years" (R. Gibb) - 4:05

10. "My Thing" - 2:20

11. "Weekend" (R. Gibb) - 2:10

12. "Don't Forget to Remember" - 3:27

Cucumber Castle is the seventh studio album by the Bee Gees, produced by themselves and by their manager Robert Stigwood. The album consists of some songs composed as the soundtrack of their television special with the same name, being based in the song of the same name on their debut album. It was the last Bee Gees album featuring drummer Colin Petersen, and the last Bee Gees album before the short hiatus between late 1969 and mid 1970.

The record was released in 18 April 1970, as the Bee Gees were finishing their solo records, and still before the premiere of their television special. Considered a hit-driven album, three of the songs included in the album were incredibly successful, being regarded as some of their finest. Cucumber Castle peaked in number 2, displaced by The Beatles' Get Back, while it reached number 16 in Billboard 200.

Bee Gees' Cucumber Castle received mixed to positive reviews, being regarded as a faithful follow-up to the magnum opus The City in the Black Sea. Still, the unexpected hiatus of the band ended up affecting the album sales. One critic at the time regarded that the Bee Gees were a "hit-making machine, but also a very ambitious and unstable group".

Going good with the soul

The Beach Boys during Halloween, ca. 1969~70.

The release of 20/20 saw the popularity of the Beach Boys declining towards the 1970s. Even though Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were generally regarded as memorable records, the audience was consistently diminishing and the tours were generally regarded as 'underwhelming' and 'old-fashioned'. 20/20 became their second lowest-selling album at the time, and the group was amidst a lawsuit against Capitol for unpaid royalties.

By 1969, the mental conditions of Brian Wilson, whose reclusiveness and eccentric behavior were getting worse, since he began to use cocaine. Brian's behavior heavily affected his reputation in music industry, and to a lesser extent, the band found the distribution of their albums severely compromised as various labels deemed the band too risky to sign. The band's manager Nick Grillo was trying to negotiate with international labels, as the popularity from the band seemed higher than in the United States.

"I find it kinda bizarre when we are referred as America's Band by Mike. In the late 60's, nobody there wanted to listen to that 'Beach Boys bullcrap', even after Smiley Smile and Wild Honey, but a lot of people preferred us outside the United States, where we mostly went. The thing is, the audience liked all the albums, and expected music from and like both albums, but Mike wanted to stay with the surf stuff, as it was already out-of-fashion. Nobody liked that same surf-cars-girls-thing in the late 60s. Jack [Rieley] really opened my eyes about that."

 -Dennis Wilson, 2003

In late 1969, a deal was signed between The Beach Boys, Brother Records, and Island Records, arranged by manager Grillo. The contract stipulated Brian's proactive involvement with the band in all albums. And a wave of optimism and inspiration reached the band, which recorded a lot of material between November 1969 and January 1970.

In February 1970, the forthcoming album, Add Some Music to Your Day, was submitted to Island Records, and announced in March 1970. The title track was release as the promotional single, which would be well-received by the critics and by the fans of the band. It peaked in number 32 in Billboard Hot 100. The band started a campaign with the same name of the album and title track for the development of music in school.

"We have to thank a lot to Island Records to help to re-establish us in the United States. The thing is that we weren't that bad in music sales at all, the main problem was how tarnished our reputation was by that time. I mean, in one hand we had Brian and his drug problem, in the other hand, and the view that the general public had of the band was that we were stuck in the 1960s, using the same wardrobe, performing songs about love, cars and all that stuff, you know?"

 -Carl Wilson, 1990

The Beach Boys – Add Some Music To Your Day

The Beach Boys - Add Some Music To Your Day (1970)
Genre: Rock, progressive pop
Total: 39:55

Side A - 18:47
1. "Slip on Through" (Dennis Wilson) - 2:17
2. "Susie Cincinnati" (Al Jardine) - 2:57
3. "Got To Know The Woman" (D. Wilson) - 2:41
4. "It's About Time" (D. Wilson, Bob Burchman, Jardine) - 2:55
5. "This Whole World" (Brian Wilson) - 1:56
6. "Soulful Old Man Sunshine" (B. Wilson, Rick Henn) - 3:27
7. "All I Wanna Do" (B. Wilson, Mike Love) - 2:34

Side B - 21:08
8. "Take a Load Off Your Feet" (Jardine, B. Wilson, Gary Winfrey) - 3:27
9. "Tears In The Morning" (Bruce Johnston) - 4:07
10. "At My Window" (Jardine, B. Wilson) - 2:30
11. "Add Some Music To Your Day" (B. Wilson, Joe Knott, Love) - 3:34
12. "Deirdre" (Johnson, B. Wilson) - 3:27
13. "Where is She?" (B. Wilson) - 2:21
14. "Forever" (D. Wilson, Gregg Jakobson) - 2:40

Add Some Music To Your Day is the fifteenth studio album by the Beach Boys. The production is credited to the band, and released in 6 April 1970 by the Brother/Island Records, the first one under the label. Recorded and produced during a hard time for the band, the album sold better than 20/20, however, it sold poorly compared to the band's standards. The album had working names such as Reverberation and The Fading Rock Group Revival.

The recording sessions for the album began in January 1969, being completed a year later, in 1970. During this process, the band was struggling to search for a new record contract, signing with Island, and completing the album by January. Along with 20/20 and Landlocked, Add Some Music To Your Day is part of the stage where drummer Dennis Wilson was emerging as a creative force in the group, symbolised by the success of the single Forever.

In contemporaneous reviews, the album received favourable reviews, although it sold poorly compared to their previous albums (except for 20/20). It reached number 15 in Billboard 200 and number 2 in UK Album Charts intermittently for a few weeks. In later years, the album would be re-evaluated by the fans and the general public, and considered a favourite by the fans of the Beach Boy Golden Age.

The singles released by the group were the title track, receiving favourable reviews, Slip On Through, failing to chart either in the US and UK, and the two hits, All I Wanna Do, considered a precursor do chillwave and shoegaze, peaking in number 15 in Billboard Hot 100, number 3 in Billboard Hot Rock Singles, and number 7 in UK Single Charts, and Forever, reaching number 4 in Billboard Hot 100, and topping UK Singles Charts.

Aftermath

With the release of Add Some Music To Your Day, the band was seeking to re-establish themselves as a powerful force in the United States once again. In July 1970, Brian closed his health food store called Radiant Radish, and in the same day, he would met someone that would help the Beach Boys into reinvigorate themselves at the verge of the 1970's.

Bruce Johnston and Jack Rieley.

Jack Rieley was a record producer, songwriter and disc jockey based in North Hollywood, who gave space to the Beach Boys in his show on July 29, 1970. A week later, Rieley would send a six-page memo that explained how to stimulate "increased record sales and popularity". At instigation of Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, the co-manager Fred Vail is replaced by Rieley, beginning a new era for the band.

"It has been quite since... late '68 I've seen the Beach Boys declining at that time, and Brian rambling about the band's problems during that interview only confirmed my suspicions. The band seemed unsatisfied with the charts, the audience dissipating from their shows, and Fred was not helping, according to Mike and Bruce. The band needed to be revitalised."

 -Jack Rieley

Don't put a price on my soul (Greasy Asylum)

Joe Cocker, 1970.

At the time, the Greasy Asylum fulfilled their contract with Apple Records due to problems with Allen Klein, moving to EMI in the United Kingdom, who would distribute Shelter Records in the country and in Europe. The decision was personally and privately supported by Paul McCartney, who was against Allen's administration of the label.

In September 1969, the group began to record their third album at Abbey Road Studios, but some members in the group wanted more space in the albums. "Until Delta Lady, the vocals were just Joe and me, sometimes Marc [Benno], then Henry shared us his songs as he wanted to sing something, and we've agreed. I see Greasy Asylum something more like a collective group, instead of a band, so everybody was open to contribute besides us. I didn't like the spotlight anyway.", Leon Russell.

The group would have the album finished by January 1970, leaving to Denny Cordell and Glyn Johns to mix the album. By March, Leon Russell would recruit a large number of musicians and backing vocalists from his association with Delaney & Bonnie. The tour's name was Mad Dogs & Englishmen, which the live album and the documentary name's were based on. The most remarkable concert was at Filmore East, recorded in the live album.

During the tour, EMI would announce and release the band's third album Hello, Little Friend, seeking capitalise from the tour's success. Feelin' Alright would be released as single reaching number 33 in US charts, backed by the title track. The single would be received with a warm reception by critics and the public, becoming another song performed during Joe Cocker's tours post-Greasy Asylum.

"People saw Russell and Cocker as the masterminds behind Greasy Asylum, but Cocker was the real frontman on the gigs. Leon appeared once or twice because he also sang, but Joe Cocker had an unique performing style onstage, playing air guitar, waving idiosyncratically to the song, and the audience liked him because of that. Greasy Asylum was mostly formed by unique people there."

-Denny Cordell, 1989

Greasy Asylum – Hello, Little Friend

Greasy Asylum - Hello, Little Friend (1970)

Genre: Blues rock, roots rock, folk rock

Total: 44:16

Side A - 22:47

1. "Dear Landlord" (Bob Dylan) - 3:23

2. "My Baby Left Me" (Arthur Crudup) - 3:06

3. "Shoot Out on the Plantation" (Leon Russell) - 3:13

4. "Feelin' Alright" (Dave Mason) - 4:10

5. "Mistake No Doubt" (Henry McCullough) - 4:20

6. "I Shall Be Released" (Dylan) - 4:35

Side B - 21:29

7. "Give Peace a Chance" (Russell, Bonnie Bramlett) - 2:23

8. "Hitchcock Railway" (Don Dunn, Tony McCashen) - 4:41

9. "Roll Away the Stone" (Russell, Greg Dempsey) - 3:10

10. "Prince of Peace" (Russell, Dempsey) - 3:05

11. "Hello, Little Friend" (Russell) - 3:52

12. "To the Lord" (McCullough) - 4:18

Hello, Little Friend is the third studio album by the British-American band Greasy Asylum. The album was produced by Danny Cordell and Glyn Johns, and released on 24 April 1970 by Shelter Records in the United States, and distributed by EMI Records in the United Kingdom. The album features the debut songs and vocals of Henry McCullough, and it is the first one after leaving Apple Records.

Still in Greasy Asylum, Hello, Little Friend would consolidate Joe Cocker as a standards singer rather than a singer-songwriter, and as the lead vocalist of the group. A few songs of the album would be part of the set of Joe Cocker's future tours, such as Hitchcock Railway and the hit single Feelin' Alright. The album would reach number 6 in UK Album Charts and number 22 in Billboard 200. It would be eventually overshadowed in the band's catalogue by the live Mad Dogs & Englishmen, released in August.

Aside from good critics, the album is generally regarded as the lowest-selling album of Greasy Asylum, thanks a combination of the hype for the band slightly diminishing, little to no promotion of the album (the campaign to associate it with the Mad Dogs & Englishmen failed), and few differences to the predecessor, Delta Lady.

Sources:

Bee Gees - Cucumber Castle:

• Bee Gees - Cucumber Castle
• Bee Gees - Tales from the Brothers Gibb
• Robin Gibb - Robin's Reign

The Beach Boys - Add Some Music to Your Day:

• The Beach Boys - Sunflower
• The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
• The Beach Boys - 15 Big Ones
• The Beach Boys - Endless Harmony Soundtrack
• The Beach Boys - Hawthorne, CA
• The Beach Boys - Made in California

Greasy Asylum - Hello, Little Friend:

• Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker!
• Leon Russell - Leon Russell (1970)
• The Grease Band - The Grease Band (1971)

1969/1970: A brief recapitulation...

Author's note: From this post, A Crazy Gift of Time will be posted once a week/two weeks. I have a couple more posts already written, and this will give me time to concentrate in college and to write more stuff. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay in this crazy gift of time, thank you for reading this timeline! :)

To where you once belonged

The Beatles, ca. 1969.

As 1969 progressed, the tensions between the band were high at the point that in every session the band wasn't entirely present. Consistently, there were Ringo and George, sometimes Paul, sometimes John, and sometimes the reverse. For Brian Epstein, the situation in the management was almost the same too, as a rift between him and Allan Klein became very apparent.

"For a time, it was just me who was very wary with Klein. Then, Brian [Epstein] said to me some stuff that he was discontent with his work there, he wanted to replace Klein, but wanted the band to secure his action. I immediately stood up for him. Then, Ringo joined us, then John and George."

 -Paul McCartney, 1988

At the time, Epstein's visits to the studios became less and less frequent, as he had to deal with Apple Records. And with this, the situation in the studios became more and more chaotic, with the presence of their families, mostly Yoko and Linda, and sometimes their kids too. For the first time, the band had other producer than George Martin to the Get Back project, Phil Spector, to finish the overdubs.

Apart from production, John Lennon briefly left the Beatles between 19 to 26 September 1969, a fact that was known a year later when Klein was fired from Apple. John would still return because of Epstein, who talked to him during meantime. As for the others, with the end of the sessions, Paul would begin to record his debut solo album, entitled McCartney, in secrecy, as did the other Beatles. Ringo still would participate in sessions with Spector.

"John wanted to scrap the film, but Paul and Brian vehemently rejected the idea. 'Doing all of that work for nothing?', they asked. And they were quite right, we are human beings, and that would be the sign that in the studios, the things were a lot different than publicly."

-Ringo Starr

In February 1970, dissatisfied with the turn that the label was going, John and George, the remaining members, were convinced by Brian Epstein to dismiss Klein. "He thought a lot about that, and we knew that he wasn't wrong. The Apple venture was something that we weren't prepared for, and Klein was a weight on his back.", George Harrison. Officially, Klein was dismissed in March 1970, two months before the release of Get Back and the premiere from the movie.

After the release of the album, Lee Eastman was appointed officially to replace Klein in the management. As for the Beatles, the band decided to enter in a hiatus for a year, deciding to record the album in a two-year period. However, the EMI label demanded a last album after Get Back before the management company signed a new contract with them. And at last, Lennon and McCartney decided to dissolve their partnership. Finally, The Beatles were renovated, a new band diving into the 1970s along with other bands altogether.

Get Back was finally announced, alongside the documentary with the same name in April 1970. At the time, rumours said that The Beatles were about to break-up since the dismiss of Klein from Apple, and as the movie was released, it would only confirm those claims to their public. As some tracks were released as singles mostly in the previous year, I've Got a Feeling and The Long and Winding Road were released as a double A-side single, topping the UK Singles Chart and reaching number 3 in the Billboard Hot 100.

The Beatles – Get Back

The Beatles - Get Back (1970)

Genre: Rock, pop, blues rock, film soundtrack

Total: 84:22

Disc One - 41:56

Side A - 21:27

1. "The Palace of the King of the Birds" (George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Richard Starkley) - 5:04

2. "Get Back" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:09

3. "Dig a Pony" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:54

4. "Two of Us" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:33

5. "I Me Mine" (Harrison) - 2:26

6. "Old Brown Shoe" (Harrison) - 3:21

Side B - 20:29

7. "Come Together" (Lennon-McCartney) - 4:20

8. "Don't Let Me Down" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:35

9. "Sour Milk Sea" (Harrison) - 3:50

10. "(You Know) It Ain't Easy" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:59¹

11. "Octopus's Garden" (Starkley) - 2:51

12. "One After 909" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:54

Disc Two - 42:26

Side C - 21:01

13. "Medley I: Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" (Lennon-McCartney) - 6:41

14. "For You Blue" (Harrison) - 2:32

15. "Watching Rainbows" (Lennon-McCartney) - 4:08

16. "I've Got a Feeling" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:37

17. "Let It Be" (Lennon-McCartney) - 4:03

Side D - 21:25

18. "You Never Give Me Your Money" (Lennon-McCartney) - 4:02

19. "Across the Universe" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:48

20. "Isn't It a Pity?" (Harrison) - 4:45²

21. "The Long and Winding Road" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:38

22. "Medley II: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" (Lennon-McCartney) - 5:12

Get Back is the thirteenth album by the British rock band The Beatles. It was produced by George Martin, Glyn Johns and Phil Spector and released in 8 May 1970 by Apple Records and distributed by EMI. Part-studio album, part-live album, and part-film soundtrack, the double album contains the material recorded during the sessions of the documentary with the same name, Get Back, plus more songs that didn't appear in film.

The album was recorded in a difficult time for The Beatles, as the band needed to resolve the management issues in Apple Records with manager Brian Epstein and Allan Klein. Paul McCartney gave the idea for a documentary showing how the albums were done, and also a back-to-basics routine for the band. Throughout the year of 1969, the tensions between the members of the group remained high, prompting to John Lennon's brief departure from the band in late September.

With the release, the album was met with universal acclaim by music critics and by fans, topping the charts in both sides of the Atlantic, Billboard 200 for almost 30 weeks and the UK Album Charts for 21 weeks. Get Back is considered another album that blew up expectations by the band, with journalists claiming that "even after eight years, The Beatles never cease to impress us". The album is considered among the Beatles' best, alongside Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, A Doll's House, and Band on the Run.

Beatles' Get Back is considered among musicologists a landmark on music's history, and on the band's history itself. The album cover mirrored the band's debut album, Please Please Me, and also became  one of the most imitated in popular music. In 2020, it was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of the greatest albums of all time. The album has also been ranked as one of the Beatles' best-selling, including a multi-platinum certification by the RIAA.

Still, Get Back wasn't free from criticism of the Beatles themselves. Paul McCartney considered Phil Spector's embelishments unnecessary in most of the songs, while John Lennon felt that the album lacked authenticity. The record also is the last record with the iconic partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which after that, both members would be credited individually for their songs.

Shagrat the Vagrant

Steve Peregrin Took, somewhere in the 70s.

As 1969 was passing, Steve Took — former member from Rubber Band and now the former drummer from Syd's touring band as he was backed by Tailboard — started to connect with more members from the now-crumbling British Underground, forming the 'Pink Fairies Rock'n'Roll Club'. Some of the members included the Deviants (such as Mick Farren), former members from The Pretty Things, and sometimes even Syd himself, who was mostly absent because of touring.

Throughout the year, Took collaborated with two songs on drummer Twink's debut solo album Think Pink, "Three Little Piggies" and "The Sparrow is a Sign", and also collaborated with former The Deviants Mick Farren's solo record Mona – The Carnivorous Circus. And that is where he could find his future band.

"So, after breaking up with Rubber Band, after leaving Syd's band, I was quite lost in my way. I wanted to be in a group so bad, I had written a couple songs to do something, but I was missing my opportunity to shine. And that's why I am thankful to Mick helping me by meeting with Shagrat."

 -Steve Took, 1976

During the sessions for Mona, Took met bass player John Gustafson and keyboardist Pete Robinson. Gustafson was a member of Episode Six as Roger Glover left to join Deep Purple, together with Mick Underwood, who didn't participate in the sessions. However, asked if he wanted to join a group John was forming, Steve gladly accepted, suggesting Shagrat as the name for the group, accepted by them. However, this time, Steve filled up the role for guitarist, and eventually, a frontman for his new group alongside Gustafson.

All the people having dinner inside

Os Mutantes, ca. 1970.

The group Os Mutantes was a band heavily linked to the Tropicália movement back in Brazil, and the country's greatest revelation for rock music at the time. The band pioneered the use of electric guitar in traditional Brazilian music, seen as 'blasphemous' to the more conservative and puritan elements of music. (And when I say 'conservative elements', they even did a march against the electric guitar, I mean, what were they thinking?) Anyway, back to the story...

Os Mutantes were formed in 1966 by the high-class friends Rita Lee and brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias. They were a part from a larger musical group called Six Sided Rockets, which was reduced to the trio in a year. And since 1967, the group released three albums: Os Mutantes (1968), Mutantes (1969) and A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desligado (1970, recorded in 1969).

Between 1969 and 1970, Os Mutantes would go touring in the psychedelic melting pot of France, and invited by Carl Holmes, the band started to record an album, at the Des Dames Studios, to attract an international audience to the band. At the time, the band was signed with Polydor Records. The album would be released as Technicolor, and released for international markey only, reaching Brazil under a reissue in the 1980s.

Still, winds of change affected the Brazilian music scenario as the military dictatorship was getting harder and harsher against the opposition, resulting in the exile from famous musicians at the time, such as Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, the last two, the main figures of Tropicália alongside Os Mutantes. One of the effects of the persecution was the bittersweet ending of the Tropicália movement, as their main figures distanced themselves from the 'tropical, psychedelic-esque' sounds, moving towards the typical Brazilian Pop Music (MPB, for short).

However, for Os Mutantes, they would remain for a while with a foot on Tropicália territory, but as time progressed, the group would be more influenced by the growing progressive rock scene and by hippie ideals that came (quite late) to Brazil, eventually moving to a hippie settlement throughout the 1970s. For many artists, including them, that period was considered the post-Tropicália era, fuelled by a bitter sentiment against the military regime and by previous influences, quite like a transitionary stage.

"Since we were one of those major figures in Brazilian music at the time, the military government was keeping an eye on us constantly. It was the most common thing at the time to a musician to have a song prohibited by the censorship offices. That happened to us, and to everybody, to Taiguara, to Milton [Nascimento, Caetano [Veloso]... It was awful."

-Rita Lee, 1992

Year of the rooster

Carl Palmer, also somewhere in the 1970s.

At last, there is Atomic Rooster. A new, democratic, incarnation from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the band was initially composed by Arthur Brown (vocals), Andy Dalby (lead guitar), Nick Graham (bass guitar and vocals), Vincent Crane (keyboards), Carl Palmer (drums), and one of the most promising acts with their newest material infusing heavy psychedelia, progressive, and experimental rock music.

The group would start to perform around London, headlining at the London Lyceum in August 1969, with the opening act by Deep Purple. Atomic Rooster signed with Blackhill Records, replacing the former incarnation of the group. Andy Dalby officially joined the group as he was found by Arthur Brown when he was looking for a touring band. The band would start to record their debut album in December 1969.

In January 1970, the non-album single Friday the 13th, written by Vincent Crane, was released, with Gypsy Escape as the backing single. The single reached number 14 in the UK Singles Charts and didn't chart in the United States, and despite being considered an average song by the critics, the song passed unnoticed by the public. "That's when we knew that we needed the help from Blackhill.", Nick Graham.

The album was announced as Galactic Zoo Dossier by Blackhill, featuring a lot of promotion by the label as the new incarnation of the 'successful' Crazy World of Arthur Brown. From the hit single "Fire", not the album "Strangelands". One of the acts was to put the group as a headliner at the upcoming Blackhill's Hyde Park Festival in July 1970.

"Not gonna lie, I was quite nervous with the album, after what happened with Strangelands. And that was the first album without some considerable leadership, even if I was the frontman for the group, haha."

 -Arthur Brown, 1981

Atomic Rooster – Galactic Zoo Dossier

Atomic Rooster - Galactic Zoo Dossier (1970)

Genre: Progressive rock, space rock, hard rock

Total: 43:58

Side A - 21:31

1. "Internal Messenger" (Arthur Brown) - 5:08

2. "Space Plucks" (Brown, Crane) - 3:21

3. "Galactic Zoo" (Brown) - 2:32

4. "Broken Wings" (John Mayall) - 5:47

5. "Devil's Answer" (Crane) - 4:43

Side B - 22:27

6. "Banstead" (Crane, Nick Graham, Carl Palmer) - 3:30

7. "Medley (Galactic Zoo/Space Plucks/Galactic Zoo)" (Brown, Crane) - 3:18

8. "Decline and Fall" (Crane, Graham, Palmer) - 5:45

9. "Simple Plan" (Brown) - 3:03

10. "Sunrise" (Brown, Crane) - 6:51

Galactic Zoo Dossier is the debut album by the British band Atomic Rooster, and the first album of most members after the failure of Strangelands. The album was released in 23 February 1970 in the United Kingdom and 5 March 1970 in the United States and the rest of the world. Galactic Zoo Dossier is one of the first conceptual albums of the first wave of Progressive rock, and considered a primal example of space rock.

The album was recorded after the American tour as the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and after the release and the critical reception of Strangelands, the group reformed into Atomic Rooster. The band started to tour around London and the United Kingdom before gathering and recording Galactic Zoo Dossier plus a few more tracks which were released a few years later in reissues.

Atomic Rooster's Galactic Zoo Dossier would be released to a great appraisal by the critics and well-received by the public in general. The album would peak in number 3 in Britain while it would reach number 86 in Billboard 200. Devil's Answer would be released as a promotional single, reaching number 8 in the UK Single Charts and number 10 in Billboard Hot Rock Charts, backed by Space Plucks. Galactic Zoo Dossier would be considered a 'redemption album' after the disastrous Strangelands.

It is the only album to feature drummer Carl Palmer and bassist Nick Graham. Palmer would later leave Atomic Rooster to form the supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer with Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, while Nick Graham moved to Skin Alley, replacing Thomas Crimble. The remaining members would form the main core of Atomic Rooster for the rest of the first era. The album would receive a lot of appraise by its contemporaries.

"Galactic Zoo Dossier was the shit at the time, probably Blackhill's greatest venture at the time. Vincent [Crane] and [Arthur] Brown did a great job with that album. That would be one of the things that I would stop everything I was doing and listen to while high."

 -Syd Barrett, 2013

"That stuff was... mind-blowing when I first listened. It's hard to tell how Galactic Zoo Dossier was influential for me in several aspects. Probably there wouldn't be a Ziggy Stardust without that record."

 -David Bowie, 1999

Author's comment:

And here we are in the 1970s! At least with a foot on it, welp. And we have the introduction of a new band, Os Mutantes! A Brazilian band, very successful at the time, and they have quite an interesting scenario to work with. As for Arthur Brown, finally here it is a new reintroduction to Atomic Rooster and their debut album, Galactic Zoo Dossier, based on the OTL album with the same title, from Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come.

Sources

The Beatles - Get Back:

• The Beatles - Abbey Road
• The Beatles - Let It Be
• The Beatles - Past Masters
• George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

1. '(You Know) It Ain't Easy' is 'The Ballad of John and Yoko'.
2. 'It Isn't a Pity' is the second version in the All Things Must Pass album.

Atomic Rooster - Galactic Zoo Dossier:

• Atomic Rooster - Atomic Roooster
• Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier

1969: 20/20 & Isle of Wight

20/20

Brian Wilson at his own Radiant Radish Health Food Store, 1969.

Though the Beach Boys were enjoying their particular success after two successful albums (SMiLE and Wild Honey), things seemed to go sour behind the scenes. Throughout the year of 1968, Brian Wilson conducted the band into a wave of perfectionism, exemplified by the production of Wild Honey. Friend and Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton recalled that Brian expressed suicidal wishes at the time. Afterward, Brian was admitted to a psychiatric hospital by his own volition, while the band started to record their fourteenth album with his absence.

During the recording sessions, Dennis Wilson befriended the ex-convict Charles Manson, both interested in Charles' musical talent and ambitions, and engaged to sign Manson into the Brother Records. In the same period of the sessions for 20/20, Carl and Dennis Wilson produced some of Charles Manson's tracks, with the tapes remaining unreleased, although producer Phil Kaufmann wanted to release them (instead, releasing previous versions in two albums). The Beach Boys recorded a version of Manson's song "Cease to Exist", as an altered version renamed to "Never Learnt Not to Love". Manson exchanged his writing credit for a sum of cash and a motorcycle.

Some tracks of the album were recorded previously, as Bluebirds over the Mountain is a cover produced in 1967 by Bruce Johnston. Time to Get Alone was written and produced by Brian for the group Redwood between the early sessions of Wild Honey. "Never Learnt Not to Love" was considered to be included in the album, but the idea was protested by Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. The band continued to record in 1969, with the sessions finished in March 1969, after a session for "Break Away".

"I knew from the start that we were going nowhere with that album. For sure it was our lowest point in the 60s, with Brian most of the time going to the hospital. We were afraid that we would step into the 70s behind everybody. And I think that if we had put that burglar's song [referring to Charles Manson and Never Learnt Not to Love], that would've tarnished with our reputation even more."

-Mike Love, 2014

20/20

 The Beach Boys - 20/20 (1969)

Genre: Rock, folk rock, psychedelic pop

Total: 42:10

Side A - 21:07

1. "Break Away" (B. Wilson, Murry Wilson) - 2:57

2. "Do It Again" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love) - 2:25

3. "Loop de Loop (Flip Flop Flyin' in an Aeroplane)" (B. Wilson, C. Wilson, Al Jardine) - 2:56

4. "I Can Hear Music" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) - 2:36

5. "Bluebirds over the Mountain" (Ersel Hickey) - 2:51

6. "We're Together Again" (Ron Wilson) - 1:49

7. "When Girls Get Together" (B. Wilson, Love) - 3:31

8. "All I Want to Do" (D. Wilson, Stephen Kalinich) - 2:02

Side B - 21:03

9. "I Went to Sleep" (B. Wilson, Carl Wilson) - 1:36

10. "Time to Get Alone" (B. Wilson) - 2:40

11. "Celebrate the News" (D. Wilson) - 3:05

12. "The Nearest Faraway Place" (Bruce Johnston) - 2:39

13. "Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River" (Stephen Foster, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) - 2:52

14. "Be With Me" (Dennis Wilson) - 3:08

15. "Cool, Cool Water" (B. Wilson) - 5:03

20/20 is the fourteenth studio album by The Beach Boys, released on 23 April 1969 by Brother Records and distributed by Capitol. Brian, Carl, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston received the credit of producers. The album is noted primarily by the background since it was mostly produced during Brian Wilson's absence and the presence of Charles Manson during the recording sessions.

Part of the songs shows a rapprochement of the band to the surf music, mostly shown in the opening track, "Do It Again" and "All I Want to Do". Many other songs were recycled from previous sessions of Wild Honey, such as "Bluebirds Over the Moutain" and "Time to Get Alone". Other tracks were composed by Brian before his admission to a psychiatric hospital. "Cool, Cool Water" was derived from the sessions of Smiley Smile, most precisely the track "In Blue Hawaii".

In the same sessions, Carl and Dennis Wilson co-produced a few songs by Charles Manson, which remain unreleased. A cover version of "Cease to Exist" was recorded by Dennis Wilson and released as B-side of "Bluebirds Over the Mountain", and was discarded as a song to be included in the album.

The record is generally considered a question mark in the so-called Golden Age, mostly being overshadowed by the successful releases by its side (Pet Sounds, Smile, Wild Honey and Landlocked), and their lowest-selling record in the 60s. 20/20 received mixed reviews and peaked in number 21 on Billboard and number 3 on the UK Album Charts. Break Away, Do It Again and All I Want to Do were released as singles, with Break Away becoming a song played by radio stations of the present.

Isle of Wight

Syd Barrett (right) along with the audience at the Isle of Wight, 1969.

The festival was held a few weeks after Woodstock. The Blackhill artists that performed in the festival were Pink Floyd Sound, David Bowie, Syd Barrett, and Tailboard. Pink Floyd Sound performed the setlist from the upcoming tour, Tailboard performed their Woodstock set, while Syd Barrett, supported by Tailboard, performed his own setlist. Other artists that performed in the festival were the Edgar Broughton Band, The Pretty Things, Greasy Asylum, The Who, the headlining acts Bob Dylan & The Band, and many others.

"I consider the Isle of Wight as the starting point of our tour with Syd and Tailboard. We all performed, in a nice atmosphere, in almost the same way that we did in the rest of the tour. Even Syd preferred to go along with the people instead of the VIP zone, I recall seeing him from the stage when we were performing."

-Roger Waters, 1994

Syd Barrett was the first one in Blackhill Records to perform after the Bonzo Dog Band, on Saturday 30. Pink Floyd Sound would perform later in the night before Blonde on Blonde. David Bowie performed on Sunday 31 after Ritchie Havens, while Tailboard performed after Liverpool Scene. The Greasy Asylum performed before Syd Barrett. Bob Dylan & The Band were the first ones to perform on Sunday.

Syd Barrett performing at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Syd Barrett appeared around 3p.m. on stage supported by Tailboard and keyboardist Dave Stewart. Syd's setlist was divided between three sets, an electric set, consisting of psychedelic-driven songs, including a medley; an acoustic set consisting of an unreleased song, Milky Way, and his most folk-oriented songs, and the pop set with his most popular songs at the time.

Syd's performance received generally positive reviews, pointing an interesting plan by dividing the songs into three acts. Standout moments of Syd's show were the medley, the 10-minute rendition of Arnold Layne, and the singalong The Bike Song when Syd performed the song along with the audience. Fellow music partner Kevin Ayers wrote The Hat Song inspired by the moment.

"When Syd played that last song, I was at the VIP zone, watching how he was a wonderful conducer of the audience. That last song blew up my mind completely, and when I arrived home I immediately wrote The Hat Song, as a way to be more... interactive with the public. That song actually helped me in the early months without Daevid, when I 'assumed the office' of interact with the fans."

-Kevin Ayers, 2007 

Syd Barrett, Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 30th, 1969
Setlist
All tracks written by Syd Barrett, except when noted.

Electric set
1. "Medley: Scream Thy Last Scream/Let's Roll Another One/Vegetable Man/Lucifer Sam"
2. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Syd Barrett, Vincent Crane, Rick Wills, Willie Wilson)
3. "Clowns and Jugglers"
4. "Here I Go"
5. "Astronomy Domine"

Acoustic set
6. "Milky Way"
7. "The Gnome"
8. "Silas Lang (Swan Lee)"
9. "Golden Hair/Terrapin" (Barrett, James Joyce/Barrett)
10. "Jugband Blues"

Pop set
11. "Apples and Oranges"
12. "Arnold Layne" (Barrett, David Bowie)
13. "See Emily Play" (Barrett, Bowie)
14. "Late Night"
15. "The Bike Song"

David Bowie also performing at the Isle of Wight Festival.

David Bowie arrived on the early night of Friday 29, with the same band that performed with him in the studios. There, he stayed in a hotel paid by the Blackhill Enterprises, where also were most of the artists of the company. He also met his fellow and former bandmate Syd for the first time after several months with a few or no contact at all.

"Well, I arrived in the evening of Friday, and there wasn't a lot to do besides to talk to everyone there at the hotel. It was a wonderful time, finally I met Syd again and we chatted about our experiences in solo, and we seemed in the same level at the time. Everyone threw a party in that day, I almost missed the ride to the festival. *laughs*

At the same time I see some people speculating that Syd and I would appear together, even Edgar [Broughton] asked me about that. I'm not gonna lie that I wanted to do it, but Syd wasn't very fond of this, so we abandoned the idea."

-David Bowie, 2000

"Actually Bowie and I performed at the party in the hotel, the night before the Festival. Everything was improvised, we weren't that serious. If I recall, we just covered some blues tunes, and played Space Oddity, and that's really everything we played there, it was quite fun."

-Syd Barrett, 1984

Bowie's catalogue was slightly shorter than Syd's, containing a mix of songs from the Rubber Band era, Cygnet Committee, the upcoming album, An Occasional Dream, and a cover rendition of Lou Reed's I'm Waiting For The Man. Afterwards, the performance of David Bowie was generally approved and described as creative and whimsical. Highlights from Bowie's presentation were Space Oddity, the cover version of I'm Waiting For The Man and See Emily Play, which was also performed by Syd one day earlier.

David Bowie, Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 31st, 1969
Setlist
All tracks written by David Bowie, except when noted.
1. "Space Oddity"
2. "Love You 'till Tuesday" (Syd Barrett, David Bowie)
3. "Did You Ever Have a Dream"
4. "When I Live My Dream"
5. "Rubber Band's Theme" (Barrett, Bowie)
6. "Sell Me a Coat"
7. "Lover to the Dawn"
8. "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud"
9. "In the Heat of the Morning"

Encore
10. "I'm Waiting For the Man" (Lou Reed)
11. "You've Got a Habit of Leaving"
12. "See Emily Play" (Barrett, Bowie)
13. "Memory of a Free Festival"

Author's comment:

And with the festivities of the Isle of Wight, we finally finish the 1960s... again.

As I said previously, there are still some bands that happen to enter in the seventies, and I need to give a bit of the context of what's going to happen before we dig into the '70s. Anyway, I hope you like this return (of what I hope that is a return again indeed, lol).

And, at last, I hope you like it, and see you in the next post! :)

1969: Studio, Sunshine, Space!

A return to their roots

Paul during the 1969 sessions.

Though the production of A Doll's House and the release of the experimental "Back in Your Safely Beds" were well-received and regarded as interesting recordings at the time, there was a feeling among the band that the last two years were filled with very different material, ranging from the lush sounds of Sgt. Pepper's to the raw, low-quality tracks of Umbrella, the Beatle' standard, A Doll's House, and the experimental "Back in Your Safely Beds". According to Geoff Emmerick, Paul was the first one to express the idea of the return to their roots in the next project.

The project conceived by Paul McCartney was widely discussed with Brian Epstein and The Beatles after the release of "Back in Your Safely Beds", in which was included a documentary film, a special broadcasted live performance, and an album (which would become the eventual, full-length soundtrack, Get Back). An eventual tour was even considered, however, the idea was quickly disregarded.

In 1969, Allen Klein contacted Brian Epstein after reading a comment to fill a position as head manager of Apple Records. Both reached an agreement, and Allen assumed the office. Paul's recommendation, Lee and John Eastman, respectively father and brother of his wife Linda, was considered but ended up being appointed as the attorneys for the band and the company. Allen's position in Apple would determine the future of The Beatles as a band.

"At the time, the hiring of Allen Klein was the worst possible thing to think, but after all, it just ended up keeping us together even more. After 1970 when John, George, Ringo and Brian discovered that Allen wasn't someone to trust in, we've just talked, like that sort of out of the blue thing, and became trustful to each other again. I'm really glad that everything worked out fine, at least to all of us."

-Paul McCartney, 2011 

In March of that year, the Beatles would first gather along with Brian Epstein and the film crew at the Twickenham Film Studios to rehearsal. Most of the documentary was filmed there, along with takes at the Apple Recording Studios, EMI Studios, and the Apple Corps, consisting of the recording sessions of Get Back. Most of the tapes were recorded during March and April when most of Get Back was recorded. The filming would also take place some days in June and July when the band finished the sessions for Get Back and was finishing Abbey Road.

In May and June, John was mostly absent. On May 31, 1969, Yoko Ono gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Charlotte Narumi Ono Lennon. The marriage between Lennon and Ono happened in a private ceremony in Gibraltar on July 28, almost two months after the birth of Charlotte, with the presence of The Beatles, friends, and family. Charlotte's arrival ended up messing with John's schedule in peace activism, mainly against the Vietnam War, which he would restart late that year with the Bed-Ins for Peace, recording the single Give Peace a Chance.

During the sessions, the tensions between The Beatles started to rise again, reaching the climax when George threatened to quit the band. Brian Epstein negotiated on behalf of George and decided to do a short radio session instead, scheduling a presentation at the Peel sessions on July 17th. The last recording session with the presence of all the Beatles in 1969 was on August 20th, to overdubs for It's All Too Much!.

Abbey Road was announced as another compilation of tracks that wouldn't take part in the official soundtrack. Most of the songs of Lennon-McCartney were primarily written in Rishikesh, as the same happened in the last two albums (three, if you count "Back in Your Safely Beds"). Moreover, The Beatles did a little promotion for the album, as the members seemed to distance one from each other. Most of the legacy of Abbey Road can be spotted on the iconic cover, to George Harrison's Something becoming a hit and the second most covered song of The Beatles after Yesterday, the longest track of the band [I Want You (She's So Heavy)], and being considered a hit-driven album.

"Sure, Abbey Road was a strange point in our career. We've released the album with no pretensions at all, and then we see Something, the best track of the entire record by the way, becoming a big hit, Dear Prudence, [Oh!] Darling, and a few other tracks becoming rememorable Beatles' songs, that was weird at the time, of course."

-John Lennon, 1996

The Beatles – Abbey Road

 The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)

Genre: Rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock

Total: 46:11

Side A - 22:01

1. "Blackbird" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:18

2. "Something" (George Harrison) - 3:03

3. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:43

4. "All Together Now" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:10

5. "Dear Prudence" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:56

6. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (Lennon-McCartney) - 7:47

Side B - 24:10

7. "Hey Bulldog" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:14

8. "That Would Be Something" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:43

9. "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison) - 3:05

10. "Cry Baby Cry" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:32

11. "Oh! Darling" (Lennon-McCartney) - 3:26

12. "Because" (Lennon-McCartney) - 2:45

13. "It's All Too Much!" (Harrison) - 6:25

Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album (twelfth, counting "Back in Your Safely Beds") by the British rock band, The Beatles. The record was released on 26 September 1969 by Apple Records and produced by George Martin. Abbey Road is marked as the return of The Beatles to the EMI Studios, after recording A Doll's House entirely at the A.R.S. Contrasting with its predecessor, Abbey Road contains 6 out of 13 songs primarily written by John Lennon, who was mostly absent from the sessions of the previous album. The lead single, Something/The Inner Light, was released in October, becoming one of the biggest hits from The Beatles.

Portion of the tracks were worked along with the tracks included in the upcoming album and soundtrack, Get Back, which was recorded around the same time as Abbey Road. I Want You (She's So Heavy), It's All Too Much!, Hey Bulldog and Blackbird appeared in the documentary under production. Initially, the record was received with mixed reviews by music critics, comparing the album to something in-between Umbrella and A Doll's House, but ultimately it was met with universal acclaim by the fans, becoming one of their greatest albums.

The album topped UK Album Charts for two weeks and topped Billboard for a week. The album sold two million copies, partly due to the tracks included in the album which ended up being played in radio stations and becoming classic tracks from The Beatles. The remarkable cover was parodied several times, becoming a cultural symbol and making the zebra crossing a tourist attraction. In the next years, it was theorized that the album was one of the first signs of the conflicts behind the scenes.

A very good and interesting little exercise

Nick Mason with his charming hat, 1969.

"[...] I thought it was a very good and interesting little exercise, the whole business of everyone doing a bit. But I still feel really that that's quite a good example of the sum being greater than the parts..." 

-Nick Mason, 1984

To pay the costs of the tour, Pink Floyd assembled again at the Pye Studios. The initial plan was to each of the four group members had half an LP side each to create a solo work without involvement from the others. The idea was carried through the first week when Roger and David decided to convince the rest of the band to collaborate and elaborate a standard album. The material recorded during the first week was Sysyphus, a musical piece by Richard Wright which was released as a solo single.

In the next two weeks, most of the music was worked out. A large part of the songs have resulted from jamming sessions from the band, and the material was put together along with the previously recorded during the sessions of Are Going Insane!. "Actually the sessions for Basking in the Sunshine were pretty simple, in three weeks we've just recorded enough material to a double album. Peter and Steve [O'Rourke] wanted something similar to the other album, so we gave them Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon.", Richard Wright.

The album was produced by Nick Mason and assisted by Brian Humphries, and credited to Pink Floyd. The Blackhill announced the album as a follow-up to what've been Are Going Insane!, with the release of Cymbaline as a promotional single. The song was a minor hit, with a reasonable success, being performed in the tours until 1973.

After the release of Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon, Pink Floyd would enter into a hiatus for four months, until the band decides to gather again in the new decade to go... into a new direction, perhaps. Not flirting with the avant-garde scene like this new record, but engaging in a new, growing scene, that would take the first half of the seventies.

"Honestly I can say to you that Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon isn't a good record. I wasn't seeing direction coming from our band at that time, that record was just a bunch of junk thrown into a LP and sold for a couple bucks. But it certainly it has some good tunes, but surely done in the worst way possible."

-Roger Waters, 2003

Pink Floyd – Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon

(L-R): UK version; US version

Pink Floyd - Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon (1969)

Genre: Progressive rock, space rock, experimental, psychedelic rock, field recordings, avant-garde

Total: 66:15

Disc One - 31:40

Side A - 15:15

1. "Cirrus Minor" (Roger Waters, David Gilmour) - 5:18

2. "The Ummagumma" (Gilmour) - 2:31¹

3. "Another Blues Number" (Gilmour) - 7:26²

Side B - 16:25

4. "Rain in the Country" (Waters, Richard Wright, Gilmour, Nick Mason) - 6:01³

5. "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters) - 7:26

6. "Green is the Colour" (Waters, Gilmour) - 2:58

Disc Two - 34:35

Side C - 19:32

7. "Quicksilver" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason) - 7:13

8. "Oenone" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason) - 6:21

9. "The Narrow Way" (Gilmour) - 5:58

Side D - 15:03

10. "Baby Blue Shuffle" (Gilmour) - 3:284

11. "Rick's Piano Piece" (Wright) - 6:455

12. "Cymbaline" (Waters, Gilmour) - 4:50

Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The album was released on November 7th, 1969 by Blackhill Records in the United Kingdom and by Capitol Records in the United States, with two different covers to each version. The album was produced by the band and engineered by Brian Humphries. It is considered by many as Pink Floyd's most experimental record to date.

Differently to the predecessor, the record was recorded in three weeks, while the first week was stage of recording tape effects and Rick Wright's piece Sysyphus, later released as a solo single. The first single of the album was Cymbaline, backed with Oenone, and after the release, Cirrus Minor was released as the second single. While Cymbaline was a minor hit in Britain, Cirrus Minor failed to chart in both countries.

The album performed slightly worse than Are Going Insane, though it was praised by the press at the time. Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon reached the number 4 in the UK Album Charts and number 81 on Billboard. According to Roger Waters, the work would be the main reason to Pink Floyd to distance of the Avant-garde scene, exploring other forms of experimental music, such as the symphonic rock of Atom Heart Mother, the next album.

"...Yeah, that album is... just sad. We had no direction from what we would do after 'Are Going Insane', and we would go like this for the next two years until Obscured by Clouds."

-David Gilmour, 2005 

Ground control to Major Tom

David Bowie as Major Tom in the first version of Space Oddity, 1969.

Ah 1969, the year that space themes were predominantly mainstream. David Bowie already recorded one previous version of Space Oddity, for his promotional film, Love You till Tuesday, but according to him, he was not very fond of that version to be included in his next album. "As I said, I recorded one song so far. But I really didn't like the finished song. Probably I'll record it again, but, like I said, there are a few more songs to record.", David Bowie - Press Conference - April 8th, 1969.

Since Tony Visconti seemed uninterested in re-record it again, delegating the producing process to Gus Dudgeon. The second version of Space Oddity was recorded on June 20th, 1969 at the Trident Studios, with the line-up consisting of keyboardist Rick Wakeman (then-session player), Mick Wayne, Herbie Flowers, and Terry Cox. The single was not played by the BBC until after the Apollo 11 crew had safely returned.

UK sleeve.

The single was released on 11 July 1969, backed by the Buddhist-influenced Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud. After a slow start, Space Oddity became known as Bowie's solo breakthrough in the United Kingdom, topping in Britain, but being a minor hit in the United States at the time, reaching number 99. The song would be reissued a few more times until it reached number 15 in Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. The success rendered into Bowie's performance at the Tops of the Pops in October.

In the following times, in December 1969, Bowie recorded an Italian version of the song named Ragazzo solo, Ragazza sola, written by Mogol. Ten years later, Bowie would revisit Space Oddity in a stripped-down version released as single again. The song would renew its popularity after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield performed the song (with slightly revised lyrics) while aboard the International Space Station, therefore becoming the first music video shot in space.

David Bowie performing with The Hype, at the Roundhouse, 1969.

Bowie started to record his second solo album around the same time as he recorded Space Oddity. Backed by a notable list of collaborators such as keyboard player Rick Wakeman and producer Tony Visconti, David opted to record at the Trident Studios instead of going to the United States this time. Regarding his status as a major growing artist from the underground scene, the deadline given by the heads of the Blackhill was until October, when David actually finished on time.

"It happened that in... August of that year, I believe, there was a reunion with the board [of directors], talking about the future stuff that we were doing and etc., but then Peter [Jenner] and my previous manager established a deadline to me to finish the sessions, without my consent. Obviously I was a bit angry with them, I didn't want to do something very rushed, but I played a little game with them, and I just finished exactly on October 31st."

 -David Bowie, 2001

The two first songs that were recorded to the album were Space Oddity, and the backing single, Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud. Following both songs, the title track An Occasional Dream and Conversation Piece were subsequently recorded throughout August and September, since some of these pieces were written in-between late 1968 and early 1969. With brief interruptions, such as the Isle of Wight, and meetings within the people of the Blackhill, Bowie managed to safely finish the recording sessions in late October.

The last songs to be recorded were The Prettiest Star, a song that Bowie wrote to his newly-found partner Angela Barnett, featuring former Rubber Band bandmate and fellow friend Marc Bolan on electric guitar, The Supermen, a song that Bowie wrote inspired by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and H. P. Lovecraft, which was added at the last minute, and Memory of a Free Festival because three versions of the song were recorded, two versions being included on the album as Part 1 and Part 2, and an alternate version which was then released as the backing single of The Prettiest Star.

With great anticipation, Blackhill Records announced David Bowie's second solo album, entitled An Occasional Dream. While in the United States the announcement almost went unnoticed, in Europe and the United Kingdom, the announcement of the album was received with a certain amount of hype towards Bowie's newest record. The Prettiest Star was released as the promotional single, backed by Memory of a Free Festival, becoming a hit and reaching the top 10 mostly due to the Space Oddity effect.

David Bowie – An Occasional Dream

David Bowie - An Occasional Dream (1969)

Genre: Progressive folk, psychedelic rock

Total: 44:33

All tracks are written by David Bowie.

Side A - 22:09

1. "Memory of a Free Festival (Part I)" - 2:43

2. "Space Oddity" - 5:16

3. "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" - 6:15

4. "Letter to Hermione" - 2:33

5. "God Knows I'm Good" - 3:21

6. "An Occasional Dream" - 3:01

Side B - 22:24

7. "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" - 4:53

8. "Conversation Piece" - 3:05

9. "Janine" - 3:25

10. "The Prettiest Star" - 3:12

11. "The Supermen (Don't Sit Down)" - 4:18¹

12. "Memory of a Free Festival (Part II)" - 3:31

David Bowie's An Occasional Dream is the second album from the British singer-songwriter and mostly produced by Tony Visconti, except for Space Oddity and Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud, which were produced by Gus Dudgeon. Along with the debut and previous album, Cygnet Committee, An Occasional Dream is considered part of the transition of psychedelic pop-influenced Bowie to his contact with Art and glam rock. The album was released on 17 December 1969 in the United Kingdom and 28 December 1969 in the United States.

It was noticed by the critics the evolution of Bowie's sound compared to Cygnet Committee, with the music being less influenced by the Rubber Band releases, and far more concentrated into a psychedelic folk sound noticed in Cygnet Committee's Lover to the Dawn, along with psychedelic rock influences of bands such as The Zombies, Bee Gees, and many other contemporary bands. Standouts of the record are generally given to its singles, Space Oddity, and The Prettiest Star.

Three singles from the album were released: Space Oddity, the most successful single, was initially released shortly after the recording sessions have begun, The Prettiest Star was released to promote the album, and The Supermen was released three months after the release, backed by an alternative version of Memory of a Free Festival. An Occasional Dream reached the British Top 10, and peaked in number 2, while it charted in Billboard 200 in number 96.

An Occasional Dream is regarded as one of Bowie's most refined records, and most mature record in the 1960s, even considering the albums from Rubber Band. Although the record received mixed to decent contemporary reviews, the album was reevaluated in more recent years, earning a large cult following along with Bowie's sixties-era, receiving enormous praise by many Folk and Indie artists.

Author's Comments:

And here we see The Beatles' path into the '70s, Pink Floyd on their peak in experimental music, and David Bowie's first hit as a solo artist.

Source:

The Beatles - Abbey Road

• The Beatles - Abbey Road
• The Beatles - The Beatles [White Album; Deluxe Version]
• The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
• Paul McCartney - McCartney I

Pink Floyd - Basking in the Sunshine of a Bygone Afternoon

• Pink Floyd - Soundtrack of Film 'More'
• Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
• Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1965–1972
• Pink Floyd - Zabriskie Point

1. The Ummagumma is The Narrow Way - Part II
2. Another Blues Number is Love Scene (Version 4)
3. Rain in the Country is also known as Unknown Song
4. Baby Blue Shuffle is The Narrow Way - Part I
5. Rick's Piano Piece is Love Scene (Version 6) along with (Version 2)

David Bowie - An Occasional Dream

• David Bowie - David Bowie (1969)
• David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World