Life in a Tin Can
Studio album by
the Bee Gees
Released19 January 1973 (United States)
1 March 1973 (United Kingdom)
RecordedSeptember 1972
StudioRecord Plant (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length32:11
LabelRSO[1]
ProducerBee Gees
The Bee Gees chronology
To Whom It May Concern
(1972) 		Life in a Tin Can
(1973) 		Mr. Natural
(1974)
Singles from Life in a Tin Can
  1. "Saw a New Morning"
    Released: March 1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Life in a Tin Can is the Bee Gees' eleventh studio album (ninth worldwide), released in January 1973.

Background

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.[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

Rolling Stone called the album "vaguely pleasant and certainly innocuous enough to fit right in with the prevalent Seventies soft-rock ambience."[6]

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, except for songs with asterisks, which are by Barry Gibb.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Saw a New Morning" Barry and Robin4:24
2."I Don't Wanna Be the One"*Robin and Barry4:05
3."South Dakota Morning"*Barry2:26
4."Living in Chicago" Barry, Robin and Maurice5:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."While I Play"*Barry4:29
2."My Life Has Been a Song" Robin and Barry4:21
3."Come Home Johnny Bridie"*Barry3:50
4."Method to My Madness" Barry and Robin3:10

Personnel

Credits from Joseph Brennan.[7]

Bee Gees
Guest musicians
Production

Chart performance

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
Billboard charts (North America)
Year Song Chart Rank
1973 "Saw a New Morning" Billboard Hot 100 94

References

  1. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 507.
  2. ^ "Life in a Tin Can - Bee Gees | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 47.
  4. ^ a b Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1972". Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  5. ^ Freedland, Nat (25 August 1973). "Bee Gees Aim for Peak Stellar Performance in All Areas". Billboard. p. 18. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. ^ Barnes, Ken (10 May 1973). "Life In A Tin Can". Rolling Stone.
  7. ^ "Gibb Songs : 1972".
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Canadian Albums". RPM Canada. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Billboard Top LP's & Tape". Billboard. 10 March 1973. p. 58. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
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