''Mother Nature's Son'' is a studio album recorded by

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

which was released on

Cadet Records Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing ...

in 1968. The album peaked at No. 4 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart and No. 10 on the

Top Soul Albums chart.

Overview

''Mother Nature's Son'' was produced by

Charles Stepney Charles Stepney (March 26, 1931– May 17, 1976) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and musician. Stepney is noted for his work with artists such as The Dells, Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire. Career He ...

and consists of ten instrumental versions of songs from

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' album ''

'', also known as "the White Album".

Recording

The album was recorded at Ter Mar Studio, Chicago, in December 1968, a short time after the 22 November 1968 release of ''

'' album. It was recorded live with members from the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

with Lewis on piano.Mojo Music Magazine (March 2012) Offering a potential clue as to why Lewis had recorded an album of Beatles songs, producer and arranger Charles Stepney expressed his admiration for the sounds achieved by

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

in a 1970 interview with ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

''. Lewis in ''Mojo'' magazine said "I wasn't a Beatles fan. I'd recorded A Hard Day's Night,

Day Tripper "Day Tripper" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out" in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney and ...

and

And I Love Her "And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album '' A Hard Day's Night'' and was released ...

before, but I didn't really get them. But my producer Charles Stepney told me to think about doing a Beatles

covers album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

. I didn't think that they had enough songs to do an entire album but he gave me a copy of the White Album and told me to listen. I did, but couldn't see how I could do anything with it. He was like 'You didn't really listen.' So he arranged a few songs for me and then it was, I get it now." In the ''Down Beat'' interview Lewis said that he produced the "electronic texture" effect on the album using the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, an instrument he anticipated "working with for about 10 years". During the following year the Beatles used the Moog synthesizer in the recording of their final studio album, ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although ''Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly re ...

''.

Cover art

The album cover was designed by Jerry Griffith and depicts Lewis sitting at a

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

in a tropical garden feeding a rabbit with his right hand while holding another rabbit with his left.

Critical reception

Bruce Eder of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "an enjoyable excursion".

Track listing

All songs by

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

Side 1

Mother Nature's Son "Mother Nature's Son" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was ins ...

" #"

Rocky Raccoon "Rocky Raccoon" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was primarily written by Paul McCartney, although credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. M ...

" #"

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...

" #"

Back in the U.S.S.R. "Back in the U.S.S.R." is a song by the English rock band the Beatles and the first track of the 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). Written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, ...

" #"

Dear Prudence "Dear Prudence" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Written in R ...

Side 2

Cry Baby Cry "Cry Baby Cry" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The coda of the song ...

" #"

Good Night Good Night or Goodnight may refer to: Film and television * ''Good Night'' (film), a 2008 short film from India * '' The Good Night'', a 2007 film * ''Good Night, and Good Luck'', a 2005 film * ''Good Night'', one of five mini-episodes from th ...

" #"

Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McC ...

" #"

Sexy Sadie Sexy is an adjective to describe a sexually appealing person (or thing), primarily referring to physical attractiveness. It may also refer to: * Sexual arousal, the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity * Sexual at ...

" #" Blackbird"

Personnel

*Ramsey Lewis – keyboards *

Cleveland Eaton Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accompl ...

- double bass *

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

- drums *

– producer, conductor, orchestra arrangement,

Ron Malo Ronald Clements Malo (August 29, 1935 in Illinois – August 15, 1992 in Burbank, California) was an American engineer for Chicago's Chess Studios from 1959 until 1970. He was the engineer for the first sessions the Rolling Stones did in the US, i ...

– engineer *Ray Komorski – photography *Jerry Griffith – cover design *

Marshall Chess Marshall Chess (born 13 March 1942, Chicago, Illinois) is an American record producer, the son of Leonard Chess who co-founded Chess Records. Chess Records Marshall worked for sixteen years with Chess Records; founded by his father Leonard and ...

– album supervision *Woodwind amplification by MAESTRO, Chicago musical instrumental company,

Lincolnwood Lincolnwood (formerly Tessville) is a village in Niles Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 13,463. An inner suburb of Chicago, it shares its southern, eastern, and a small section of its west ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

References

External links

Ramsey Lewis official site
{{Authority control 1968 albums Ramsey Lewis albums The Beatles tribute albums Cadet Records albums Albums conducted by Charles Stepney Albums produced by Charles Stepney Albums arranged by Charles Stepney