''The Loner'' is an album recorded in late 1969 by

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main le ...

of the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

. An album master was compiled on 14 November 1970, but to date ''The Loner'' remains unreleased. Bootleg releases with the same title collect additional recordings unrelated to this album.

Background and recording

The final sessions for the Bee Gees' album '' Cucumber Castle'' took place on October 16, 1969. Two songs, "End of My Song" and "Julia", were recorded but neither was released. Around November 1969, Gibb collaborated with Australian group Tin Tin on recordings of the songs "Nobody Moves Me Like You", "Loves Her That Way", "Flag/Put Your Money On My Dog". Although Gibb's plans as a solo artist were accelerating, he was also quoted as saying "I'd seriously love to get back to the old Bee Gees again. I really loved the group, and I miss the unit a lot. It's things like sitting in hotel rooms together after a show and taking people off that made working in a group such fun. I miss all that being solo." By December, Gibb began recording songs for a solo album. He said in an interview that he played guitar, bass, piano, organ and

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

. Other musicians who played on the album include

Leslie Harvey Leslie Cameron Harvey (13 September 1944 – 3 May 1972) was a Scottish guitarist in several bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably Stone the Crows. He was the brother of Alex Harvey. Biography Harvey was born in Govan, Gla ...

Stone the Crows Stone the Crows were a Scottish blues rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969. They are remembered for the onstage electrocution of guitarist and founding member Les Harvey. History The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to L ...

and Geoff Bridgford from The Groove who would later join the reformed Bee Gees for a short period. The first song recorded was "

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

", which was later released as a single; however, it did not chart in the US or the UK. According to a tape note, the instrumental tracks are played by Harvey, with the members of the First Edition including

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

Album content

"Billy awrieand I have written a lot of album material" Gibb revealed, "I will probably be forming a group to work with me. There is something in the air. There will be a few lost friends, but I can't say too much about it." Billy Lawrie later recorded "Take It Easy, Greasy" but this was also not released. "She's the One You Love" is the only true

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song on ''The Loner'', an album consisting mostly ballads. "Laughing Child" perhaps similar to his later composition "Trafalgar" (1971), the title song "The Loner" was later covered by

the Bloomfields The Bloomfields were an English rock band formed in 1970 by Maurice Gibb, Billy Lawrie and Johnny Harris (musician), Johnny Harris. During the 1969-1970 split between the three Gibb brothers (Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin and Mauric ...

for the film '' Bloomfield''. "Touch and Understand Love" features Gibb's solo voice, with his

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

with no backup vocals or

drumming Drumming may refer to: * the act of playing the drums or other percussion instruments * Drummer, a musician who plays a drum, drum kit, or drums * ''Drumming'' (Reich), a musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1971 for percussion ensemble ...

. Gibb himself was interviewed by Nicky Horne on Radio 1:

"My solo LP is one thing that, well, to tell you the truth, I don't think it should be worth releasing because I did it a while ago, and I was under a great depression at the time when I did it, because I missed the boys very much. I just did it because I thought I had to do it."

The single "Railroad" b/w "I've Come Back" was issued on 17 April 1970 in the UK, and also was issued in the summer of 1970 in several European countries, Japan, the US, Canada and Australia. These are the only tracks officially released from ''The Loner''.

Track listing

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

Personnel

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

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 ...

, bass, organ,

– electric guitar * Johnny Coleman –

* Geoff Bridgford –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Gerry Shury Gerald Roland Shury (11 August 1944General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 17; Page: 0919 – 24 May 1978)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), page 7395 was a British songwriter, arranger, an ...

– orchestral arrangement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loner, The Maurice Gibb albums Unreleased albums