"If Only I Had My Mind on Something Else" is a pop ballad recorded by the Bee Gees. It was written by

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

and

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 lea ...

. It was the first track on the album '' Cucumber Castle''. A remastered version was released in 1990 on ''

Tales from the Brothers Gibb ''Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song'' is a box set compilation released by the Bee Gees in 1990. Originally released on four cassettes and four compact discs, ''Tales'' is a summary of the Bee Gees output from their third album, ...

''.

Recording

"If Only I Had My Mind on Something Else" was recorded on 25 September 1969 at the

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

in London, same day as "High and Windy Mountain" and "One Bad Thing". On the next day (September 26) they recorded two new songs that was intended for the album "Turning Tide" and " Sweetheart".

Release and aftermath

The song was released in the US as the follow up to "

Don't Forget to Remember "Don't Forget to Remember" also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me" is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album '' Cucumber Castle''. The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stig ...

" but it failed to make any impact and stalled at #91. Following this, Barry and Maurice went their separate ways, both releasing solo singles with limited success. Barry and Robin reconciled in the summer of 1970 and the Bee Gees reunited later that year.

Personnel

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...

—

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

harmony vocal In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

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 strin ...

— bass,

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 keybo ...

, guitar *

Terry Cox Terence William Harvey 'Terry' Cox (born 13 March 1937, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) played drums in the British folk rock bands The Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus and Humblebums. He also drummed with several other artists, most notably D ...

— drums * Uncredited — strings and orchestra arrangement

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1970 singles 1970 songs British folk songs Bee Gees songs Polydor Records singles Atco Records singles Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb