"Mr. Natural" is a song by the Bee Gees, 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 Robin Gibb. On 29 March 1974, it was released as a single and also released on the album of the same name in 1974. It was backed with a

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

number "It Doesn't Matter Much to Me". The group's first single which was produced by

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for o ...

Background

The band had recorded "It Doesn't Matter Much to Me" and "Voices" on 4 January during sessions at

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 ...

, London. The group continued to record two more songs on 8 January including this track and "Had a Lot of Love Last Night" at Command Studios also in London. It was chosen as the first single and later became the title track of the album. The song is an instance of Robin singing higher harmony to Barry's lower harmony.

Release

Released during a period in which The Bee Gees just had an album '' A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants'' rejected by their manager

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

, "Mr. Natural" barely scraped the lower end of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 climbing to #93 and #11 in Australia. The promotional video for this song was filmed in black and white, and was televised at 192 TV. It was regularly performed on the ''Mr. Natural'' tour in 1974. Footage of the performance in Melbourne, Australia of the song (Mr. Natural) also exists. On 25 February 1974, the Bee Gees made their appearance at ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...

'' but only as a playback, on that performance, the backing band members are Alan Kendall, Dennis Bryon and Geoff Westley. It was also performed at ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

''.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' said that "this incredibly delicious track by the chart veterans is their best ever" and that "spiced with a dash of rock, it is a totally unique excursion for them." '' Record World'' said that the song showcases "the ultimate in tight, tasty vocal harmonies."

Personnel

* Robin Gibb —

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 vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

(first verse and chorus) *

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 and harmony vocals (second verse), acoustic guitar *

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 ...

—

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, mellotron, harmony vocals *

Alan Kendall Alan Kendall (born 9 September 1944) is an English musician and was the lead guitarist for the Bee Gees, in an unofficial capacity from 1971 until 1980, and again from 1987 until 2001. Career His first recording was "Don't Play That Song (You ...

—

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Dennis Bryon Dennis Bryon (born 14 April 1949 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh rock drummer from Cardiff, best known for his work with the Bee Gees from 1974 to 1979. He also worked with Amen Corner and co-produced Robin Gibb's 1983 album, '' How Old Are You?' ...

— drums *Geoff Westley —

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 ...

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mr. Natural (Song) 1974 singles 1974 songs Bee Gees songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin RSO Records singles