''The Kid's No Good'' was to have been the debut solo album by British musician

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 ...

following his departure from the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, 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 ...

in December 1969. There was no official title given to the album at the time. The line "the kid's no good", which the album is commonly titled on several bootleg releases, is also featured in the Bee Gees song "Come Home Johnny Bridie" on the 1973 album '' Life in a Tin Can''. The album features orchestral arrangements by Bill Shepherd who performed the same role for the Bee Gees from 1965 to 1972 (

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest r ...

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 ...

's solo recordings were done with different arrangers).

Background

On 1 December 1969, Barry Gibb announced his departure from the Bee Gees and that he would carry on as a solo artist instead. He would spend the following months writing new material for his solo album. Few of the songs were released. "It's not the same orchestra as we used with the Bee Gees", Gibb explained, "But Bill Shepherd is the only arranger I'll ever work with."

Recording

Gibb began recording the album on 15 February 1970 with four songs: " I'll Kiss Your Memory", "The Victim", "

Moonlight Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes. Illumination The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase, but even the ful ...

" and "Summer Ends". The latter two were held off the album and instead offered to other artists for later release. On 20 February, Gibb recorded "It's Over", also known as "I Just Want to Take Care of You". On 22 February he recorded "A Child, A Girl, A Woman", "Mando Bay", " Born", "Clyde O'Reilly" and "Peace in My Mind". On 9 March he recorded "What's It All About", "This Time" and "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" and on 23 March he recorded the last two songs, the upbeat pop number "One Bad Thing" and the soft ballad "Happiness". Other musicians are uncredited but

P. P. Arnold Patricia Ann Cole (born October 3, 1946), known professionally as P. P. Arnold, is an American soul singer. Arnold began her career as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1965. The following year she relocated to London to pursue a solo ...

, with whom Gibb was working with at the time, can be heard singing backing vocals on some songs.

Reception

" I'll Kiss Your Memory" and its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"This Time" from these sessions were released as a single (Polydor in much of the world, Atco in North America) but did not chart. The songs " One Bad Thing" and " The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" were proposed to be released as a single around October 1970. Both songs had originally been written by Barry and Maurice Gibb and recorded during the ''

Cucumber Castle ''Cucumber Castle'' is the seventh studio album by the Bee Gees, released in April 1970. It was produced by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robert Stigwood. It consists of songs from their television special of the same name, which was named ...

'' sessions but left unused, the versions for his solo album were however new recordings.

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

's initial batch of the follow-up single, featuring a sole song-writing credit for Gibb for both songs, were destroyed although a few copies have survived and are considered collectors items today. At the last minute it was decided to focus on a new Bee Gees release instead.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

's Bruce Eder described "Mando Bay" as 'moody' and "One Bad Thing" as '

Beatlesque "Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists. Definitions To better explain what ...

' adding "Sounds here are of a piece with the Bee Gees' late sixties output, and they're worth owning by any admirers of the trio who are interested in stretching their legacy as far as possible."

Track listing

This is most likely the intended line-up although available sources differ as to the placement of the first and last tracks. Various bootleg releases add a number of additional tracks recorded both during and long after the album's recording sessions.

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 cut, ...

and

backing vocal 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 used ...

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 string ...

– backing vocal on "Born" * Bill Shepherd –

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orche ...

* Mike Claydon –

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

* Damon Lyon-Shaw – sound engineer * Uncredited –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

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

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 ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

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. ...

Cover versions

Although technically not considered cover versions, since most of the songs were not officially released, many of the songs were offered to and recorded by a number of different artists over the following years. *Wildwood covered "One Bad Thing" released as a single in 1971. *The Freshmen covered "One Bad Thing" released as a single in 1971. *New Horizon covered "One Bad Thing" released as a single in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kid's No Good, The Unreleased albums Barry Gibb albums Albums produced by Barry Gibb Albums recorded at IBC Studios Country albums by English artists Folk albums by English artists Blues rock albums by English artists Rock albums by English artists Baroque pop albums