- Main Course
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This article is about the Bee Gees album. For the meal component, see Main course.
Main Course 
Studio album by Bee Gees Released June 1975 (UK)
August 1975 (US)Recorded January 7 - February 21, 1975
Criteria Recording Studios (Miami) and Atlantic Recording Studios (New York)Genre Rock, Disco, funk, R&B, Ballad, Acoustic Length 40:56 Label RSO Producer Arif Mardin Bee Gees chronology Mr. Natural
(1974)Main Course
(1975)Children of the World
(1976)Singles from Main Course - "Jive Talkin'"
- "Nights on Broadway"
- "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)"
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Rolling Stone (ambivalent)[2] Main Course is the Bee Gees' thirteenth album, released in 1975 for the RSO label, and their last album to be released by Atlantic Records in the U.S. under its distribution deal with Robert Stigwood. This album marked a change for the Bee Gees as it was their first album to include disco hits, and it created the model for their output through the rest of the 1970s.
Contents
History
Working with Atlantic producer Arif Mardin, who had also produced their previous album, Mr. Natural, and engineer Karl Richardson at Criteria Studios in Miami, their music became much more influenced by dance music, primarily the Caribbean-styled disco being produced in Miami at the time. Main Course also featured the first prominent use of Barry Gibb's falsetto. The album cover was designed by US artist Drew Struzan.
The sound became more technological with the use of synthesizers and dual bass lines (synthesizer bass by Blue Weaver and bass guitar by Maurice Gibb) on many of the songs, which came about after Weaver overdubbed a synthesizer bass line on the original demo of "Jive Talkin'." Weaver later commented that "nothing new has been invented to make such a tremendous difference to the sound as the synthesizer did, compared to an orchestra."[3]
The album peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard album chart. Three singles from the album charted on Billboard's single chart: "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" at #12, "Nights on Broadway" at #7, and "Jive Talkin'" at #1, and a live version of a fourth song, "Edge of the Universe", reached #26. "Come On Over" later became a moderate hit (#23) in a cover version by country/pop artist Olivia Newton-John.
Track listing
All compositions by Barry and Robin Gibb except as indicated.
- "Nights on Broadway" (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb) - 4:32
- "Jive Talkin'" (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb) - 3:43
- "Wind of Change" – 4:54
- "Songbird" (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb/Blue Weaver) – 3:35
- "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb) – 4:02
- "All This Making Love" – 3:03
- "Country Lanes" – 3:29
- "Come On Over" – 3:26
- "Edge of the Universe" – 5:21
- "Baby as You Turn Away" (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb) – 4:23
Personnel
- Barry Gibb - vocals, guitar
- Robin Gibb - vocals
- Maurice Gibb - vocals, guitar, bass
- Blue Weaver - piano, keyboard, synthesiser
- Alan Kendall - guitar, steel guitar
- Dennis Bryon - drums
- Joe Farrell - sax
- Ray Barreto - percussion
- Don Brooks - harmonica
- Arif Mardin, Gene Orloff - orchestral arrangement
- Karl Richardson, Lew Hahn - engineer
References
The Bee Gees Studio albums The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965) · Spicks and Specks (1966) · Bee Gees' 1st (1967) · Horizontal (1968) · Idea (1968) · Odessa (1969) · Cucumber Castle (1970) · 2 Years On (1970) · Trafalgar (1971) · To Whom It May Concern (1972) · Life in a Tin Can (1973) · Mr. Natural (1974) · Main Course (1975) · Children of the World (1976) · Spirits Having Flown (1979) · Living Eyes (1981) · E.S.P. (1987) · One (1989) · High Civilization (1991) · Size Isn't Everything (1993) · Still Waters (1997) · This Is Where I Came In (2001)Singles 1960s"Spicks and Specks" (1966) · "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967) · "To Love Somebody" (1967) · "Holiday" (1967) · "Massachusetts" (1967) · "World" (1967) · "Words" (1968) · "Jumbo" (1968) · "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (1968) · "I Started a Joke" (1968) · "First of May" (1969) · "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" (1969) · "Don't Forget to Remember" (1969)1970s"If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else" (1970) · "I.O.I.O." (1970) · "Lonely Days" (1970) · "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (1971) · "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" (1971) · "My World" (1972) · "Run to Me" (1972) · "Alive" (1972) · "Saw a New Morning" (1973) · "Wouldn't I Be Someone" (1973) · "Mr. Natural" (1974) · "Throw a Penny" (1974) · "Charade" (1974) · "Jive Talkin'" (1975) · "Nights on Broadway" (1975) · "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" (1976) · "You Should Be Dancing" (1976) · "Love So Right" (1976) · "Boogie Child" (1977) · "Edge of the Universe" (1977) · "How Deep Is Your Love" (1977) · "Stayin' Alive" (1977) · "Night Fever" (1978) · "Too Much Heaven" (1978) · "Tragedy" (1979) · "Love You Inside Out" (1979) · "Spirits (Having Flown)" (1979)1980s"He's a Liar" (1981) · "Living Eyes" (1981) · "The Woman in You" (1983) · "Someone Belonging to Someone" (1983) · "You Win Again" (1987) · "E.S.P." (1987) · "Crazy for Your Love" (1988) · "Ordinary Lives" (1989) · "One" (1989)1990s"Bodyguard" (1990) · "Secret Love" (1991) · "When He's Gone" (1991) · "Paying the Price of Love" (1993) · "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1993) · "How to Fall in Love, Part 1" (1994) · "Alone" (1997) · "I Could Not Love You More" (1997) · "Still Waters (Run Deep)" (1997)2000s"This Is Where I Came In" (2001)Soundtracks Live albums Compilation albums Best of Bee Gees (1969) · Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 (1973) · Bee Gees Gold (1976) · Bee Gees Greatest (1979) · Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990) · The Very Best of the Bee Gees (1990) · Their Greatest Hits: The Record (2001) · Number Ones (2004) · Love Songs (2005) · The Ultimate Bee Gees (2009) · Mythology (2010)Gibb Productions Andy Gibb's "Flowing Rivers" (1977), "Shadow Dancing" (1978) & "After Dark" (1980) · Jimmy Ruffin's "Sunrise" (1980) · Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" (1980) · Dionne Warwick's "Heartbreaker" (1982) · Kenny Rogers' "Eyes That See in the Dark" (1983) · Diana Ross' "Eaten Alive" (1985) · Carola's "Runaway" (1986) · Barbra Streisand's "Guilty Pleasures" (2005)Videography Cucumber Castle (1969) · Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) · The Bee Gees Special (1979) · One For All Tour (1990) · Keppel Road (1997) · One Night Only (1998) · This Is Where I Came In (2001) · Live By Request (2002) · In Our Own Time (2010)Related articles Categories:- Bee Gees albums
- 1975 albums
- Albums produced by Arif Mardin
- RSO Records albums
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