The Loner (Maurice Gibb album)

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 which the band recorded "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."[4]

By December, Gibb began recording songs for a solo album. He said in an interview that he played guitar, bass, piano, organ and Mellotron. Other musicians who played on the album include Leslie Harvey of Stone the Crows and Geoff Bridgford from The Groove who would join the reformed Bee Gees for a short period. The first song recorded was "Railroad", 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.[5]

"Billy [Lawrie] and 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."[6] Billy Lawrie later recorded "Take It Easy, Greasy" but was also not released.[5]

"She's the One You Love" is the only true rock 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 for the film Bloomfield. "Touch and Understand Love" features Gibb's solo voice, with his acoustic guitar with no backup vocals or drumming.[5]

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."[4]

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.

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

• Maurice Gibb – lead and backing vocals, guitar, piano, bass, organ, Mellotron
• Leslie Harvey – electric guitar
• Johnny Coleman – piano
• Geoff Bridgford – drums
• Gerry Shury – orchestral arrangement