''Trafalgar'' is a 1971 album by 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 was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

. It was their ninth album (seventh internationally), and was released in September 1971 in the US, and November 1971 in the UK. The album was a moderate hit in the United States, and peaked at No. 34. The lead single "

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees on 28 May 1971, with B-side "Country Woman" (a Maurice Gibb composition). It was written by Barry Gibb, Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 alb ...

?" was the first Bee Gees' No. 1 single in the United States but failed to chart in Britain as did the album. It is Geoff Bridgford's only full-length appearance on a Bee Gees album as an official member. ''Trafalgar'' is included in Robert Dimery's book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.'' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. New York, NY: Universe, 2006. pg 165. ()

Recording

In December 1970, barely more than two months after the group recorded their last session for the ''

2 Years On ''2 Years On'' is the eighth studio album by the Bee Gees, which reached No. 32 on the US charts. Released in 1970, the album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after an earlier disagreement and subsequent split following ''Odessa''. ' ...

'' album, they recorded "Together", "Over the Hill and Over the Mountain", "Merrily Merry Eyes" and "When Do I". They returned to the studio with new backing band member, guitarist

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 (Yo ...

, who would play on the majority of their subsequent albums. Several songs were recorded around this time which have not officially been released. All of the songs chosen for release were ballads. Recording began on 28 January 1971 with " We Lost the Road", "When Do I" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" ("We Lost the Road" was held over for use on the following album ''To Whom It May Concern''). Recording continued through April with several demos and out-takes recorded but not released.

Release

With "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as the lead single from the album, " Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" was released as the second single but only reached No. 57 on the US charts. "

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

" was released as a single in the Netherlands and reached No. 22. The album's cover depicts the

battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. Bridgford was credited on the sleeve notes on the original vinyl release as "Jeoff Bridgford". In support of the album, The Bee Gees toured the US in the fall of 1971, playing such cities as

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a dec ...

, New York City (7 shows), Memphis,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, and

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Track listing

Alternate version

* This 53-minute version of the album was sent to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in the United States with a different track order and with 14 songs in total. The two extra songs are " Country Woman" (the B-side of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart") and " We Lost the Road" (released on the group's next album '' To Whom It May Concern''). There was no commercial release of the album in the US. Side one #"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" #"Israel" #"The Greatest Man in the World" #"It's Just the Way" #"Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" #"Country Woman" #"Somebody Stop the Music" Side two #"Trafalgar" #"We Lost the Road" #"Dearest" #"When Do I" #"Lion in Winter" #"Remembering" #"Walking Back to Waterloo"

Personnel

Credits from Bee Gees historian and sessionographer Joseph Brennan. Bee Gees *

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

– lead, harmony, and backing vocals; rhythm guitar * Robin Gibb – lead, harmony, and backing vocals *

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb wer ...

– harmony and backing vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, piano,

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 causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, lead vocals on "It’s Just the Way" and "Trafalgar", drums on "Trafalgar" * Geoff Bridgford – drums ;Additional personnel and production staff *

– lead guitar * Bryan Scott – audio engineer * Bill Shepherd – orchestral arrangement *

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 musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical produc ...

– producer * Bee Gees – producers

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Bee Gees albums Polydor Records albums Atco Records albums Albums produced by Barry Gibb Albums produced by Robin Gibb Albums produced by Maurice Gibb Albums produced by Robert Stigwood Albums recorded at IBC Studios Soft rock albums by English artists 1970s concept albums