"If Only I Had My Mind on Something Else" is a pop ballad recorded 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 written by Barry and

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 ...

. It was the first track on the album ''

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 Cucumber Castle (film), the same na ...

''. A remastered version was released in 1990 on ''

Tales from the Brothers Gibb ''Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song'' is a box set compilation released by the Bee Gees in 1990. Originally released on four cassettes and four compact discs, ''Tales'' is a summary of the Bee Gees output from their third album, ...

''.

Recording

"If Only I Had My Mind on Something Else" was recorded on 25 September 1969 at the

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 such ase Status Quo, the Kinks ...

in London, same day as "High and Windy Mountain" and "One Bad Thing". On the next day (September 26) they recorded two new songs that was intended for the album "Turning Tide" and " Sweetheart".

Release and aftermath

The song was released in the US as the follow-up to "

Don't Forget to Remember "Don't Forget to Remember", also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me", is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album ''Cucumber Castle''. The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stig ...

" but it failed to make any impact and stalled at #91. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said "Splendid ballad side that comes out fresh, rather than a parody of the original Bee Gees. This stunning performance, both vocal and instrumental, and a less obscure lyric should take the team back into the good graces of the teens with explosive sales results." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it a "strong rhythm ballad loaded with commercial appeal" and a "top vocal performance and string arrangement." Following this, Barry and Maurice went their separate ways, both releasing solo singles with limited success. Barry and Robin reconciled in the summer of 1970 and the Bee Gees reunited later that year.

Personnel

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 Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

harmony vocal In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

—

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, guitar *

Terry Cox Terence William Harvey 'Terry' Cox (born 13 March 1937, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) played Drum kit, drums in the British folk rock bands Pentangle (band), The Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus and Humblebums. He also drummed with several oth ...

—

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Uncredited — strings and orchestra arrangement

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1970 singles 1970 songs British folk songs Bee Gees songs Polydor Records singles Atco Records singles Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Robert Stigwood Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb