Mother Nature's Son (album)

Mother Nature’s Son
Studio album by
Ramsey Lewis
Released1968
GenreJazz
LabelCadet
LPS-821
ProducerCharles Stepney
Ramsey Lewis chronology
Maiden Voyage
(1968) 		Mother Nature’s Son
(1968) 		Ramsey Lewis Live in Tokyo
(1968)

Mother Nature's Son is a studio album recorded by Ramsey Lewis which was released on Cadet Records in 1968.[1] The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.[2]

Overview

Mother Nature's Son was produced by Charles Stepney and consists of ten instrumental versions of songs from The Beatles' album The Beatles, also known as "the White Album".[1]

Recording

The album was recorded at Ter Mar Studio, Chicago, in December 1968, a short time after the 22 November 1968 release of The Beatles album. It was recorded live with members from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Lewis on piano.[3] Offering a potential clue as to why Lewis had recorded an album of Beatles songs, producer and arranger Charles Stepney expressed his admiration for the sounds achieved by Beatles producer George Martin in a 1970 interview with Down Beat. Lewis in Mojo magazine said "I wasn't a Beatles fan. I'd recorded A Hard Day's Night, Day Tripper and And I Love Her before, but I didn't really get them. But my producer Charles Stepney told me to think about doing a Beatles covers album. I didn't think that they had enough songs to do an entire album but he gave me a copy of the White Album and told me to listen. I did, but couldn't see how I could do anything with it. He was like 'You didn't really listen.' So he arranged a few songs for me and then it was, I get it now." In the Down Beat interview Lewis said that he produced the "electronic texture" effect on the album using the Moog synthesizer, an instrument he anticipated "working with for about 10 years".[4] During the following year the Beatles used the Moog synthesizer in the recording of their final studio album, Abbey Road.

Cover art

The album cover was designed by Jerry Griffith and depicts Lewis sitting at a grand piano in a tropical garden feeding a rabbit with his right hand while holding another rabbit with his left.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
Wax Poetics(favourable)[6]

Bruce Eder of Allmusic called the album "an enjoyable excursion".[5]

Track listing

All songs by Lennon–McCartney.

Side 1

  1. "Mother Nature's Son"
  2. "Rocky Raccoon"
  3. "Julia"
  4. "Back in the U.S.S.R."
  5. "Dear Prudence"

Side 2

  1. "Cry Baby Cry"
  2. "Good Night"
  3. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
  4. "Sexy Sadie"
  5. "Blackbird"

Personnel

Charts

Chart Peak
position
US Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs[2] 3
US Billboard Best Selling Soul LP's[2] 10
US Billboard Top LPs[2] 156

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ramsey Lewis: Mother Nature's Son. Cadet Records. 1968.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ramsey Lewis: Billboard Charts (Archived)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 January 2025 – via archive.org.
  3. ^ Mojo Music Magazine (March 2012)
  4. ^ Black, Edwin (25 February 2005). "For The Record: Charles Stepney". Archived from the original on 25 February 2005. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Ramsey Lewis: Mother Nature's Son". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Atria, Travis (17 February 2014). "Ramsey Lewis Mother Nature's Son". waxpoetics.com. Wax Poetics.