Main Course

The recording took place at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, under the production of Arif Mardin and with engineering by Karl Richardson. The influence of funk was strongly present over an R&B base, a sound that was emerging in Miami at the time. This album also marked the first prominent use of Barry Gibb's falsetto. The group was joined by drummer Dennis Bryon and guitarist Alan Kendall, who had already worked with them, as well as Blue Weaver on keyboards. The decision to record in Miami came at the suggestion of Eric Clapton, who had recorded his album 461 Ocean Boulevard there and believed a change of scenery could be beneficial. Maurice Gibb, for his part, recalled that it was their manager, Robert Stigwood, who proposed Miami, showing them the cover of 461 Ocean Boulevard and suggesting they could rent the place to live and record.

Arif Mardin noticed that the Bee Gees brothers were listening to a lot of American R&B upon arriving in Florida. As a producer experienced in the genre, he encouraged them to draw inspiration from popular R&B artists. The album's sound was modernized with the incorporation of synthesizers and double bass lines, a combination Blue Weaver first introduced in a demo of Jive Talkin'. Weaver commented that the synthesizer made a tremendous sonic difference. While they initially continued composing slower rock ballads, such as the unreleased Was It All in Vain? or Country Lanes, after hearing these early recordings, co-producer Robert Stigwood pushed them to adopt a more R&B style. Songs like Jive Talkin', Nights on Broadway, and Edge of the Universe reflect this new direction, though others like Songbird and Come On Over retained a more country tint. The album was recorded between January 6 and February 21, 1975, and released in the United States in May of that year.