Mother Focus

Mother Focus is the fifth studio album by the band Focus, released in 1975 on Polydor (cat. no. 2310 408) in Europe, on Atco Records in North America and on EMI in Japan.[3] Some tracks on the album mark a departure from the progressive rock style that dominated the group's prior work, and herald a funk music style with light jazz and pop at the centre.[1] Bassist Bert Ruiter provided most of the themes, as van Leer had just recorded a solo album, O My Love, of his own music, and Jan Akkerman withheld compositions for his forthcoming solo album Eli.

Mother Focus
Studio album by Focus
Released	October 1975 (1975-10)
Genre	Funk rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock
Length	37:14
Label	Polydor, Atco
Producer	Focus
Focus chronology
Hamburger Concerto (1974) Mother Focus (1975) Ship of Memories (1976)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	.[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	C+[2]

The closing track, “Father Bach”, is credited as a “traditional tune”, arranged and adopted by Thijs van Leer, but in reality it consists of the opening lines of J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion.

Track listing

Track listing of Dutch vinyl release 1975.

Side one

No.	Title	Composer	Length
1.	"Mother Focus"	Jan Akkerman, Bert Ruiter, Thijs van Leer	3:03
2.	"I Need a Bathroom"	Ruiter	3:02
3.	"Bennie Helder"	Leer	3:31
4.	"Soft Vanilla"	Ruiter	3:00
5.	"Hard Vanilla"	Ruiter	2:35
6.	"Tropic Bird"	Ruiter	2:42

Side two

No.	Title	Composer	Length
1.	"Focus IV"	Akkerman, van Leer	3:55
2.	"Someone's Crying … What?"	Akkerman	3:18
3.	"All Together … Oh, That!"	Akkerman	3:40
4.	"No Hang Ups"	Paul Stoppelman	2:54
5.	"My Sweetheart"	Akkerman, van Leer	3:35
6.	"Father Bach"	Trad., arr. van Leer	1:30
Total length:			37:16

CD listing

Track listing of Japanese release from 16 December 2006.

1. "Mother Focus" (Jan Akkerman, Bert Ruiter, Thijs van Leer) – 3:04
2. "I Need a Bathroom" (Ruiter) – 3:03
3. "Bennie Helder" (van Leer) – 3:31
4. "Soft Vanilla" (Ruiter) – 3:03
5. "Hard Vanilla" (Ruiter) – 2:34
6. "Tropical Bird" (Ruiter) – 2:42
7. "Focus IV" (van Leer) – 3:56
8. "Someone's Crying . . . What?" (Akkerman) – 3:18
9. "All Together . . . Oh, That!" (Akkerman) – 3:41
10. "No Hang Ups" (Paul Stoppelman) – 2:55
11. "My Sweetheart" (Akkerman, van Leer) – 3:36
12. "Father Bach" (van Leer) – 1:34

Personnel

• Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, electric piano, grand piano, Solina String Machine, synthesizers, concert and alto flutes, voices, synthesizers, piano, saxophone on track 8, flute, non-lexical vocables (track 1)
• Jan Akkerman – guitar
• Bert Ruiter – bass guitar, vocals (track 2)
• David Kemper – drums
• Colin Allen – drums (track 2)

References

1. "Mother Focus". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: F". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. "Mother Focus". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-05-02.

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