David Live

David Live
Live album by David Bowie
Released	29 October 1974 (1974-10-29)
Recorded	Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA, 8 July 1974 (1974-07-08)-12 July 1974 (1974-07-12)
Genre	Glam rock, blue-eyed soul
Length	80:37 (first edition) / 102:41 (2005 edition)[1]
Label	RCA
Producer	Tony Visconti
David Bowie chronology
Diamond Dogs (1974) David Live (1974) Young Americans (1975)
Singles from David Live
"Knock on Wood" Released: September 1974 (1974-09)

David Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. The album is recorded on the initial leg of Bowie's US Diamond Dogs Tour in July of that year (the second leg, a more soul-oriented affair following recording sessions for the bulk of Young Americans, would be renamed 'Philly Dogs').

The album catches Bowie in transition from the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane glam-rock era of his career to the 'plastic soul' of Young Americans. While the cover featured a picture Bowie in his latest soul threads – baggy trouser suit complete with shoulder pads and braces from October 1974 – the music was recorded in July of that year when he was showcasing his two most recent studio albums of original material, Diamond Dogs and Aladdin Sane, as well as selected favourites from Ziggy Stardust and earlier.

The tour was Bowie's most ambitious to date, featuring a giant set designed to evoke "Hunger City", the post-apocalyptic setting for Diamond Dogs, and his largest band, led by Michael Kamen. For "Space Oddity" (recorded at the time but not released until the album's 2005 reissue) Bowie sang using a radio microphone disguised as a telephone whilst being raised and lowered above the stage by a cherry picker crane. The tour was documented in Alan Yentob's Cracked Actor (1975).

Background and recording

The shows on 14 & 15 July were recorded for the live album. Capturing the music on tape was itself problematic; most of the backing vocals, as well as the saxophone, needed to be overdubbed in the studio later (a fact noted on the original album sleeve as well as the reissue) because the performers were often off-mike. The Tower Theater concerts also gave rise to a backstage revolt by Bowie's touring band. Having been informed on short notice that the concerts would be professionally recorded for official release, and that Bowie's management intended to pay them only the standard union fee required for a live recording (a mere $70), the band confronted Bowie an hour before the first show and refused to take the stage unless they received a more reasonable $5,000 fee per member, to which Bowie agreed only 20 minutes before showtime.^[2] Several members of the band (including Mike Garson and Herbie Flowers) have since remarked that the tension of this confrontation was audible in the stilted performances found on the live album.^{[citation needed]}

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Blender	[4]
Robert Christgau	(C-)[5]
Pitchfork Media	(7.7/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

The finished album has been criticised for Bowie’s 'obsessive' rearrangements of the songs and for the strained quality of his vocals.^{[citation needed]} Opinion of the playing is also divided, despite the presence of such acclaimed guests as Michael Kamen, Earl Slick and David Sanborn, as well as Flowers, Mike Garson and Tony Newman from the Diamond Dogs sessions. However some of the interpretations earned praise, such as the upbeat jazz-Latin version of "Aladdin Sane" and the atmospheric instrumental additions to "The Width of a Circle" from The Man Who Sold the World. The record is also notable for including Bowie’s first release of "All the Young Dudes," a song originally given to the band Mott the Hoople for their 1972 album of the same name.

Mick Jagger commented about the album at the time, saying he thought Knock on Wood was "awful". He went on to say "if I got the kind of reviews that he got for that album, I would honestly never record again. Never."^[8]

Bowie later commented that "David Live was the final death of Ziggy… And that photo on the cover. My God, it looks like I’ve just stepped out of the grave. That’s actually how I felt. That record should have been called 'David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory'".^[9]

Chart performance

David Live made No. 2 on the UK charts (the tour had only visited North America), No. 5 in Canada (where the tour had opened)^[10] and No. 8 in the US. "Knock on Wood" was released as a single, reaching No. 10 in the UK. A reissue of the album in 2005 finally included a complete song list from the original concerts plus a new mix by Tony Visconti, said to be an improvement over the fidelity of previous releases.

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except as noted.

LP: RCA / APL2-0771 (UK)

Side one

1. "1984" – 3:20
2. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:40
3. "Moonage Daydream" – 5:10
4. "Sweet Thing" – 8:48
   • "Sweet Thing"
   • "Candidate"
   • "Sweet Thing (Reprise)"

Side two

1. "Changes" – 3:34
2. "Suffragette City" – 3:45
3. "Aladdin Sane" – 4:57
4. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:18
5. "Cracked Actor" – 3:29

Side three

1. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (lyrics: Bowie, music: Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:18
2. "Watch That Man" – 4:55
3. "Knock on Wood" (Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper) – 3:08
4. "Diamond Dogs" – 6:32

Side four

1. "Big Brother" – 4:08
   • "Big Brother"
   • "Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family"
2. "The Width of a Circle" – 8:12
3. "The Jean Genie" – 5:13
4. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:30

Compact disc releases

This album has been re-released on CD twice to date, the first being in 1990 by Rykodisc/EMI (containing two bonus tracks and Bowie’s introduction to the audience of his band) and the second, most recent, in 2005 by EMI/Virgin containing two additional bonus tracks (though the version of "Panic in Detroit" had previously been released as the B-side to the UK single release of "Knock on Wood", and also reissued on the semi-legitimate 1982 compilation Rare), a reordering of these and previous bonus tracks into their correct position in the track listing, and a new mix by Tony Visconti.

1990 Rykodisc/EMI

Disc one

1. "1984" – 3:20
2. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:40
3. "Moonage Daydream" – 5:10
4. "Sweet Thing" (containing "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)") – 8:48
5. "Changes" – 3:34
6. "Suffragette City" – 3:45
7. "Aladdin Sane" – 4:57
8. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:18
9. "Cracked Actor" – 3:29
10. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (lyrics: Bowie, music: Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:18
11. "Watch That Man" – 4:55

Disc two

1. "Knock on Wood" (Floyd, Cropper) – 3:08
2. "Diamond Dogs" – 6:32
3. "Big Brother" (containing "Big Brother"/"Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family") – 4:08
4. "The Width of a Circle" – 8:12
5. "Jean Genie" – 5:13
6. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:30
7. Band Intro – 0:09 bonus track
8. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" (Leroy Bonner, Joe Harris, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Dutch Robinson, Clarence Satchell, Gary Webster) – 3:32 bonus track
9. "Time" – 5:19 bonus track

2005 EMI/Virgin

Disc One

1. "1984" – 3:20
2. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:40
3. "Moonage Daydream" – 5:10
4. "Sweet Thing" – 8:48
5. "Changes" – 3:34
6. "Suffragette City" – 3:45
7. "Aladdin Sane" – 4:57
8. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:18
9. "Cracked Actor" – 3:29
10. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" – 4:18
11. "Watch That Man" – 4:55

Disc Two

1. "Knock on Wood" – 3:08
2. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" – 3:32
3. "Space Oddity" – 6:27 bonus track
4. "Diamond Dogs" – 6:32
5. "Panic in Detroit" – 5:41 bonus track
6. "Big Brother" – 4:08
7. "Time" – 5:19
8. "The Width of a Circle" – 8:12
9. "The Jean Genie" – 5:13
10. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:30
11. Band Intro – 0:09

Rock Concert/David Bowie at the Tower Philadelphia

A cut-down version of David Live called Rock Concert was released as a single disc by RCA in the Netherlands in 1979. In 1982 it was again released in the Netherlands as David Bowie at the Tower Philadelphia.

1. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:40
2. "Changes" – 3:34
3. "Aladdin Sane" – 4:57
4. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:18
5. "Cracked Actor" – 3:29
6. "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" – 4:18
7. "Watch That Man" – 4:55
8. "Diamond Dogs" – 6:32
9. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:30

Personnel

• David Bowie – vocals
• Earl Slick – guitar
• Herbie Flowers – bass
• Michael Kamen – electric piano, Moog, oboe, arrangements
• Tony Newman – drums
• Pablo Rosario – percussion
• David Sanborn – alto sax, flute
• Richard Grando – baritone sax, flute
• Mike Garson – piano, Mellotron
• Gui Andrisano – backing vocals
• Warren Peace – backing vocals

Charts

Album

Single

Certifications

Notes

References

• Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record
• David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story
• Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie