Young Americans

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Lore & Background

Bowie's interest in soul music dated back to his mod days in the mid-1960s, but he began listening to soul records extensively and incorporating soul material into his live sets in 1974. In early 1974, Bowie met the funk guitarist Carlos Alomar, an Apollo Theater session musician who had played with James Brown, Chuck Berry and Wilson Pickett. One of Bowie's favourite records was Brown's Live at the Apollo (1963), so meeting a musician who played at the Apollo meant a lot to him. Alomar had never heard of Bowie when they met, but they immediately connected and formed a working relationship that would last almost 15 years; Alomar became Bowie's guide into American black music. During his time at Sigma Sound, Bowie completely immersed himself in soul music. He created a new persona called "The Gouster", a slang term for a hip street boy, which became one of the album's working titles. Visconti commented: "It wasn't so much a concept as a way of setting the tone that we were going to make a very hip album." Bowie's cocaine addiction heightened at a rapid pace during the period; he often stayed awake day and night recording while the band slept. Alomar said the sessions were "fuelled" by drugs, recalling: "He used drugs to keep himself awake. [I assumed] it was more a functional thing [than an addiction], so he'd be 'on' whenever the moment came to record." Bowie's cocaine use affected his voice, creating what Bowie himself called "a real raspy sound" that prevented him from singing higher notes. He believed the album contained the highest notes he ever sang on record.

In Their Own Story

Demo work began at Sigma Sound on 8 August 1974, with official work starting three days later on 11 August upon Visconti's arrival. Before Philadelphia, Bowie had spent most of his recording career in Britain, where recording methods were different from those in the United States. At Olympic and Trident Studios in Britain, engineers applied equalisers and reverb as they were recording, so these effects were heard upon playback. At Sigma Sound, however, the engineers applied effects during the mixing stage. Bowie was initially confounded when hearing the tapes back, as according to the biographer Chris O'Leary, he "hadn't heard his 'naked' voice on tape in years". The sessions were productive and moved rapidly, only taking two weeks to complete. It was agreed early on to record as much of the album as possible live, with the full band playing together, including Bowie's vocals, as a single continuous take for each song. According to Visconti, the album contains "about 85% 'live' David Bowie". Most of the material was built out of jam sessions. Bowie allowed the musicians to come up with ideas that he used to write lyrics and melodies. A collaboration between Bowie and John Lennon yielded a cover of Lennon's Beatles song "Across the Universe" and an original, "Fame", during a January 1975 session at Electric Lady Studios, produced by Harry Maslin. "Fame" became Bowie's first single to hit number 1.

Reader's Guide

For the backing band, Bowie wanted to hire MFSB ("Mother Father Sister Brother"), Sigma Sound's house band of over 30 session musicians. Due to conflicting schedules, all members were unavailable except the percussionist Larry Washington, so Bowie went to New York City for further recruitment. Mike Garson (piano), David Sanborn (saxophone) and Pablo Rosario (percussion) were retained from the Diamond Dogs Tour, while Earl Slick was replaced by Alomar on guitar. At Alomar's suggestion, Bowie hired Andy Newmark, a former member of Sly and the Family Stone, and Willie Weeks of the Isley Brothers to replace Tony Newman and Herbie Flowers on drums and bass, respectively. The producer Tony Visconti joined the project immediately after Bowie informed him of Weeks' involvement; Visconti co-produced much of Bowie's work for the rest of the decade. Cherry, Alomar's wife Robin Clark, then-unknown singer Luther Vandross, Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler performed backing vocals for the sessions. The Soul Tour ended in December 1974, after which Bowie, Visconti and Alomar regrouped at the Record Plant in New York City to record two new songs, "Fascination" and "Win". At this point, Bowie told Disc magazine the album title was Fascination (after the newly recorded track); "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" was still in the track-listing and the two new tracks replaced "Who Can I Be Now?" and "Somebody Up There Likes Me". Visconti, who believed the album was completely finished, returned to London to record string arrangements for "Can You Hear Me", "Win" and "It's Gonna Be Me" at AIR Studios, while Bowie remained in New York, working on separate mixing with in-house engineer Harry Maslin. Young Americans was Bowie's breakthrough in the US, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard chart. Bowie continued developing a similar sound on Station to Station (1976). Young Americans received mixed critical reviews on its release and in later decades; Bowie himself had mixed feelings about the album. However, the album has proved influential, as Bowie was one of the first white artists of the era to overtly engage with newly emerging black musical styles; other British artists followed suit.

Did You Know?

• Bowie labelled the album's sound 'plastic soul'.
• Recording sessions at Sigma Sound only took two weeks to complete.
• The album contains 'about 85% live David Bowie' according to producer Tony Visconti.
• 'Fame' became Bowie's first single to hit number 1 on the Billboard chart.
• Bowie created a new persona called 'The Gouster' during the Sigma Sound sessions.