David Bowie/UK 1969 & more

There is an artist named Yukari Ichijo who is now a master artist. Debuting in the late 1960s, he has drawn a wide range of genres from comedies to serious works, exerting a great influence on those who came after him, and is still active at the forefront today. There is an early work related to Ichijo called “Lost wrinkles ga love”. The plot is a story typical of the troubled early 1970s, in which an unsuccessful artist paints a picture of his girlfriend, who lives with him, but the lover is suffering from leukemia and has little time left to live. As expected, he said it was a “shame of the past”. “Creating works with lovers as motifs in an era when young artists are struggling to sell.” I think every artist has experienced this. Painters paint pictures of their lovers, writers write personal novels, and musicians compose songs dedicated to their lovers. Even if my work doesn’t sell and I’m poor, the days I spent believing in the future and feeling spiritually fulfilled will remain in my heart as precious memories no matter how old I am. If you don’t have those days when you lived in the atmosphere of the times and were vivid, when you dipped the tip of your pen in sadness, filled the margins with memories, and filled your heart with the name of your lover, wouldn’t that person be unhappy? There was a time when Bowie wasn’t selling well, and he dreamed of the future and lived a poor but spiritually rich life with his lovers and friends. Bowie’s debut was in 1964. However, despite his debut, sales continued to fail, and although he released a solo album in 1967, his contract was eventually terminated. She was forced to take a break from her music activities, and was forced to explore ways to express herself on stage, such as dance and pantomime. However, Bowie, unable to give up on his success as a musician, continued to compose music at the same time. Around that time, he met a beautiful long-haired dancer, Hermione Farthingale. Hermione and Bowie quickly fall in love and begin living together in a London flat. He invited his friend John Hutchinson to form a three-piece band. The band, composed of one woman and two men, was named THE FEATHERS. Although his period of activity was short, from September 1968 to mid-1969, some color footage remains, showing the fact that Bowie was paying attention to the influence of images from an early stage. However, this cohabitation did not last long, and came to an end when Hermione moved to Norway. Bowie was 22 years old at the time. This “22-year-old farewell” was a huge blow to Bowie, and as will be explained later, he left some songs inspired by Hermione out of his regret for her. This latest work includes demo recordings from the time when he was living with his lover, Hermione, and when Hermione, his friend John Hutchinson, and Bowie were in a band. Recording date is April 1969. Some documents say that it was recorded in a hotel bedroom, but as you can tell by listening to the sound, it was actually recorded by the three of them in a studio. It is unclear how he entered the studio, whether it was to sell to record companies or just to test new songs, but the fresh-faced 22-year-old Bowie enthusiastically recorded original songs with his friends. The situation is clearly engraved. At the beginning of each song, the song title and a brief explanation are carefully added, and there are also conversations that give a sense of the peaceful atmosphere in the studio. What makes this sound source historic is not only that it comes from the period when THE FEATHERS was active for a short period of time, but as you can see from the track list, it is a piece of music that could be called the Making of Space Oddity. The point is that Bowie first came to prominence as a musician in 1969 with “Space Oddity,” shortly after his breakup with Hermione. This song was broadcast over and over again to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing, and he suddenly became a rising star. Although Bowie himself has not stated it explicitly, he rarely mentions his first solo album in 1967 and does not perform it at all on stage in later years, suggesting that Space Oddity is the true meaning. I think he recognized it as his debut. This work was recorded in April 1969, “Space Oddity” was recorded in June, and released in November. As you can see from this timeline, this work is a valuable studio recording session just before Bowie reveals his talent to the world. The song was originally written for a band, but when he parted ways with Hermione, the band disintegrated and he used the song for his own solo album, which became a hit and made Bowie’s name known to the world. In life, everything we do in the present is definitely connected to the future, but it is a strange fate. Now let’s take a look at the content of this work. As mentioned above, this work is a studio session of the band Bowie formed in April 1969 with his then-girlfriend Hermione and friend Hutchinson. The opening song is “Space Oddity.” This take is the same take recorded in the 1990 SOUND + VISION box, and that recording was born at this session. However, the release version has been edited somewhat, and this work is unedited and has a long take before and after. The second song, “Janine”, was the first song on the B-side of the album Space Oddity. Compared to the release version, which had a lively and energetic singing style, this version is sung in a calmer way, and has a simple instrumentation, which highlights the original beauty of the song. . It is interesting that in the exciting part of the second half, which is not in the release version, the refrain of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is used as a parody song, and the phrase “na-na-na-na-na-na-na-janine” is inserted. “Oriori no Yume” was also included in the album “Space Oddity”. The release version was a magnificent one with layered string instruments, but the take included in this work is of course only acoustic guitar. Although some of the lyrics are different, this song is intended for his lover Hermione, and although the lyrics are difficult to understand, they are full of Bowie’s feelings. “Conversation Peace” was released as the B-side of the 1970 single “Prettiest Star” and later became widely recognized as a bonus track on Space Oddity. The prototype was recorded at this time of this work. “Chinga Ring” is also an indispensable song for early Bowie. The studio version is currently included on the 2010 deluxe edition of the band’s first album, released in 1967. I don’t think you’re familiar with the song title “I’m Not Quite,” but if you listen to it thinking it’s an unreleased song, you’ll definitely be surprised. This melody is unmistakably a “letter to Hermione.” At this point, he was still in a romantic relationship with Hermione, and although the lyrics were slightly different, there were basically no major changes. After they broke up, the title was changed to “Letter To Hermione” and released. This track is the original song. When this song was composed, did Hermione realize that it was a song he had entrusted with a letter to himself? “Love Song” is a cover of Leslie Duncan. You can hear a very unusual pattern in which Bowie covers a song by a female singer. He later recorded Springsteen’s “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” but this is an excellent cover that gives you a glimpse of his foresight in recording his favorite songs, both famous and unknown. “When I Was 5 Years Old” has a beautiful melody, repeated themes, and fast-paced lyrics, making it a Bee Gees-esque song. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but it’s no exaggeration to say that the way he gradually lowers his voice at the ending is exactly what the Bee Gees do. This studio version is currently included on the 2010 deluxe edition of the band’s first album, released in 1967. In other words, the recordings from that period were re-recorded at this time. Perhaps it was because he didn’t have many songs, but I imagine that Bowie himself was dissatisfied with the arrangements at the time, which were heavily influenced by the times, and wanted to try again. “Life Is A Circus” is still a completely unreleased song. It’s a dark and heavy song that Morita Doji would sing. There is a famous line in Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It” that says, “Life is a stage. We are all actors,” and there is no way that Bowie, who studied theater as a young man in England, did not know this. The song was probably inspired by Shakespeare’s plays. “Life is like a circus. It’s not fair. Life is a rough journey,” he sings the philosophical lyrics in a leisurely whisper. The circus is both fun and awe-inspiring. When you were a child, weren’t you often scolded and told that if you did a prank, you would be sold to the circus? The circus is an eerie existence where clowns with teardrop makeup and smiling faces come from somewhere and vanish into thin air, bringing something out of the ordinary for a limited time. This sense of awe is universal and has been the subject of numerous films, including Fellini’s films and Stephen King’s “It.” And isn’t it profound that Bowie sings here that the circus is life? The last song on this Beckham tape is titled “Lover To The Dawn.” The title of this song may not make sense, but it is the original song for “Signet Committee” from the album “Space Oddity.” Although the impressive and beautiful melody line played by the 12-string guitar remains the same, a middle part that is not in the final version has been added, the part that leads to the ending is different, and above all, the tempo has been slowed down and the lyrics are different. You can learn how this song developed and became “Signet Committee”. “Letter to Hermione” still retained the original song, but this song has a big deviation from “Signet Committee”, but it is a very interesting take for fans who can definitely tell that it is the original song. be. The above 10 songs were all recorded in April 1969 by the trio of Bowie, Hutchinson, and Hermione, who called themselves THE FEATHERS, commonly known as the Beckham Tapes. After that, the sound source of the BBC radio session is recorded. First of all, five songs from TOP GEAR from December 18, 1967, which is the oldest existing BBC recording. Starting with the early representative song “Love Starts Tuesday”, it continues with “When My Dream Comes True”, “Poor Gunner”, “Stupid Boy”, and “In the Heat of the Morning”. As a promotion, they are playing songs from their first album in 1967 (“In The Heat of the Morning” is the only song not included in the album, but was later included in the deluxe edition). Next, “When I Was 5 Years Old” was recorded from TOP GEAR recorded on May 13, 1968. This song was also included on the Beckham Tapes, and as it is originally a simple song, it still has the same impression, but with the layering of orchestral elements, it has a more Bee Gees-like arrangement. The last track is a Dave Lee Travis session recorded on October 20, 1969. At this time, he was playing “Dazzled Soul” from “Space Oddity” just before its release. Since it is a song that has already been recorded, the performance is almost the same as the studio version. When Bowie and Hermione were living together, Bowie was in love, and while he was in the midst of a spiritually fulfilling happiness even though he wasn’t selling well, this sound source overflows with the tender feelings he gave to the songs he wrote for his lover. Looks like it’s coming. What is even more profound is that even at the height of happiness, there is a faint shadow that seems to predict the separation that will soon come. I think people can become the kindest people when happiness and despair are mixed together. This Beckham tape that captured that moment can be said to be a valuable sound source before Bowie’s flight. And of course, as you can see from the track list, this is definitely the Making of Space Oddity. From this demo recording, Bowie made a big splash around the world. I feel that this sound source condenses the happy time that Bowie, who would gain world fame and great wealth, lost in exchange and could never get back. The days when Bowie lived in the atmosphere of the times and were vivid, when he dipped the tip of his pen in sadness, filled the margins with memories, and filled his heart with the name of his lover, are infinitely sadder and infinitely more beautiful. FOXGROVE ROAD, BECKENHAM U.K. April 1969 01. Introduction 02. Space Oddity 03. Janine 04. An Occasional Dream 05. Conversation Piece 06. Ching-A-Ling 07. I’m Not Quite a.k.a. Letter To Hermione 08. Love Song 09. When I’m Five 10. Life Is A Circus 11. Lover To The Dawn a.k.a Cygnet Committee TOP GEAR SESSION Piccadilly 1 Studio December 18, 1967 12. Love You Till Tuesday 13. When I Live My Dream 14. Little Bombardier 15. Silly Boy Blue 16. In The Heat Of The Morning TOP GEAR SESSION Piccadilly 1 Studio May 13, 1968 17. When I’m Five DAVE LEE TRAVIS SESSION Aeolian Hall October 20, 1969 18. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed