The Goo 1
The Grape Vinyl Conor Farrell YOUNG AMERICANS (19
75) - DAVID BOWIE 50TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR In 1974, David Bowie was moving quickly from one creative peak to the next, “tumbling over myself with ideas,” as he later described. Diamond Dogs, released in May was a bold leap forward—a dystopian spectacle brought to life with a $250,000 stage production. In August, Bowie took a month off the tour and headed to Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where he began recording Young Americans (1975). When he returned for the final leg of the tour, the elaborate sets were gone. What remained was pared down and driven by the Soul sounds that had crept into his music seemingly overnight. The Diamond Dogs Tour was reborn as The Soul Tour. By the early ’70s, the fresh sounds of Philly Soul—a pop-driven style mixing funk with lush strings and horns dominated the airwaves in America and captured Bowie’s imagination. At the heart of this new sound were production team Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Much of their work was crafted at Sigma, the home of Philly Soul. Bowie’s fascination with Soul and Black music wasn’t just a passing phase—it ran far deeper. His earliest foray into music, playing saxophone with The Konrads in 1962, stemmed from a childhood fixation on Little Richard. By the late ‘60s, he was bonding with Tony Visconti over their mutual love of jazz and Soul. 46 Bowie’s initial plan was to recruit members of MFSB, the legendary house band at Sigma, but they were unavailable. Enter Carlos Alomar, a gifted 23-year-old guitarist Bowie had recently met and recruited while producing a session for Lulu. Alomar had honed his craft as part of the Apollo Theater’s house band and even played with James Brown in the late ’60s. Bowie brought in Soul singer Ava Cherry, while Alomar brought with him a powerhouse lineup that included his wife Robin Clark, legendary bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Andy Newmark, and renowned sax player David Sanborn. Also present was the emerging prodigious talent Luther Vandross, whose vocal arrangements and contributions reshaped the sessions into something truly transformative. With a stellar line up in place the sessions quickly came to life. The gorgeous Can You Hear Me and the lush Win with Sanborn’s swirling sax got to the heart and soul of the smooth Philly sound. Right and Fascination tapped into the harder-edged funk grooves. On the latter, Mike Garson elevated the funk with a clavinet solo that would have made Stevie Wonder proud. The epic title track mixed Philly Soul grooves with a storytelling style evocative of Springsteen’s gritty urban narratives. But it was Vandross’s impassioned harmony arrangements that made it an album standout. The sessions initially wrapped in December 1974, with Visconti taking the tapes to England. But a chance encounter with John Lennon led to a collaboration and two last-minute additions - a controversial cover of Across the Universe and the amazing, super infectious, funk-driven Fame which gave Bowie his first U.S. number 1 hit. Bowie was very pleased with the finished album but he was also deeply aware of the cultural and racial context of Soul music. He would later call Young Americans his ‘Plastic Soul’ album, a self-deprecating acknowledgement of the genre’s roots in Black culture and artistry. Yet, those who worked with him during this period attested to his genuine passion and commitment to making an authentic Soul album. Young Americans doesn’t sound like a Gamble and Huff production, nor was it intended to. Instead, it’s an artist’s interpretation - a love letter to a sound, a scene, and a vibe. Bowie turned his attention next to Europe, becoming interested in German Motorik beats. Yet, he retained a solid American funk-based rhythm section led by Alomar. This created a distinctive and unique hybrid rooted in the grooves of Young Americans, which would go on to shape some of his most innovative and celebrated work.