David Bowie is the eponymously-titled debut album by
rockRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
musician
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, released in 1967 by
Deram RecordsDeram Records was a record label set up by Decca Records. It was active from 1966 until 1979.-History:Decca established Deram Records initially as an outlet for its 'Deramic Sound' recordings, which allowed for more space between instruments, rendering these softer to the ear...
, a
DeccaDecca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...
offshoot. Its content bears little overt resemblance to the type of music that later made Bowie famous, such as the
folk rockFolk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
of "
Space Oddity"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a single in 1969. It is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut. The song appears on the album Space Oddity...
" or the
glamGlam rock is a style that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s that was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a campy, theatrical blend of...
of
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1972 concept album by English rock musician David Bowie. It peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 75 in the United States on the Billboard Music Charts. A concert film of the same name directed by D.A...
.
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
critics
Roy CarrRoy Carr is an English music journalist. He joined the New Musical Express in the 1960s and has edited NME, VOX and Melody Maker magazines...
and
Charles Shaar MurrayCharles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist.His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
have said, "a listener strictly accustomed to David Bowie in his assorted '70s guises would probably find this debut album either shocking or else simply quaint", while biographer David Buckley describes it as "the vinyl equivalent of the madwoman in the attic".
Bowie's influences at this stage of his career included the theatrical tunes of
Anthony NewleyAnthony George Newley , was an English actor, singer and songwriter.-Career:Anthony Newley was an actor, singer, and composer with an international following, equally adept and prodigious in all three fields...
,
music hallMusic hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
numbers by acts like
Tommy SteeleTommy Steele OBE is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock 'n' roll star...
, some of the more whimsical and '
BritishGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
' material by
Ray DaviesRay Davies CBE is an English rock musician, best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks - one of the most prolific and long-lived British Invasion bands - which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
of
The KinksThe Kinks are an English rock group categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of the British Invasion era....
,
Syd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and artist. He is most remembered as a founding member of psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, providing major musical and stylistic direction in their early work, although he left the group in 1968 amidst...
's slightly cracked nursery rhymes for the early
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
, and the Edwardian
flamFlåm is a Norwegian village with some 500 inhabitants, at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord. The town is located in the municipality of Aurland, in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.-Name:...
shared by such contemporary songs as
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
' "Being for the Benefit of Mr.
David Bowie is the eponymously-titled debut album by
rockRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
musician
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, released in 1967 by
Deram RecordsDeram Records was a record label set up by Decca Records. It was active from 1966 until 1979.-History:Decca established Deram Records initially as an outlet for its 'Deramic Sound' recordings, which allowed for more space between instruments, rendering these softer to the ear...
, a
DeccaDecca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...
offshoot. Its content bears little overt resemblance to the type of music that later made Bowie famous, such as the
folk rockFolk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
of "
Space Oddity"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a single in 1969. It is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut. The song appears on the album Space Oddity...
" or the
glamGlam rock is a style that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s that was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a campy, theatrical blend of...
of
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1972 concept album by English rock musician David Bowie. It peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 75 in the United States on the Billboard Music Charts. A concert film of the same name directed by D.A...
.
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
critics
Roy CarrRoy Carr is an English music journalist. He joined the New Musical Express in the 1960s and has edited NME, VOX and Melody Maker magazines...
and
Charles Shaar MurrayCharles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist.His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
have said, "a listener strictly accustomed to David Bowie in his assorted '70s guises would probably find this debut album either shocking or else simply quaint", while biographer David Buckley describes it as "the vinyl equivalent of the madwoman in the attic".
Influences
Bowie's influences at this stage of his career included the theatrical tunes of
Anthony NewleyAnthony George Newley , was an English actor, singer and songwriter.-Career:Anthony Newley was an actor, singer, and composer with an international following, equally adept and prodigious in all three fields...
,
music hallMusic hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
numbers by acts like
Tommy SteeleTommy Steele OBE is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock 'n' roll star...
, some of the more whimsical and '
BritishGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
' material by
Ray DaviesRay Davies CBE is an English rock musician, best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks - one of the most prolific and long-lived British Invasion bands - which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
of
The KinksThe Kinks are an English rock group categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of the British Invasion era....
,
Syd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and artist. He is most remembered as a founding member of psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, providing major musical and stylistic direction in their early work, although he left the group in 1968 amidst...
's slightly cracked nursery rhymes for the early
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
, and the Edwardian
flamFlåm is a Norwegian village with some 500 inhabitants, at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord. The town is located in the municipality of Aurland, in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.-Name:...
shared by such contemporary songs as
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
' "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". The desire of Bowie's then-manager, Ken Pitt, for his charge to become an 'all-round entertainer' rather than a 'rock star' has also been cited as impacting the songwriter's style at this time, which virtually eschewed any
rock 'n' rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
trappings. Bowie himself has said that his debut album "seemed to have its roots all over the place, in rock and
vaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and music hall. I didn't know if I was
Max MillerThomas Henry Sargent , better known by his stage name Max Miller, was Britain's top music hall comedian in the late 1930s to the late 1950s...
or
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
".
Style and themes
Written wholly by Bowie, the album was arranged by the composer and Dek Fearnley, having reportedly taught themselves the craft using the
Observer Book of Music. "
Rubber BandRubber Band was a single by David Bowie. The single was released in 1966, and marked the start of Bowie’s recording contract with Deram which would include his first album, 1967’s David Bowie....
" was a marching tune that employed
tubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
as the lead instrument. "Little Bombardier" and "Maid of Bond Street" were in
waltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
time, and also made extensive use of brass and strings. "
Love You Till TuesdayLove You till Tuesday was a single by David Bowie. Released in 1967, the album version from David Bowie was re-recorded with added strings devised by Ivor Raymonde....
" and "Come and Buy My Toys" were among the few songs on the album with a lead (acoustic) guitar, the former heavily augmented by strings. "Join the Gang" was a rare excursion into contemporary youth culture, an acerbic observation of
peer pressurePeer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
and
drug useDrugs can be used in many different ways, as detailed below.-Medication:People can use drugs to relieve pain or discomfort or to cure or prevent disease.-Recreational drug use:...
, which included
sitarThe sitar is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
in its instrumentation. The final track, "Please Mr. Gravedigger", was "a macabre duet for voice and sound effects", and has been described as "one of pop's genuinely crazy moments".
Despite the album's incongruity in the Bowie catalogue, some commentators have discerned embryonic themes that inform the artist's more mature work. "We Are Hungry Men" is told by a self-styled "
messiahMessiah literally means "anointed "...
" whose persona would reappear in different forms in the songs "
Cygnet Committee"Cygnet Committee" is a song written by David Bowie in 1969 for his second eponymous album...
" (from the album
Space OdditySpace Oddity is a 1969 album by rock musician David Bowie. Originally released by Philips in the UK as David Bowie and by Mercury in the U.S...
), "
Saviour Machine"Saviour Machine" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 for the album The Man Who Sold the World. It is a hard rock song with constantly changing tempos about a machine that can stop wars and feed the people. The machine gets bored and threatens to kill everyone...
" (from
The Man Who Sold the WorldThe Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The album was Bowie's first with the nucleus of what would become the "Spiders from Mars", the backing band made...
) and "
Oh! You Pretty Things"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It opens with only Rick Wakeman's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to Paul McCartney's "Martha My Dear"...
" (from
Hunky DoryHunky Dory is the fourth album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971. It was Bowie's first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade...
), as well as in the protagonist of
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The track also explicitly referenced subjects like
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
,
infanticideInfanticide is the practice of someone intentionally killing an infant. Often it is the mother who commits the act, but criminology recognizes various forms of non-maternal child murder. In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible...
and
cannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other humans.The word can be extended into zoology to mean any species consuming members of its own kind, and used outside of biological fields in a metaphorical sense: "Cannibalization" refers to the reuse of parts or ideas, such as...
. "There is a Happy Land" was an early manifestation of Bowie's vision of children as a race apart from their elders, a theme revisited on
The Man Who Sold the World,
Hunky Dory and
Ziggy Stardust. "She's Got Medals" was a gender-bending tale with
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
and
lesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
connotations that predated the 'dress cover' of
The Man Who Sold the World and the bisexual/androgynous character of Ziggy Stardust.
Singles
Prior to releasing the album, Deram issued two singles with the same personnel, "
Rubber BandRubber Band was a single by David Bowie. The single was released in 1966, and marked the start of Bowie’s recording contract with Deram which would include his first album, 1967’s David Bowie....
" b/w "
London Boys"The London Boys" is a song written by David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the UK, and as a single of its own in France in December 1966....
", in December 1966, and "
The Laughing Gnome"The Laughing Gnome" is a song by David Bowie. Originally released as a novelty single on Deram Records in 1967, the track consisted of the singer meeting and conversing with the creature of the title, whose sped-up voice delivered a number of puns on the word 'gnome'...
" b/w "The Gospel According to Tony Day", in April 1967. "Rubber Band" was a different recording to the album track. "London Boys" has been lauded as Bowie's first mini-masterpiece, a melancholy observation of the London Mod scene of the time. "The Laughing Gnome" was a novelty record featuring chipmunk-like vocals but the
varispeedPitch shift is a sound recording technique in which the normal pitch or tone of a sound is altered for effect or for other purposes....
technique used to create this effect would serve Bowie in more serious fashion on many future songs including "After All", "
The Bewlay Brothers"The Bewlay Brothers" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. The last track to be written and recorded for Hunky Dory, this ballad has been described as "probably Bowie's densest and most impenetrable song"...
", "
Fame"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975 and in remixed versions, in 1990.With the Young Americans sessions mostly concluded in late 1974, the material was delayed while Bowie extricated himself from his contract with manager Tony DeFries. During this time he was staying...
" and "
Scream Like a Baby"Scream Like a Baby" is a song written by David Bowie that appears on the 1980 album Scary Monsters .-Music and lyrics:...
". A re-recorded version of "
Love You Till TuesdayLove You till Tuesday was a single by David Bowie. Released in 1967, the album version from David Bowie was re-recorded with added strings devised by Ivor Raymonde....
" b/w "Did You Ever Have a Dream" was released as a single in July 1967.
Release and aftermath
David Bowie was released in the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, in both
monoMonaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
and
stereoStereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound using two or more independent audio channels through a symmetrical configuration of loudspeakers in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing...
, on 1 June 1967, the same date as
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Beatles. Released in the UK on 1 June 1967, it became a defining album in the emerging psychedelic rock style; it has since been recognised by prominent critics and publications as one of the most influential...
. It was issued in the
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in August 1967, minus "We Are Hungry Men" and "Maid of Bond Street". The album and its associated singles were all commercial failures at the time and Bowie did not release another record until "
Space Oddity"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a single in 1969. It is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut. The song appears on the album Space Oddity...
", two years later. The songs from the debut album and its singles, plus later Deram works, have been recycled in a multitude of compilation albums, including
The World of David Bowie (1970),
Images 1966–1967 (1973),
Another Face (1981),
Rock Reflections (1990), and
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968 (1997). A number of the songs also appeared in Ken Pitt's promotional film
Love You Till Tuesday, shot in 1969 but kept on the shelf until 1984, when it was released to video with a
companion albumLove You till Tuesday was a compilation of material by David Bowie, issued as a companion to the belated video release of Bowie's 1969 promotional film Love You till Tuesday....
on CD.
Side one
- "Uncle Arthur" – 2:07
- "Sell Me a Coat" – 2:58
- "Rubber Band
Rubber Band was a single by David Bowie. The single was released in 1966, and marked the start of Bowie’s recording contract with Deram which would include his first album, 1967’s David Bowie....
" – 2:17
- "Love You Till Tuesday
Love You till Tuesday was a single by David Bowie. Released in 1967, the album version from David Bowie was re-recorded with added strings devised by Ivor Raymonde....
" – 3:09
- "There Is a Happy Land" – 3:11
- "We Are Hungry Men" – 2:58
- "When I Live My Dream" – 3:22
Side two
- "Little Bombardier" – 3:24
- "Silly Boy Blue" – 4:36
- "Come and Buy My Toys" – 2:07
- "Join the Gang" – 2:17
- "She's Got Medals" – 2:23
- "Maid of Bond Street" – 1:43
- "Please Mr. Gravedigger" – 2:35
Personnel
- David Bowie – vocals, guitar
The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
, saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841...
, arrangementIn music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet...
- Derek Boyes – organ
An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was influenced from harmonium, or pipe organ and theatre organ. In early days, it was designed to imitate the sound of a pipe organ, theatre organ, band sounds, or orchestral sounds...
- Dek Fearnley – bass
The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
- John Eager – drums
A drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
- Mike Vernon
Mike Vernon is a English record producer. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups during the late 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie...
– producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
- Gus Dudgeon
Gus Dudgeon was an English record producer.- The tea boy :Gus Dudgeon was born in Surrey, England. After being sacked from eleven jobs he became a tea-boy at Decca's Olympic Studios in Baker Street, London. He was able to answer the right questions about using and repairing a tape recorder...
– engineerAudio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music. Unlike acoustical engineering, audio...
- Dek Fearnley – arrangement