Maps of Music

Young Americans (1975)

Where the lyrics of Young Americans take you, and where it was really made.

David Bowie called his own soul album 'plastic soul', and its cover photo was taken in Los Angeles while the recording sessions were underway in Philadelphia.

Key places

Where the Philadelphia sessions were recorded (1974)

Recording site Sigma Sound Studios — Recording sessions for Young Americans began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in August 1974. Official work started on 11 August, when Visconti arrived. Most of the material was built out of jam sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Lennon and Bowie record together (1975)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — In January 1975, Bowie and John Lennon convened at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. They recorded a cover of the Beatles song Across the Universe and a new song, Fame. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

String arrangements recorded in London (1975)

Recording site AIR Studios — Visconti returned to London to record string arrangements for Can You Hear Me, Win and It's Gonna Be Me at AIR Studios while Bowie stayed in New York. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Young Americans: ninth studio album by English musician David Bowie
• Released 7 March 1975 through RCA Records; UK release on that date, early April in the US
• Departure from the glam rock style of his previous albums
• Showcases Bowie's interest in soul and R&B
• Critics have described the sound as blue-eyed soul
• Bowie himself labelled the sound 'plastic soul'
• Produced by Tony Visconti

Background

• Follows Diamond Dogs (May 1974), his final album in the glam rock genre
• Diamond Dogs included 'Rock 'n' Roll with Me' and '1984', which had elements of funk and soul
• Bowie's interest in soul dated back to his mod days in the mid-1960s
• In July 1974 he performed soul covers during the first leg of the Diamond Dogs Tour
• Bowie had grown tired of the tour's lavish set-pieces and was ready to fully embrace black soul music
• In early 1974 he met guitarist Carlos Alomar, a session musician who had played with James Brown, Chuck Berry and Wilson Pickett
• Alomar and Bowie formed a working relationship that lasted almost 15 years
• Alomar became Bowie's guide into American black music
• The Soul Tour (September to December 1974) used the new material and dropped the elaborate set-pieces

Recording

• Sessions began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in August 1974
• Official work started on 11 August, upon Visconti's arrival
• Most of the material was built out of jam sessions
• Many songs were recorded as a single continuous take with the full band, including Bowie's vocals
• The sessions took only about two weeks to complete
• Mixing and some sessions continued at the Record Plant in New York City
• In January 1975, Bowie and John Lennon recorded 'Across the Universe' and 'Fame' at Electric Lady Studios

Cover

• Cover photo is a back-lit, airbrushed photograph of Bowie
• Taken in Los Angeles on 30 August 1974 by Eric Stephen Jacobs
• Craig DeCamps designed the final cover at RCA Records' New York City office

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Record World: called it Bowie's most compelling album to date
• Crawdaddy's Michael Gross: said it was his best studio record since Ziggy Stardust
• Rolling Stone's Jon Landau: praised the title track and said the rest of the album works best when Bowie combines soul with English pop
• Record Mirror's Ray Fox-Cumming: described the sound as spasmodic, awkward and frustrating, with a joyless energy
• The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jack Lloyd: called the album a gem and a triumph, while finding the title track pretentious
• The Village Voice's Robert Christgau: initially gave it a C+, calling it an almost total failure, then amended the review to B−
• Phonograph Record's John Mendelsohn: criticised the lyrics and vocal performance and found the album very weak
• NME's Ian MacDonald: felt it was a transitional record created from a confused state of mind, and enjoyed it despite its flaws
• Melody Maker's Michael Watts: praised the backing band but found the record too pastiche to be credible and Bowie's worst release up to that point

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork's Douglas Wolk: said it lacks the theatrical scope of Diamond Dogs and the formal audacity of Station to Station
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine: said it is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record
• The Independent's Mark Beaumont: argued that those who dismiss it as a white elephant underestimate its significance
• Melody Maker's Jon Wilde (1991): argued that, like Bowie's other 1970s records, it was ahead of its time

Records

• US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart: number nine, on the chart for 51 weeks
• RIAA certified it gold by July 1975
• UK Albums Chart: number two, on the chart for 17 weeks, kept off the top spot by Tom Jones's 20 Greatest Hits
• Top five in New Zealand and Sweden; top ten in Australia and Finland
• Number 12 in France, 13 in Norway, 17 in Canada, 82 in Japan
• Voted Bowie's ninth best album in a 2013 Rolling Stone readers' poll
• NME ranked it 175th in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2013

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bowie's cocaine use grew heavier during the sessions, and he often stayed awake recording day and night while the band slept.
• According to Visconti, the album contains about 85% live David Bowie.
• The album's working titles included The Gouster, Dancin', Somebody Up There Likes Me, One Damned Song, Shilling the Rubes and Fascination.
• Fans called the Sigma Kids waited outside the studio, and on the final day of tracking they were invited in to hear rough versions of the new songs.
• Young Americans was one of the first records where Bowie performed as himself rather than as a persona, according to commentators.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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