50th anniversary edition of David Bowie’s Young Americans announced

A limited edition half-speed mastered LP edition of David Bowie’s Young Americans is to be released for its 50th anniversary.  

For his ninth studio album Bowie embraced what he called ‘Plastic Soul’ and scored his first No.1 single in the US, Fame, co-written with John Lennon and Bowie’s then guitarist, Carlos Alomar.

The album was partly influenced by the ‘Philly Sound’ and recorded in Philadelphia at Sigma Sound studios during a break in the Diamond Dogs tour with a band that featured amongst others Bowie stalwart Mike Garson on keys, along with the late Luther Vandross on vocals and David Sanborn on saxophone.

The Philly Sound

During the Tony Visconti produced sessions at Sigma Sound, Bowie immersed himself in soul music and created a new persona called The Gouster, a slang term for a hip street character. An early version of the album using this title was issued on the boxset Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976).

When the tour recommenced, Bowie radically reworked the setlist to incorporate the new material and stripped the elaborate production of the tour back to reflect a radically new musical direction.

At the end of the tour in December ’74, sessions continued at The Record Plant and, while recording in New York, Bowie connected with John Lennon, where they recorded a cover of The Beatles’ Across The Universe and a new collaborative composition, Fame at Electric Lady Studios.  The New York sessions were co-produced by David and Record Plant engineer Harry Maslin.

Enter The Gouster

Bowie opted not to tour following Young Americans’ release, and within nine months,  had moved on again, releasing his next album, Station To Station, and reinventing himself once again in the persona of The Thin White Duke.