Young Americans

Young Americans
Studio album by David Bowie
Released	7 March 1975 (1975-03-07)
Recorded	Philadelphia, August 1974 (1974-08)–November 1974 (1974-11) New York, January 1975 (1975-01)
Genre	Blue-eyed soul Funk Rock
Length	40:32
Label	RCA Records CD Issue 1984 Rykodisc/EMI Reissue 14 May 1991 (1991-05-14) EMI/Virgin Reissue 28 September 1999 (1999-09-28) EMI/Virgin Collector's Edition 19 March 2007 (2007-03-19)
Producer	Tony Visconti, David Bowie and Harry Maslin
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Blender [1] Robert Christgau (C+, later B-) 12 May 1975 Crawdaddy! 2008 Rolling Stone (on Collector's Edition) 13 June 2007
David Bowie chronology
David Live (1974) Young Americans (1975) Station to Station (1976)

Young Americans is an album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1975.

With this LP, Bowie made a sudden and jolting step in a new direction, shedding his glam rock past and exploring Philadelphia soul with backing from a very young Luther Vandross. Young Americans contained his first number one hit in the U.S., "Fame", co-written with John Lennon (who also contributed backing vocals), and work from Carlos Alomar, who would eventually work with Bowie on ten more studio albums.^[2].

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

Original LP release

Side one

1. "Young Americans" – 5:10
2. "Win" – 4:44
3. "Fascination" (Bowie, Luther Vandross) – 5:43
4. "Right" – 4:13

Side two

1. "Somebody Up There Likes Me" – 6:30
2. "Across the Universe" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:30
3. "Can You Hear Me?" – 5:04
4. "Fame" (Bowie, Carlos Alomar, Lennon) – 4:12

CD releases

This album has been re-released on CD four times, with the first being by RCA in 1984, the second in 1991 by Rykodisc (containing three bonus tracks) on silver CD and later on AU20 Gold CD, the third in 1999 by EMI (featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks). A fourth reissue with an accompanying DVD was released on March 19, 2007, in higher sound resolution and mixed in 5.1 surround sound, featuring "Who Can I Be Now?" and "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)" from the 1991 Rykodisc release, an alternative version of that release's "It's Gonna Be Me" bonus track plus video footage from the Dick Cavett TV show. The Rykodisc and 5.1 surround mixes both replace "Win", "Fascination", and "Right" with alternate mixes from 1974.

1991 reissue bonus tracks

9. "Who Can I Be Now?" – 4:35
10. "It's Gonna Be Me" – 6:29
11. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" – 6:58

2007 Collector's Edition bonus tracks

9. "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)"
10. "Who Can I Be Now?"
11. "It's Gonna Be Me" (alternate version, with strings)
12. "1984" (live on The Dick Cavett Show, DVD only)
13. "Young Americans" (live on The Dick Cavett Show, DVD only)
14. "Dick Cavett Interviews David Bowie" (DVD only)

Personnel

Musicians

• David Bowie – vocals, guitar, piano
• Carlos Alomar – guitar
• Mike Garson – piano
• David Sanborn – sax
• Willie Weeks – bass except on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Andy Newmark – drums except on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"

Additional musicians

• Larry Washington – conga
• Pablo Rosario – percussion
• Ava Cherry, Robin Clark, Luther Vandross – background vocals
• John Lennon – vocals, guitar on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Earl Slick – guitar on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Emir Kassan – bass on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Dennis Davis – drums on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Pablo Rosario – percussion on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Jean Fineberg – backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
• Jean Millington – backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"

Charts

Album

Single

Certifications

References