| David Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 29 October 1974 (UK)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 8–12 July 1974 | |||
| Venue | Tower Theater, Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 81:06 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| David Bowie chronology | ||||
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| Singles from David Live | ||||
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David Live is the first official live album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released through RCA Records in October 1974. The album was recorded in July of that year, on the initial leg of Bowie's Diamond Dogs Tour, at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania.
The tour was Bowie's most ambitious to date, featuring a giant set designed to evoke "Hunger City", the post-apocalyptic setting for Diamond Dogs, and his largest band, led by Michael Kamen. In addition to this album, the tour was also documented on film in Alan Yentob's Cracked Actor (1975), as well as in the archival live recordings Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) (2017) and I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) (2020).[3][4][5] David Live catches Bowie in transition from the "Ziggy Stardust" glam-rock era of his career to the 'plastic soul' of Young Americans.[6] While the cover featured a picture of Bowie during the later leg of the tour in his soul-influenced fashion, the music was recorded during the initial summer leg of the tour, before it was revamped to focus on Bowie's Philadelphia soul material.
The album was a commercial success upon release, reaching number two in the United Kingdom, as well as hitting the top 10 in the United States and Canada. However, it received largely negative critical reviews, with many of the complaints directed at the musical arrangements and Bowie's strained vocal performances.[7][8] In 2005, the album was re-issued with four additional tracks and a new remix by Tony Visconti. It has also been re-evaluated, with some critics considering the album a valuable document of a transitional period in the artist's career.[6]
- ^ "David Live released 45 years ago today, probably". David Bowie Official Website. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Clerc 2021, p. 213.
- ^ Pegg 2016, pp. 639–640.
- ^ Randle, Chris (29 June 2017). "David Bowie: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "I'm Only Dancing for Record Store Day 2020". David Bowie Official Website. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Erlewine AllMusicwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Christgauwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Pegg 2016, p. 373.