David Bowie - Young Americans (UK RCA 1st Pressing A1/B1 ) Vinyl rip in 24 Bit/ 96 Khz + CD

David Bowie had dropped hints during the Diamond Dogs tour that he was moving toward R&B, but the full-blown blue-eyed soul of Young Americans came as a shock. Surrounding himself with first-rate sessionmen, Bowie comes up with a set of songs that approximate the sound of Philly soul and disco, yet remain detached from their inspirations; even at his most passionate, Bowie sounds like a commentator, as if the entire album was a genre exercise. Nevertheless, the distance doesn't hurt the album — it gives the record its own distinctive flavor, and its plastic, robotic soul helped inform generations of synthetic British soul. What does hurt the record is a lack of strong songwriting. "Young Americans" is a masterpiece, and "Fame" has a beat funky enough that James Brown ripped it off, but only a handful of cuts ("Win," "Fascination," "Somebody up There Likes Me") comes close to matching their quality. As a result, Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record. –Allmusic.

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

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


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"

Released: 7 March 1975
Recorded: Philadelphia, August 1974 – November 1974, New York, January 1975