David Bowie - David Live (1974)

During the supporting tour for 1974's Diamond Dogs, David Bowie shifted away from the arch camp of glam rock and turned toward a highly stylized variation of Philly soul, a transition captured on the 1974 double live album, “David Live”.
The album was recorded in July of that year, on the initial leg of Bowie's US Diamond Dogs Tour, at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. (The second leg, a more soul-oriented affair following recording sessions in Philadelphia for the bulk of Young Americans, would be renamed 'Philly Dogs'.)
The album catches Bowie in transition from the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane glam-rock era of his career to the 'plastic soul' of “Young Americans”. While the cover featured a picture of Bowie in his latest soul threads baggy trouser suit complete with shoulder pads and braces from October 1974 the music was recorded in July of that year when he was showcasing his two most recent studio albums of original material, “Diamond Dogs” and “Aladdin Sane”, as well as selected favourites from “Ziggy Stardust” and earlier.
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. For "Space Oddity, Bowie sang using a radio microphone disguised as a telephone whilst being raised and lowered above the stage by a cherry picker crane. The tour was documented in Alan Yentob's Cracked Actor (1975).

Track listing

Side one
1. "1984"  - 3:20
2. "Rebel Rebel"  - 2:40
3. "Moonage Daydream"  - 5:10
4. "Sweet Thing"  - 8:48
    "Sweet Thing"
    "Candidate"
    "Sweet Thing (Reprise)"

Side two
1. "Changes"  - 3:34
2. "Suffragette City"  - 3:45
3. "Aladdin Sane"  - 4:57
4. "All the Young Dudes"  - 4:18
5. "Cracked Actor"  - 3:29

Side three
1. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me"  (lyrics: Bowie, music: Bowie, Warren Peace)  - 4:18
2. "Watch That Man" - 4:55
3. "Knock on Wood"  (Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper)  - 3:08
4. "Diamond Dogs" - 6:32

Side four
1. "Big Brother"  - 4:08
    "Big Brother"
    "Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family"
2. "The Width of a Circle"  - 8:12
3. "The Jean Genie"  - 5:13
4. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"  - 4:30

Credits
David Bowie – vocals
Earl Slick – guitar
Herbie Flowers – bass
Michael Kamen – electric piano, Moog, oboe, arrangements
Tony Newman – drums
Pablo Rosario – percussion
David Sanborn – alto sax, flute
Richard Grando – baritone sax, flute
Mike Garson – piano, Mellotron
Gui Andrisano – backing vocals
Warren Peace – backing vocals
Producer - Tony Visconti

Notes
Recorded at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA, 8 July 1974-12 July 1974
Genre:  Glam Rock
Length: 80:37
Label:  RCA Records

© 1974