David Live
| David Live | ||||
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| Live album by David Bowie | ||||
| Released | 29 October 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 8 July 1974-12 July 1974 | |||
| Venue | Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 81:06 (1974 mix) / 102:46 (2005 mix) | |||
| Label | RCA Records | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| David Bowie chronology | ||||
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| Singles from David Live | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| Robert Christgau | C– |
| MusicHound | 3/5 |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.7/10 |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Select | 4/5 |
David Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. 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" (recorded at the time but not released until the album's 2005 reissue) 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).
Capturing the music on tape was itself problematic; most of the backing vocals, as well as the saxophone, needed to be overdubbed in the studio later (a fact noted on the original album sleeve as well as the reissue) because the performers were often off-mike. According to the original album liner notes: "This Live album was culled from performances on the 14th & 15th July 1974 at the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia. It is complete and exact. No studio overdubs or re-recording of voices, instruments or audience have been added with the exception of several backing vocals due to loss of theatre mike contact." The Tower Theater concerts also gave rise to a backstage revolt by Bowie's touring band. David Sanborn and Hugh McCracken (who had learned in a conversation with John Venable of The Record Plant Remote that the concerts were being recorded) informed other band members that a non-contractual recording was about to occur. The band confronted Bowie an hour before the first show and refused to take the stage. Venable offered that Record Plant hold the tapes until financial negotiations were settled so the recording could proceed. About twenty minutes before showtime, Bowie agreed that each band member would receive what they judged was a more reasonable $5,000 fee, per member. Several musicians involved in the Tower Theater performance (including Mike Garson and Herbie Flowers) have since remarked that the tension provoked by this confrontation was audible in the stilted performances found on the live album. The Concerts were recorded by Keith Harwood and David Hewitt on the Record Plant NY Remote Truck.
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