Right
David Bowie
Young Americans, 1975
This is “lesser known tracks from known albums volume 3″ (1, 2). This album is well known for the excellent title track and the even bigger if less satisfying “Fame” featuring none other than John Lennon on guitar and background vocals. But it’s also home to some other gems.
A 24-year-old Luther Vandross “p/k/a Vandross” wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics for “Fascination” and sings backup on the whole album. This was 6 years before his first album came out and its a little strange to see all of the “so and so appears courtesy of blah blah blah records” and no one claiming him! The track is very fascinating (sorry) because, although it was “slick” material for Bowie, it’s miles from the over-produced clean r&b that Luther would later be known for; it makes me wonder what else he might have put out if he hadn’t gotten so famous.
This album also contains the floating-on-air “Win” which has more than a striking resemblance to Beck’s “Debra” if you ask me. If you played them at the same time, the bass line in “Debra” would literally sound like it was mocking the guitar line in “Win.” Beck’s intro guitar also sounds like a toned-down quote of David Sandborn’s saxes on “Win.”
The track that I first gravitated to when I got this album is “Right.” I love all of these songs but this one’s a little darker and the interplay between the Bowie and the backup singers sounds a little more unscripted (1:07-1:51) and actually a little strange. Another thing that immediately grabbed me was the texture of the background guitar in the intro. It’s hard to describe but behind the main melodic guitar line you can hear these chords that seem to jut out at strange angles; it’s an unexpected sound that gives the track a lot more depth.
>> songs are available for two weeks [5.9 MB]
