1974 RCA
1. Future Legend; 2. Diamond Dogs; 3. Sweet Thing; 4. Candidate; 5. Sweet Thing (reprise); 6. Rebel Rebel; 7. Rock 'n' Roll With Me 8. We Are The Dead; 9. 1984;
10. Big Brother; 11. Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family.
The Young American
“Diamond Dogs” Album
Musicians
David Bowie - vocals, guitar, phased guitar, saxophone, percussion; Mike Garson – Moog, Mellotron, harpsichord, piano; Herbie Flowers – bass; Aynsley Dunbar and
Tony Newman – drums; Alan Parker - guitar.
1990 Rykodisc/EMI bonus tracks
1. Dodo (recorded in 1973); 2. Candidate (demo version, recorded in 1973).
2004 EMI/Virgin bonus tracks
1. 1984/Dodo; 2. Rebel Rebel (U.S. single version); 3. Dodo; 4. Growin' Up;
5. Alternative Candidate (a demo for proposed 1984 musical; 6. Diamond Dogs (K-tel ‘The Best of Bowie’ edit);
7. Candidate (Intimacy mix); 8. Rebel Rebel (2003 version).
Recorded
Island Studios and Olympic Studios in London, Luc Ludolph Studios in Nederhorst den Berg, near Hilversum (Holland) between October 1973 and February 1974.
Released
24 May 1974.
‘Diamond Dogs’ US TV commercial
The first single to be released from the album was an edited version of “Rebel Rebel” although a specially re-recorded version of this song was issued as a single in
the US, Canada and Mexico.
The follow-up single was the full length title track (with the exception of Australia who issued a 2’ 58 edited version). Some countries – notably the US and New
Zealand – issued “1984” as the second single, whilst Japan issued both “Diamond Dogs” and “1984” as follow-up singles.
Additional information:
•
The audience that can be heard at the end of "Future Legend" and the beginning of "Diamond Dogs" was lifted from the Faces live album "Coast to Coast /
Overture and Beginners", the "Hey" is the voice of Rod Stewart!.
•
An acetate of the album has “Rebel Rebel” as the segued track following “Future Legend”.
By the time you worked with David Bowie you were a bit of a veteran, aged 16?
I was in the recording studio when the Rolling Stones recorded It’s Only Rock ’N Roll (But I Like It). I remember placing microphones in the toilets
downstairs when Jagger and Keith were about to sing the overdubs. I also worked with Badfinger and The Pretty Things, but Diamond Dogs was the
album I worked on the most.
Why did Bowie choose Keith Harwood to work with?
I think because of the people he had worked with – the Stones, Led Zeppelin. He had worked with some of Britain’s greatest bands. He was a great
guy – had golden ears. Easy to work with, no ego, he just took me under his wing.
For the initial sessions for Diamond Dogs, am I right in saying that some of the Spiders were still around?
Yes, [bassist] Trevor Bolder was around. Lulu was in town working on a record. She was full of piss and vinegar. She would sit in the studio listening
to the songs with David.
What were Bowie’s inspirations?
Definitely Bruce Springsteen and the song Spirit In The Night. We listened to that record for days and days in the studio.
What was Bowie’s studio method?
David was like Orson Welles! He was a visionary, highly intelligent. I think David already had a vision of the tour, the show, and how he would present
the music live. 1984 was the song we spent the most time on because David wanted to get it perfect, and it turned out perfect, it’s a masterpiece.
Bowie was a workhorse, he didn’t f**k around. When I worked with the Stones, there were loads of hangers-on whereas David was a workaholic. He
would come in at one o’clock in the afternoon and some days we wouldn’t leave until five in the morning.
How did Rebel Rebel come about?
We were sitting in the studio at 4am. The Stones were working in Studio A and Ron Wood and Mick Taylor had just done a benefit gig with Kilburn &
The High Roads. Keith Harwood had left the studio at about 1am and we were waiting for David’s driver Tony [Mascia] to pick him up in his Daimler. I
was wrapping up microphone cables but there was one cable still on and the fader was up and David started to play the first three chords of Rebel
Rebel. He was just consistently going over those chords. We laid down a rough version and then David called my house and asked if we could meet
up with Keith at Trident Studios because Trident, to my recollection, had the one of the few mastering labs in London. And then we had the first
acetate of Rebel Rebel.
What was Bowie like as a personality? Was he friendly?
Yeah, he was great, man. I’ll give you an example. I lived in North London – which was quite a distance from Barnes in the south – so it would take me
about 45 minutes to get to the studio, on this little 50cc motorcycle which my mum bought for me. During the end of one session, David was getting
into his car and he said, ‘So where do you go on that motorcycle of yours every day?’ And I said, ‘I go to Palmers Green.’ And he said, ‘Whoa, that’s a
long way from here. Why don’t you come and stay at my place?’ He was with Angela at the time. She was great, I loved her.
What was Bowie’s home like?
It was a beautiful four-storey house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea. I remember the third floor – there was like a living room with a pit which had about
fifty cushions in it. And he had a lot of those [ball] chairs – white on the outside, and inside they were green.
I went to his Christmas party there, which must have been 1973. All the Stones were there. Ronnie Wood was there and Stevie Wonder. [Bowie
protégés] Ava [Cherry] and Geoff MacCormack were there. Prince Charles’ caterer was the caterer for his party. You walked in and everything was like
10 out of 10: food, champagne. The party started at 8; we left at 7 the next morning. Lots of things going in different rooms! He had lots of decorations
up, and avant-garde paintings which were not hung up but leaning against walls.
Was there a Christmas tree?
There was! A real Christmas tree. David took mistletoe around the house and he was going to kiss everyone in the house. He pointed to me and he
said, ‘I’m going to save you until last.’ I ended up sleeping in David’s pit, and Angela cooked breakfast and I left. There were still about thirty people in
the morning just lying around everywhere.
It was around this time that David Bowie said his drug use began to escalate and he has gone on record to say Keith Harwood was a drug user. Did
you see any evidence of this?
Yeah, of course. There was cocaine in the studio, especially when the Stones were around. I never saw any drugs being done in front of me when
David was in the studio, though. I never saw David’s demeanour as being indicative of someone who was doing a lot of coke. But I was never a drug
user. I used to see him drink a lot of tea! He had a private chef who would come in and cook for him and he’d eat in the control room with Keith. Very
rarely would I see him go to the greasy spoon next door like the Stones used to.
And finally, did you see the Diamond Dogs tour?
I was working in the USA in 1974, aged 17. But I couldn’t get a ticket!
"Bowie Was Like Orson Welles": Diamond Dogs At 40
On the 40th anniversary of its release, engineer Andy Morris delivers the inside skinny on Bowie’s wildest album.
By David Buckley April 24, 2014
THE ‘DEGLAMIFICATION’ OF DAVID BOWIE was well under way as 1973 turned into 1974. Bit by bit, colourfully theatrical new tones were being introduced to his
musical mix from soul, disco, electronica, chanson and show tunes, as well as a much harder rock edge when he felt the need.
For his follow-up to October ’73’s stop-gap Pin-Ups, Bowie had originally planned a thoroughgoing theatrical reworking of George Orwell’s 1984 novel, yet he was
denied the rights by Orwell’s widow. It was about the best thing that could have happened, as it liberated Bowie’s imagination as never before.
When Diamond Dogs emerged on April 24, 1974, it proved to be Bowie’s most ambitious album yet. We Are The Dead was a horror movie in four minutes; Big
Brother the sound of rock’s Messianic grand delusion collapsing. Only the title track and the first single Rebel Rebel reminded listeners of Bowie’s recent glam rock
past. The rest was the future.
Recording the first time for three years without the Spiders or producer Ken Scott, Bowie produced himself at Olympic Studios in Barnes, mainly with engineer Keith
Harwood.
Sixteen-year-old Olympic Studios engineer Andy Morris was also on hand throughout, and offers MOJO this exclusive and revealing insight into Bowies’s methods,
and parties...
David with Andy Morris
Olympic Sound Studios tape boxes for the Diamond Dogs recordings
