"...Wild Is The
Wind..."
The premise is simple –
tunes that have moved/inspired David Bowie throughout his extraordinary
five-decade career – the original songs by the original artists – 24 melodies he’s
covered from 1964 right through to 2003. But this is Ace Records of the UK doing
the CD compilation - so the annotation and sound quality is top notch. There’s
a wad of facts to get through so let’s have at the Thin White Duke’s Pin-Ups...
UK released April 2014 – "BOWIE
Heard Them Here First" by Various Artists [DAVID BOWIE Cover Versions] on Ace Records CDCHD 1387 (Barcode
029667058322) breaks down as follows (76:06 minutes):
1. Louie – Go Home by PAUL
REVERE & THE RAIDERS (1964 USA 7” single on Columbia 43008, A)
Covered by Davie Jones &
The King Bees in 1964 on the UK 7” single Vocalion Pop V 9221, A
2. I Pity The Fool by BOBBY
BLAND (1961 USA 7” single on Duke 332, A)
Covered by Manish Boys in
1965 on the UK 7” single Parlophone R 5250, A
3. Fill Your Heart by BIFF
ROSE (on the 1968 USA LP “The Thorn In Mrs. Rose’s Side” on Tetragrammaton
Records T-103)
Covered by Bowie on the
“Hunky Dory” LP in 1971
4. It Ain’t Easy by RON DAVIES
(on the 1970 US LP “Silent Song Through The Land” on A&M Records SP-4264 –
also a USA 7” single on A&M 1188, A)
Covered by Bowie on 1972 LP
“The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars”
5. White Light/White Heat by
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (on the 1967 LP “White Light/White Heat” on Verve VK
10560)
Covered by Bowie on the 1983
Soundtrack album (recorded 1973) “Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture”
6. Everything’s Al’right by
THE MOJOS (on a 1964 UK 7” single on Decca F 11853, A)
Covered by Bowie on the 1973
all-covers album “Pin Ups”
7. Friday On My Mind by THE
EASYBEATS (on a 1966 UK 7” single on United Artists UP 1157, A)
Covered by Bowie on the 1973
all-covers album “Pin Ups”
8. Rosalyn by THE PRETTY
THINGS (on the 1964 UK 7” single on Fontana TF 469, A)
Covered by Bowie on the 1973
all-covers album “Pin Ups”
9. Sorry by THE MERSEYS (on
the 1966 UK 7” single on Fontana TF 694, A)
Covered by Bowie on the 1973
all-covers album “Pin Ups”
10. Where Have All The Good
Times Gone by THE KINKS (on the 1965 UK 7” single on Pye International
7N.15981, A
Covered by Bowie on the 1973
all-covers album “Pin Ups”
11. Around And Around by
CHUCK BERRY (on a 1958 USA 7” single on Chess 1691, A)
Covered by Bowie as “Round
And Round” on the B-side of “Drive-In Saturday”, a 1973 UK 7” single on RCA
Records RCA 2352
12. Knock On Wood by EDDIE
FLOYD (on a 1966 USA 7” single on Stax 194, A)
Covered by Bowie in live
form on the 1974 UK 7” single on RCA Records RCA 2466, A
13. Amsterdam by JACQUES
BREL (on a 1964 French 7” EP “Brel En Direct” on Barclay 70)
Covered by Bowie as the
B-side to “Sorrow” – a UK 7” single in 1973 on RCA Records RCA 2424
14. Wild Is The Wind by
JOHNNY MATHIS (on a 1957 USA 7” single on Columbia 4-41060, A)
Covered by Bowie on the 1976
album “Station To Station” and as a 7” single
15. Alabama Song by LOTTE
LENYA & THE THREE ANIMALS (on a 1930 USA 78” on Ultraphon A 370, A)
Covered by Bowie on a 1980
UK 7” single on RCA Records BOW 5, A
16. Kingdom Come by TOM
VERLAINE [from Television] (on his self-titled 1979 debut Solo LP on Elektra
Records 6E-216)
Covered by Bowie on his 1980
LP “Scary Monsters”
17. Criminal World by METRO
[featuring Duncan Browne] (on the 1976 UK 7” single on Transatlantic Records
BIG 560, A)
Covered by Bowie on his 1983
LP “Let’s Dance”
18. Don’t Look Down by IGGY
POP (on his 1979 album “New Values” on Arista AB 4237)
Covered by Bowie on his 1984
“Tonight” LP
19. Dancing In The Street by
MARTHA REEVES and THE VANDELLAS (on a 1964 USA 7” single on Gordy 7033, A)
Covered by Mick Jagger and
David Bowie as a 1985 7” single for Band Aid/Live Aid Famine Support
20. If There Is Something by
ROXY MUSIC (on their 1972 debut album “Roxy Music” on Island ILPS 9200)
Covered by Bowie on the 1991
“Tin Machine II” album
21. Nite Flights by THE
WALKER BROTHERS (on their 1978 LP “Nite Flights” on GTO Records GTLP 033)
Covered by Bowie on his 1993
“Black Tie, White Noise” album
22. Cactus by THE PIXIES (on
their 2nd album “Surfer Rosa” from 1988 on 4AD Records CAD 803)
Covered by Bowie on his 2002
album “Heathen”
23. Pablo Picasso by THE
MODERN LOVERS (on their 1976 debut album “The Modern Lovers” on Home Of The
Hits HH-1910)
Covered by Bowie of his 2003
album “Reality”
24. I Took A Trip On A
Gemini Spacecraft by LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY (on a 1969 USA 7” single on
Mercury 72891, A)
Covered by Bowie on his 2002
album “Heathen”
The 20-page booklet is
beautiful – crammed full of the original 45’s (mixture of UK and US issues) –
there’s a foreign picture sleeve of Ron Davies’ fabulous “It Ain’t Easy” single
– sheet music for The Mojos and The Pretty Things (full page on the rear of the
booklet) and even the 1930 78” of “Alabama Song” on Ultraphon. In-between all
that visual richness is superlative and informative liner notes by IAN JOHNSTON
who goes into Bowie’s eclectic choices right up to Iggy Pop, The Modern Lovers
and The Pixies. Beneath the see-through CD tray is the sheet music to “Friday
On My Mind” by The Easybeats - it’s really well done.
With so many varying sources
and time frames the audio flits from period to period but is still superb
throughout (mastered with skill by longstanding Ace Engineer NICK ROBBINS).
I’ve been after the Ron Davies tune, “It Ain’t Easy” for years and here it is
in superb remastered form (Three Dog Night and John Baldry both named albums
after it in 1970 and 1971 respectively). The only turkeys sound wise are the
Brel track “Amsterdam” and the 78” from 1930 – in fact both songs are the low
points on this compilation for me – dreadful stuff.
Given that this is David
Bowie’s influences – the listen was always going to be eclectic – interesting –
and possibly even slightly unnerving – and in some respects “Bowie Heard Them
Here First” is all of those things (and why would you want it any other way).
In fact once you get away from the Sixties influences – the compilation starts
to flow and work so much better – the Iggy Pop, Tom Verlaine, Metro and Pixies
tracks – more than impressive. Roxy’s masterful “If There Is Something” and The
Velvet’s anarchic “White Light/White Heat” could have been tailor-written for
Seventies Bowie. But better are gems like the lesser-heard Walker Brothers
“Nite Flights” and the whacky 1969 fruitcake song that is “I Took A Trip On A
Gemini Spaceship”.
But you’re also struck not
so much by the excellence of the originals but hearing (in your head) how good
his own interpretations were - “Sorrow” and “Wild is The Wind” in particular –
taking ordinary songs and making them into something extraordinary. Compiler inclusions
like “Knock On Wood”, “Around And Around” and “Dancing In The Street” are
cliché for sure and fans would have probably have preferred “All The Young
Dudes” or his version of The Who’s “Seeker” or Lennon’s “Working Class Hero”.
In fact what would have rocked is the originals on CD1 with his versions on CD2
– but I’d think we’d have been looking at a licensing nightmare on that one.
As it is “Bowie Heard Them
Here First” is a superb CD – not flawless for sure – but amazing in its depth
and scope. A little like the great man himself...
