David Live

David Live
David Live
Live album by David Bowie
Released	29 October 1974
Recorded	10–13 July 1974
Venue	Tower Theater, Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genre	Glam rock; Philadelphia soul; blue-eyed soul;
Length	81:06
Label	RCA
Producer	Tony Visconti
David Bowie chronology
Singles from David Live
	"Knock on Wood"; Released: 13 September 1974 (UK);

David Live is the first official live album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released through RCA Records in 1974. The album was recorded in July of that year, on the initial leg of Bowie's Diamond Dogs Tour, at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

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. In addition to this album, the tour was also documented on film in Alan Yentob's Cracked Actor (1975), as well as in the archival live recordings Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) (2017) and I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) (2020).^[2]^[3]^[4] David Live catches Bowie in transition from the "Ziggy Stardust" glam-rock era of his career to the 'plastic soul' of Young Americans.^[5] While the cover featured a picture of Bowie during the later leg of the tour in his soul-influenced fashion, the music was recorded during the initial summer leg of the tour, before it was revamped to focus on Bowie's Philadelphia soul material.

The album was a commercial success upon release, reaching number two in the United Kingdom, as well as hitting the top 10 in the United States and Canada. However, it received largely negative critical reviews, with many of the complaints directed at the musical arrangements and Bowie's strained vocal performances.^[6]^[7] In 2005, the album was re-issued with four additional tracks and a new remix by Tony Visconti. It has also received some re-evaluation, with some critics considering the album a valuable document of an transitional period in the artist's career.^[5]

^ Clerc 2021, p. 213.
^ Pegg 2016, pp. 639–640.
^ Randle, Chris (29 June 2017). "David Bowie: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
^ "I'm Only Dancing for Record Store Day 2020". David Bowie Official Website. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Erlewine AllMusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Christgau was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Pegg 2016, p. 373.

[FOOTNOTEClerc2021213-1] Clerc 2021, p. 213.

[FOOTNOTEPegg2016639–640-2] Pegg 2016, pp. 639–640.

[3] Randle, Chris (29 June 2017). "David Bowie: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.

[4] "I'm Only Dancing for Record Store Day 2020". David Bowie Official Website. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.

[Erlewine_AllMusic-5] Cite error: The named reference Erlewine AllMusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Christgau-6] Cite error: The named reference Christgau was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[FOOTNOTEPegg2016373-7] Pegg 2016, p. 373.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]