Young Americans

by David Bowie

Overview

David Bowie had dropped hints during the Diamond Dogs tour that he was moving toward R&B, but the full-blown blue-eyed soul of Young Americans came as a shock. Surrounding himself with first-rate sessionmen, Bowie comes up with a set of songs that approximate the sound of Philly soul and disco, yet remain detached from their inspirations; even at his most passionate, Bowie sounds like a commentator, as if the entire album was a genre exercise. Nevertheless, the distance doesn't hurt the album -- it gives the record its own distinctive flavor, and its plastic, robotic soul helped inform generations of synthetic British soul. What does hurt the record is a lack of strong songwriting. "Young Americans" is a masterpiece, and "Fame" has a beat funky enough that James Brown ripped it off, but only a handful of cuts ("Win," "Fascination," "Somebody Up There Likes Me") comes close to matching their quality. As a result, Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/07/2025
Label:	Plg Uk Catalog
UPC:	5021732489364

Album Credits

Performance Credits

David Bowie   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background),Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards
Mike Garson   Guest Artist,Piano,Keyboards
David Sanborn   Guest Artist,Saxophone
Luther Vandross   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Earl Slick   Guest Artist,Guitar
John Lennon   Guest Artist,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background),Guitar
Anthony Hinton   Vocals (Background)
Diane Sumler   Vocals (Background)
Jean Millington   Vocals (Background)
David Whitman   Tape
Dennis Davis   Drums
Warren Peace   Vocals (Background)
Ralph McDonald   Percussion
Emir Kassan   Guitar (Bass)
Ava Cherry   Vocals (Background)
Carlos Alomar   Guitar
Robin Clark   Vocals (Background)
Ralph MacDonald   Percussion
Willie Weeks   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Kevin Herron   Tape
Mike Hutchinson   Tape
Jean Fineberg   Vocals (Background)
Emir Ksasan   Bass
Kevin Thoener   Tape
Andy Newmark   Drums
Pablo Rosario   Percussion
Larry Washington   Congas,Percussion

Technical Credits

Harry Maslin   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
John Lennon   Composer
Peter Mew   Engineer,Digital Remastering,Remastering Engineer
Nigel Reeve   Engineer,Digital Remastering,Remastering Engineer
David Bowie   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Ray Staff   Mastering
Carlos Alomar   Composer
Carl Parulow   Engineer
Paul McCartney   Composer
Eddie Kramer   Engineer
Tony Visconti   Mixing,Producer,Mastering
Luther Vandross   Composer