When rock titans collaborate, it can often result in a whole far less than the sum of its parts. Luckily, when David Bowie brought John Lennon aboard to work on a track on his 1975 album Young Americans, there was no letdown.
During that fateful session, one song turned into two. And the second song that they recorded became Bowie’s first-ever No. 1 single in the United States.
The Meeting
David Bowie met John Lennon for the first time in Los Angeles in 1974. They were introduced by, of all people, Elizabeth Taylor, who was trying to nab Bowie to star in a film with her. Lennon, meanwhile, was hanging out in LA and living the life of the debauched bachelor while estranged from wife Yoko Ono.
When they met again in New York, Bowie came with the early tapes of his Young Americans album. Obsessed with Philly Soul, he’d recorded the album in the City of Brotherly Love as an homage to the style.
At a party one night where Lennon and Paul McCartney were both present, Bowie aggravated the guests by playing the album over and over. Lennon told Bowie about it, and Bowie was upset. But they mended fences quickly. Not long after, he invited Lennon to the studio to play on a cover version of “Across The Universe”.
The Session
The Beatles never recorded “Across The Universe” in a version that pleased Lennon. He was more than happy to play rhythm guitar on this new take, which featured Bowie emoting the lyrics in anguished fashion. Things might have ended there. But the energy in the studio was so great they decided to try another track.
Bowie’s guitarist Carlos Alomar had been fooling around with a funk-based riff. Bowie and Lennon decided to use that as the basis for a new song. During their previous meetings, the two men had talked at length about the nature of fame. They decided that topic should be the focus of the new track.
By most accounts, Bowie handled most of the lyrics and music, even though Lennon ended up with a co-writing credit. Lennon’s high backing vocals were his most tangible contribution to the song. When everything was finished, Bowie, who’d been thinking about perhaps releasing the songs as a single, changed his plans.
The Hit
Bowie wisely realized that the two newly recorded songs were too good to keep off the new album. Even though it was essentially finished, he made the decision to substitute two of the previously included songs in favor of “Across The Universe” and “Fame”. They could be heard on Young Americans when the album was released in 1975.
In addition, Bowie chose to release “Fame” as the album’s second single. After “Young Americans” had opened up the door for him by hitting the Top 40 in America, “Fame” stormed through it. The song landed at the very top of the pop charts.
Bowie would once again hit No. 1 in the US in 1982 with “Let’s Dance”, another dance-inflected tune. And in all the years after collaborating with Lennon, he would speak fondly of both the former Beatle’s influence on his work and his impact on that eventful session.
(Photo by Ellen Graham/Getty Images)
The post Remembering When David Bowie Collaborated With a Rock Icon for His First No. 1 Hit in America in 1975 appeared first on American Songwriter.