David Bowie | "Aladdin Sane"
Jan 11, 2016 5:45:37 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2016 5:45:37 GMT -5
From 1973's album of the same name. Love this. One of my absolute favorites by him.
From Wikipedia:
From Wikipedia:
Bowie wrote "Aladdin Sane" in December 1972 as he sailed back to the UK following the first leg of his US Ziggy Stardust tour. The subject matter was inspired by a book he was reading, Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies (later filmed as Bright Young Things, a phrase that also appears in the song's lyrics). Bowie saw in Waugh's story of "frivolous, decadent and silly" behaviour on the eve of "imminent catastrophe" a reflection of contemporary society, particularly in America.[5] At Bridge School Benefit X in 1996, Bowie played the song acoustically and reflected that the song was "about young people, just before the two wars, wanting to go and screw girls and kill foreigners."[7]
The song features an acclaimed piano solo by Mike Garson,[8][9] an American keyboardist who had recently joined Bowie's band. Bowie politely rejected Garson’s initial solo attempts, one in a blues style, the other Latin, asking the pianist for something akin to "the avant-garde jazz scene in the 60s".[1] Garson obliged with the performance heard on the album, improvised and recorded in one take. In 1999, he remarked:[10]
“ I've had more communication in the last 26 years about that one solo than the 11 albums I've done on my own, the six that I've done with another group that I'm co-leader of, hundreds of pieces I've done with other people and the 3,000 pieces of music I've written to date. I don't think there's been a week in those 26 years that have gone by without someone, somewhere, asking me about it! ”
Garson remembered Bowie's guidance in making the solo come out the way it did:[11]
“ I had told Bowie about the avant-garde thing. When I was recording the "Aladdin Sane" track for Bowie, it was just two chords, an A and a G chord, and the band was playing very simple English rock and roll. And Bowie said: 'play a solo on this.' I had just met him, so I played a blues solo, but then he said: 'No, that’s not what I want.' And then I played a latin solo. Again, Bowie said: 'No no, that’s not what I want.' He then continued: 'You told me you play that avant-garde music. Play that stuff!' And I said: 'Are you sure? ‘Cause you might not be working anymore!'. So I did the solo that everybody knows today, in one take. I always tell people that Bowie is the best producer I ever met, because he lets me do my thing. ”
Rolling Stone's contemporary review described the music as "hothouse orientalism, jagged, dissonant and daring, yet also wistful and backward-looking".[8] Writing in 1981, NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray considered the song "one of Bowie's early 'European' pieces", while comparing Garson’s piano playing to Cecil Taylor.[9] Reviewing the 30th Anniversary Edition of Aladdin Sane in 2003, Sydney Morning Herald music critic Bernard Zuel also related the track to the composer's later work, finding the "to-and-fro between art and dramatic pop in the song provides a bridge between Bowie's pre-fame leanings and his mid-'70s decamp to Berlin".[12] Biographer David Buckley has said that at the time of its release "Aladdin Sane" was "the clearest indicator of how Bowie was trying to free himself from the confines of rock".[1]
The song features an acclaimed piano solo by Mike Garson,[8][9] an American keyboardist who had recently joined Bowie's band. Bowie politely rejected Garson’s initial solo attempts, one in a blues style, the other Latin, asking the pianist for something akin to "the avant-garde jazz scene in the 60s".[1] Garson obliged with the performance heard on the album, improvised and recorded in one take. In 1999, he remarked:[10]
“ I've had more communication in the last 26 years about that one solo than the 11 albums I've done on my own, the six that I've done with another group that I'm co-leader of, hundreds of pieces I've done with other people and the 3,000 pieces of music I've written to date. I don't think there's been a week in those 26 years that have gone by without someone, somewhere, asking me about it! ”
Garson remembered Bowie's guidance in making the solo come out the way it did:[11]
“ I had told Bowie about the avant-garde thing. When I was recording the "Aladdin Sane" track for Bowie, it was just two chords, an A and a G chord, and the band was playing very simple English rock and roll. And Bowie said: 'play a solo on this.' I had just met him, so I played a blues solo, but then he said: 'No, that’s not what I want.' And then I played a latin solo. Again, Bowie said: 'No no, that’s not what I want.' He then continued: 'You told me you play that avant-garde music. Play that stuff!' And I said: 'Are you sure? ‘Cause you might not be working anymore!'. So I did the solo that everybody knows today, in one take. I always tell people that Bowie is the best producer I ever met, because he lets me do my thing. ”
Rolling Stone's contemporary review described the music as "hothouse orientalism, jagged, dissonant and daring, yet also wistful and backward-looking".[8] Writing in 1981, NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray considered the song "one of Bowie's early 'European' pieces", while comparing Garson’s piano playing to Cecil Taylor.[9] Reviewing the 30th Anniversary Edition of Aladdin Sane in 2003, Sydney Morning Herald music critic Bernard Zuel also related the track to the composer's later work, finding the "to-and-fro between art and dramatic pop in the song provides a bridge between Bowie's pre-fame leanings and his mid-'70s decamp to Berlin".[12] Biographer David Buckley has said that at the time of its release "Aladdin Sane" was "the clearest indicator of how Bowie was trying to free himself from the confines of rock".[1]
