David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings, due Sept. 18 through Rhino/Parlophone, is a collection of tracks recorded by a nascent David Bowie, then Davie Jones, with legendary ‘60s producer Shel Talmy, best known for his groundbreaking hits with The Who and The Kinks.
Talmy signed David and the Manish Boys in December 1964 and set about recording them, but Bowie was already moving on, forming Davie Jones & The Lower Third. The majority of the recordings Bowie made with Talmy featured The Lower Third or were solo demos. Talmy’s studio of choice was invariably IBC in Portland Place, also a favourite of The Who, who later recorded Tommy there, and which he considered to have the best outboard gear in London. The up-and-coming Glyn Johns, later to work with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and many more, was the engineer, and the producer had enough confidence in The Manish Boys to bring in just the one outside player. Jimmy Page was the precocious guitar-slinger Talmy used to supercharge the more anaemic of his acts, and in this period, the future Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin eminence would frequently bring along his new toy, a custom-built fuzz pedal, to add extra bite. For The Lower Third’s IBC session, Nicky Hopkins was featured on keyboards.
This year in Bowie’s career clearly held great importance to him; in 1973, when he recorded the ‘Pin-Ups’ album, it was very much a love letter to that time in his life and to the sound of the bands that had inspired him. No fewer than four titles on ‘Pin-Ups’ (by The Kinks, The Who and The Easybeats) were originally produced by Shel Talmy. Featured on this new collection are tracks such as ‘You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving’ and ‘Baby Loves That Way’, originally released as singles on Parlophone, that Bowie would return to later in his career, re-recording them with his Glastonbury band for the album ‘TOY’, which would finally be released in 2021.
By the end of September 1965, Davie Jones was now David Bowie, and he was once more writing another musical chapter, but the twenty-two songs featured here capture a very special time just before the ‘birth’ of David Bowie.
Track listing (CD)
The album features 10 previously unheard tracks on CD and digital, and six songs on LP, with contributions from legendary Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, then a guitar slinger for hire, and Nicky Hopkins, celebrated piano player for The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who and Jeff Beck.
“I thought he absolutely was going to make it. The only unfortunate thing is that he and I were about six years ahead of the market” Shel Talmy, 2017
AVAILABLE ON CD, LP, & DIGITAL
1LP RED VINYL AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT DAVIDBOWIE.COM
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW
LISTEN TO THE PREVIOUSLY UNHEARD I WANT YOUR LOVE NOW
As the musician and music historian Alec Palao writes in the sleeve notes that accompany the album, “David Bowie the artist is a book of chapters, the turn of each page delivering something completely different and unexpected from the last. And in perusal, a cardinal error would be to pit any of these episodes against the others, when in fact each fascinating phase in his career should be considered complementary. This collection, a primary chapter if not the very earliest instalment in David’s musical journey, deserves legitimate consideration. It is invariably tempting to search for clues in an artist’s tentative beginnings, and Bowie’s juvenilia has been dissected more than most, but this has rarely been done within the proper context. The sounds here should not be judged by the standards of his later career, but by the standards of what was happening in Britain at that precise point in time. In which case, they speak as loudly of the excitement of London and its music scene in that pivotal year of 1965 as they do for the launch of its brightest future star.”
As the musician and music historian Alec Palao writes in the sleeve notes that accompany the album, “David Bowie the artist is a book of chapters, the turn of each page delivering something completely different and unexpected from the last. And in perusal, a cardinal error would be to pit any of these episodes against the others, when in fact each fascinating phase in his career should be considered complementary. This collection, a primary chapter if not the very earliest instalment in David’s musical journey, deserves legitimate consideration. It is invariably tempting to search for clues in an artist’s tentative beginnings, and Bowie’s juvenilia has been dissected more than most, but this has rarely been done within the proper context. The sounds here should not be judged by the standards of his later career, but by the standards of what was happening in Britain at that precise point in time. In which case, they speak as loudly of the excitement of London and its music scene in that pivotal year of 1965 as they do for the launch of its brightest future star.”
Talmy signed David and the Manish Boys in December 1964 and set about recording them, but Bowie was already moving on, forming Davie Jones & The Lower Third. The majority of the recordings Bowie made with Talmy featured The Lower Third or were solo demos. Talmy’s studio of choice was invariably IBC in Portland Place, also a favourite of The Who, who later recorded Tommy there, and which he considered to have the best outboard gear in London. The up-and-coming Glyn Johns, later to work with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and many more, was the engineer, and the producer had enough confidence in The Manish Boys to bring in just the one outside player. Jimmy Page was the precocious guitar-slinger Talmy used to supercharge the more anaemic of his acts, and in this period, the future Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin eminence would frequently bring along his new toy, a custom-built fuzz pedal, to add extra bite. For The Lower Third’s IBC session, Nicky Hopkins was featured on keyboards.
This year in Bowie’s career clearly held great importance to him; in 1973, when he recorded the ‘Pin-Ups’ album, it was very much a love letter to that time in his life and to the sound of the bands that had inspired him. No fewer than four titles on ‘Pin-Ups’ (by The Kinks, The Who and The Easybeats) were originally produced by Shel Talmy. Featured on this new collection are tracks such as ‘You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving’ and ‘Baby Loves That Way’, originally released as singles on Parlophone, that Bowie would return to later in his career, re-recording them with his Glastonbury band for the album ‘TOY’, which would finally be released in 2021.
By the end of September 1965, Davie Jones was now David Bowie, and he was once more writing another musical chapter, but the twenty-two songs featured here capture a very special time just before the ‘birth’ of David Bowie.
Track listing (CD)
You've Got A Habit Of Leaving (2026 Remaster)^
I Want Your Love *^
Cupid *^
I Pity The Fool (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (2026 Remaster)^
Keep Up With The Jones (Instrumental) *^
Leave Her To Me *^
I’ll Follow You^
You Gotta Tell Her (2026 Remaster)*^
Take My Tip (2026 Remaster)+
Certain Woman *^
Today (Demo) *-
I Want My Baby Back (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Live In Dreams (Demo) *-
Bars Of The County Jail (Demo)-
That’s Where My Heart Is (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Do Believe I Love You (Demo) *-
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving (Alternative overdub/vocal) (2026 Remaster)^
I Pity The Fool (Alternative vocal take) (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (Alternative vocal take) *^
Take My Tip (Alternative vocal take) (2026 Remaster)+
*Previously Unreleased
^ Davie Jones & The Lower Third
+ The Manish Boys
- Davie Jones
All tracks produced by Shel Talmy
Mastered & Remastered in 2026 by John Webber
Davie Jones & The Lower Third
Phil Lancaster - Drums
Graham Rivens - Bass
Denis Taylor - Guitar
Les Mighall - Drums
David Bowie - Vocals & Harmonica
The Manish Boys
Mick White - Drums
John Watson - Bass
Johnny Flux - Guitar
Bob Solly - Organ
David Bowie - Vocals
I Want Your Love *^
Cupid *^
I Pity The Fool (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (2026 Remaster)^
Keep Up With The Jones (Instrumental) *^
Leave Her To Me *^
I’ll Follow You^
You Gotta Tell Her (2026 Remaster)*^
Take My Tip (2026 Remaster)+
Certain Woman *^
Today (Demo) *-
I Want My Baby Back (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Live In Dreams (Demo) *-
Bars Of The County Jail (Demo)-
That’s Where My Heart Is (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Do Believe I Love You (Demo) *-
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving (Alternative overdub/vocal) (2026 Remaster)^
I Pity The Fool (Alternative vocal take) (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (Alternative vocal take) *^
Take My Tip (Alternative vocal take) (2026 Remaster)+
*Previously Unreleased
^ Davie Jones & The Lower Third
+ The Manish Boys
- Davie Jones
All tracks produced by Shel Talmy
Mastered & Remastered in 2026 by John Webber
Davie Jones & The Lower Third
Phil Lancaster - Drums
Graham Rivens - Bass
Denis Taylor - Guitar
Les Mighall - Drums
David Bowie - Vocals & Harmonica
The Manish Boys
Mick White - Drums
John Watson - Bass
Johnny Flux - Guitar
Bob Solly - Organ
David Bowie - Vocals
No comments:
Post a Comment