David Bowie - Young Americans

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, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andy Newmark Drums Anthony Hinton Vocals (Background), Vocals Ava Cherry Vocals, Vocals (Background) Carlos Alomar Guitar David Bowie Keyboards, Guitar, Piano, Mixing, Vocals, Producer, Arranger, Saxophone David Michael Kennedy Photography David Sanborn Saxophone David Thoener Assistant Engineer Dennis Davis Drums, Percussion Diane Sumler Vocals (Background) Dr. Toby Mountain Digital Mastering Earl Slick Guitar Eddie Kramer Engineer Emir Kassan Bass Eric Stephen Jacobs Photography G. Diane Sumler Vocals Harry Maslin Engineer, Producer, Mixing Jean Millington Vocals (Background) Jeanie Fineberg Vocals, Vocals (Background) John Lennon Vocals, Guitar Jonathan Wyner Mastering Assistant Kevin Cann Design Larry Washington Conga, Percussion Luther Vandross Vocals (Background), Vocals, Arranger Mike Garson Piano, Keyboards Neal Preston Photography Nigel Reeve Remastering Pablo Rosario Percussion Peter Mew Remastering Ralph MacDonald Percussion Robin Clark Vocals, Vocals (Background) Steve Shapiro Photography Tony Visconti Producer, Arranger, Mixing Warren Peace Vocals (Background), Vocals Willie Weeks Guitar (Bass), Bass