David Bowie: The Width Of A Circle
This is the second in the series of David Bowie "from the vaults" collections of live radio shows broadcasts, 'b' sides, studio outtakes and demos that are intended to be companions to his album release from the time. The first in the series, Conversation Piece, was the cousin of the Space Oddity album, while this was intended to partner 1970's The Man Who Sold The World release, gathering up all the loose ends from 1969-70, along with several that dated back to way before then. Strangely, despite the box set's title, only two songs appear from that album - The Width Of A Circle (played live twice) and All The Madmen, released as a single. So, basically it is a clean-up of all outstanding and live material from Bowie's limbo period between the Space Oddity (aka David Bowie) album in 1969 and 1970's The Man Who Sold The World. Listening to it, you certainly don't get any real hints that Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust are on the way. Of course, Bowie didn't know that they were coming either. You get an overriding feeling that he wasn't quite sure what the future was going to be bring. Maybe it was better that way - it certainly proved to be the case, as his creativity was soon to go into overdrive. Just not quite yet.
The whole of the first CD is taken up with a live performance from John Peel's Radio One Sunday Show, which would be potentially quite good were it not for its decidedly lo-fi sound and Peel's laconic witterings between songs. Bowie is accompanied by Tony Visconti on bass, Mick Ronson on guitar (who Bowie said he had only met for the first time two days earlier!) and John Cambridge on drums. Most of the material played is from the Space Oddity album, as well as earlier tracks like Karma Man and London Bye Ta-Ta. It appears to be well played but, as with several of the Bowie radio performances that are now available, I have a problem with the poor sound, which means I am unlikely to return to it. There are much better Bowie radio sessions, sound-wise, than this one. Bowie says during the show that he hopes to tour with "Michael" Ronson, but he is still not sure what's going to happen.
Anyone hoping for a sonic improvement will not get it with the four songs written for Bowie's bizarre, Lindsay Kemp collaborative BBC Drama The Looking Glass Murders aka Pierrot in Turquoise. The sound is scratchy, distant and muffled, which is a shame, as When I Live My Dream is a really good, emotive song. Sorry, but I skip over these songs, and the same applies to the preceding Peel show material.
Now, the stuff that remains in my digital playlist - firstly we get the single that would, in another version, end up on 1973's Aladdin Sane album, The Prettiest Star. The song is notable for the fact that it is T. Rex's Marc Bolan on guitar. The sound is much better than the previous material, of course, as these are studio recordings, but they still aren't that good, particularly on the mono version of London Bye Ta-Ta, despite the presence of some heavy wah-wah guitar parts. The stereo version is better, but it still has several sonic flaws. The single version (in two parts) of Memory Of A Free Festival are the punchier, more powerful versions with the "proper" rock drums prominent as well as big riffs and a rock guitar solo on the fade out. The version of Holy Holy that appears here is the original one and not the Ziggy Stardust sessions "Spiders version". It is a more sonorous, foreboding version more in keeping with Bowie's sound at the time.
Now for some of the superior radio show live material I was talking about earlier. The four tracks from Andy Ferris's Sounds Of The Seventies show are muscular and clear. That's more like it! The slowed-down heavy version of The Velvet Underground's Waiting For The Man is superb. Bowie and his band really rock out in heavy, The Man Who Sold The World album fashion. Great stuff.
As always on these collections, the best stuff for me is at the end, with the 2020 mixes of The Prettiest Star, London Bye Ta-Ta, Memory Of A Free Festival, All The Madmen and Holy Holy. Tony Visconti has done a really good job on these, as indeed he did on The Metrobolist, his remix of The Man Who Sold The World album (listen to this after the sonic depravation of the earlier tracks on here! Your senses will be stimulated).
Insanity is a theme that runs right through the heart of The Man Who Sold the World album and it is central to the sad, haunting All The Madmen. The song is initially backed by flute and acoustic guitar but breaks out with some solid drums, heavy rock guitar and that big, rumbling Visconti bass again. Bowie has said that it was written directly about, and for, his half-brother Terry. Themes of mental health run all through it. It was another heavy track that clearly showed Bowie's new direction. It also has an impressive synthesiser riff (Mick Ronson plays both lead guitar and synthesiser). There is something of The Beatles' late sixties work in the chants and noises in the final fade out.
The new mix of Holy Holy that concludes this collection is the best yet of the song. I think Bowie would have been impressed.
Check out my review of The Man Who Sold The World here.
