David Bowie
Live Santa Monica '72

THE REVIEW

Officially released only in 2008, this album, recorded in Los Angeles on October 20, 1972 during one of Ziggy's first American concerts, was for years "the Bowie bootleg" par excellence.

One of the reasons lies in the fact that the performance is a convincing display of the formidable musical ability of the Spiders from Mars: in fact, unlike the later live performances of the White Duke, which showcase the vocal and interpretative skills of a soloist and his band, this concert reveals the sonic cohesion and camaraderie of a collective of five musicians, each contribution of whom is functional to the pursuit of a raw and aggressive sound, aptly termed proto-punk; even the more laid-back tracks are thus offered without frills, with Mick Ronson's guitar and Mike Garson's piano embellishing without overdoing it on the effective rhythm section of Bolder and Woodmansey.

The delay in publication is due to the potential overlap of this live with the more well-known "Ziggy Stardust - The motion picture", an audio chronicle of Ziggy's final performance on July 3, 1973, at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, immortalized in a film by D.A. Pennebaker.

In reality, the comparison Bowie enthusiasts make between the 1972 American concert and the 1973 London one sees the Santa Monica stop winning on points, despite the inferior sound quality: Ziggy's vocal form is better (compare, to believe, the two versions of Width Of a Circle); the overdubs that plague the London live are absent (though partially removed in the version remixed by Tony Visconti for the 30th anniversary), the execution of some pieces is more respectful of the original spirit, and the theatricality is not too over the top (Space Oddity and My Death appear as two delicate acoustic pieces rather than sumptuous piano-bar ballads; Changes is not yet a cabaret number with brass and choirs). Furthermore, in '72, songs much loved by the public such as Life on Mars, Five Years, John I'm only dancing  and  The supermen are still present, which would soon be dropped to make way for new tracks from Aladdin Sane.

Visual testimonies also speak of a gentle and almost shy Bowie (if such a term can be used for an artist who has made provocation his stylistic hallmark), far from the polished boldness displayed in the July 1973 live, who, finding himself in front of just a few hundred spectators, invites them to come forward to the front rows, offering almost intimate concerts, sometimes sitting on the edge of the stage; no costume changes, mime numbers, skits with Ronson, just the expressive urgency of someone who has not yet enthralled the masses and presents his songs, skillfully crafted to win over a sometimes still skeptical audience (the great American success is yet to come).

Essentially, a rock performance perhaps more oriented towards R'n B than glam, but which constitutes an exhilarating and honest testimony, technical errors included, of an artist (and his group) in an enviable state of grace.

P.S.: it's worth hunting for the first edition, contained in a small box packed with reproductions of articles with period reviews, postcards, RCA promo photos, and assorted memorabilia.