Young Americans

Young Americans is the ninth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 7March 1975 through RCA Records. A departure from the glam rock style of previous albums, the album showcased Bowie's interest in soul and R&B. Music critics have described the record as blue-eyed soul; Bowie himself labelled the album's sound "plastic soul". Recording sessions began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in August 1974, after the first leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour. The record was produced by Tony Visconti, and includes a variety of musicians, such as the guitarist Carlos Alomar, who became one of Bowie's most frequent collaborators, and the backing vocalists Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and then-unknown singer Luther Vandross. As the tour continued the setlist and design began to incorporate the influence of the new material. The recording sessions continued at the Record Plant in New York City at the tour's end. A collaboration between Bowie and John Lennon yielded a cover of Lennon's Beatles song "Across the Universe" and "Fame" during a January 1975 session at Electric Lady Studios, produced by Harry Maslin. The album's cover artwork is a back-lit photograph of Bowie taken by Eric Stephen Jacobs. Young Americans was Bowie's breakthrough in the US, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard chart; the single "Fame" became Bowie's first number one hit. Bowie continued developing its sound on Station to Station (1976). It has received mixed critical reviews on release and in later decades; Bowie himself had mixed feelings about the album. The album proved influential. Bowie was one the first white artists of the era to overtly engage with black musical styles; other British artists followed suit. The album has been reissued multiple times with outtakes, and was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set. Background and development David Bowie released his eighth studio album Diamond Dogs in May 1974. His final album in the glam rock genre, it contained two songs, "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" and "1984", that exhibit elements of funk and soul, which predicted the musical direction for Bowie's next project. While his interest in soul music dated back to his mod days in the mid-1960s, he began listening to soul records extensively and incorporating soul material into his live sets.