Released - June 2008 (Recorded October 1972)
Genre - Glam Rock
Producer - Unknown
Selected Personnel - David Bowie (Vocals/Guitar); Mick Ronson (Guitar); Trevor Bolder (Bass); Mick "Woody" Woodmansey (Drums); Mike Garson (Keyboards)
Standout Track - I'm Waiting For The Man
In my mission statement for this blog, one of my rules was that I would do my best to avoid including live albums. In general, live albums just aren't particularly interesting to listen to - they give an insight into how exciting it would be to actually experience that particular artist in a live context, but generally the recording quality will be a little muddy and you'll generally just be listening to inferior or, at best, tediously identical versions of songs you're already familiar with from the studio recordings. There's nothing quite as exciting as seeing an artist you love live, but that experience doesn't translate well to record and it's rare that I listen to a live album for nothing but my own enjoyment. My rules for their inclusion on this list are that they have to either have some sort of personal significance for me, or they have to do something significantly different to what you can listen to on that artist's studio albums. Or, finally, they need to be of some kind of historical or cultural significance, though in this instance they have to also be good to qualify. Such is the case with the infamous live recording of a performance by David Bowie and his Spiders From Mars at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1972. The recording was broadcast on the radio but never officially released, meaning it was only available as a bootleg for decades. As Bowie's official live albums David Live in 1974 and Stage in 1978 were released to fairly muted praise and considerable grumbling that they didn't accurately reflect the power and excitement of the man's live performances, the bootleg of the Santa Monica recording became unofficially known as the "only" live recording that really did justice to his stage presence and the talent of him and his band. Eventually, after circulating among die-hard fans for decades, it was released semi-legally as Santa Monica '72 in 1994 and then officially by Bowie's current record label as Live Santa Monica '72 in 2008. It's generally regarded as the definitive document of the Ziggy Stardust era and the true might of the Spiders, and it certainly does showcase a side to Bowie and co. that isn't given as much attention as it warrants on his studio recordings.
Firstly, it is, of course, nowhere near good enough to really convey the excitement that must have been in the air to see Bowie live, and no live album will ever really express that experience. And in several places, nor is it up to the standard of the studio albums with their crisp production and careful mixing to make sure everything is audible in just the way it needs to be - the version of "Five Years" here, which on the Ziggy Stardust album relies so much on the slow-burn build of intensity and on its clearness, is rendered almost unlistenable as it becomes a muddy trudge ruined by some overly-loud backing vocals from the Spiders. Likewise, "Space Oddity," a song which relies so much on orchestral backing and grandiose flourishes, feels rather limp here - in places its stripped-down acoustic setting is hauntingly effective, but Bowie's attempt to replicate an orchestral crescendo with an a cappella scat just comes off as a lame cop-out. There are other songs that don't really work, but Bowie was aware of the fact that when people came to see him live, the thing they wanted more than anything else was to rock out to something, and that's where he and his band really delivered. The setlist is mostly comprised of his heavier, more up-tempo rock tracks, and here they're transformed into something revelatory - given free reign, Mick Ronson in particular becomes a showstopping force of nature, his heavy guitar riffs or incendiary solos taking off in a way they've never quite been able to when confined by the polite restraints of a studio recording. Even Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey are far more noticeable than they've ever been on record, actually pulling focus and demanding attention with their tight rhythmic parts on occasion rather than just providing a good-natured backdrop for the two bigger stars. Songs like "Suffragette City," "Queen Bitch" and "Ziggy Stardust" sound more dramatic and powerful than ever, while the extended instrumental jams of "The Width Of A Circle" are mesmerisingly, blisteringly good.
The record also throws up a couple of interesting little curios for the Bowie collector in the form of live performances of a couple of songs Bowie never got around to professionally recording and officially releasing. There's a solo acoustic cover of Jacques Brel's "My Death," which is eerie and dramatic but never particularly musically compelling, and then there's the album's stand-out moment, and one of the finest moments ever committed to record by Ziggy and the Spiders in their incredible take on the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For The Man." On the band's seminal debut album, The Velvet Underground And Nico, it had been a jaunty, tongue-in-cheek romp driven by pounding piano. Here, it's transformed by Ronson's furiously insistent guitar riff and inspired soloing, with Bowie packing more fire and passion into his vocal delivery than Lou Reed's (admittedly deliberate) laconic drawl. It's almost transformed into a late 60s psychedelic jam, and is a true testament to just how well the Spiders could transform a piece of music when they put their minds to it. Also of interest is an early performance of a song that would go on to be a Bowie classic after being recorded for his next album, Aladdin Sane - a little song called "The Jean Genie." Its iconic chugging guitar riff (supposedly borrowed from the Yardbirds' cover of Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man,") is the stuff of rock legend, and while this muddy, early version doesn't hold a candle to the brilliance of the official version to follow, it's an indication of the dirtier, grittier sound Bowie would be moving Ziggy towards in the following year.
Another sign of things to come is the presence of pianist Mike Garson, who does keyboard duties here. Bowie met Garson while touring the USA with the Spiders and soon drafted him in as a regular member of the band. Here, Garson's contributions are limited and rarely particularly noticeable, but once Bowie had discovered just how weird Garson could make music sound via his education in avant-garde jazz, he would become a key component of the sound on Aladdin Sane. He's a background figure here, but would soon be dragged into the limelight and would end up being one of Bowie's most long-serving sidemen, playing on albums as late as 2003's Reality (despite a good two decades' absence in the middle). The only other thing worth mentioning here is that it's a fascinating insight, albeit only fleetingly, into Bowie's mental state at the time. During his tour of the US he had started a relationship with cocaine that would spiral into a devastating dependency over the next few years, causing physical ruin and emotional trauma that culminated in 1976 with rumours that he kept his own urine in a fridge and survived on a diet of peppers, milk and cocaine. In 1972 Bowie was a long way from the worst lows the drug would take him to, but in his brief spoken interludes between songs you can already here a mind beginning to crumble a little - there's an erraticism and a trembling desperation to some of his song introductions that's genuinely unsettling to hear when you know where those problems led. Thankfully, by the end of the 70s both his mental and physical health would be much recovered.
Beyond that, there's not too much to add about Live Santa Monica '72 - it's an imperfect record, just as all live albums are doomed to be, and ultimately it's extremely rare that I would choose to listen to it over just listening to some of Bowie's early studio albums, but "I'm Waiting For The Man" is still a song I go back to a lot, and it's an undeniably powerful document of the Spiders From Mars at the peak of their powers. The next record they made together would more or less be their last.
Track Listing:
All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.
1. Introduction
2. Hang On To Yourself
3. Ziggy Stardust
4. Changes
5. The Supermen
6. Life On Mars?
7. Five Years
8. Space Oddity
9. Andy Warhol
10. My Death (Jacques Brel; Eric Blau & Mort Shuman)
11. The Width Of A Circle
12. Queen Bitch
13. Moonage Daydream
14. John, I'm Only Dancing
15. I'm Waiting For The Man (Lou Reed)
16. The Jean Genie
17. Suffragette City
18. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
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