A posthumous new David Bowie album, The Mercury Demos, features unreleased recordings made in 1969. The 10-track vinyl album comes out on June 28 via Parlophone.
Recorded live in one take to a Revox reel-to-reel tape machine in Bowie’s apartment, the demos include accompaniment from John “Hutch” Hutchinson on guitar and vocals. Mercury Records A&R rep Calvin Mark Lee requested the “Bowie & Hutch” session to have something to give to his boss Bob Reno. Both Lee and Reno are mentioned on the recordings, which led to Bowie joining Mercury.
A full version of the “Space Oddity” demo, an edited version of which was released on the Sound & Vision box set, is the only previously issued material on The Mercury Demos. Alongside Bowie originals are covers of Roger Bunn’s “Life Is A Circus” and Lesley Duncan’s “Love Song” that later appeared on Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection album.
The Mercury Demos LP Tracklist
- Space Oddity
- Janine
- An Occasional Dream
- Conversation Piece
- Ching-a-Ling
- I’m Not Quite (aka Letter To Hermione)
- Lover To The Dawn
- Love Song
- When I’m Five
- Life Is A Circus
Side 1
Side 2
