7th inch picture disc to be released Feb 14th

Rhino Records will releases a 40th anniversary 7″ Picture Disc edition of David Bowie’s “Alabama Song” on February 14th. Originally released in the U.K. on February 15, 1980, “Alabama Song” was initially written as a poem by Bertolt Brecht in 1925 and was put to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play Little Mahogany. David Bowie was a long-standing Brecht fan and included the song in the set-list for his 1978 Isolar II tour.

The studio version of “Alabama Song” on the A-side of this release was recorded on July 2, 1978, the day after the final show of the European leg of the tour at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London.

The AA-Side features two previously unreleased tracks: a rendition of Heroes track “Joe The Lion” recorded at the soundcheck of the tour’s final Earl’s Court show on July 1, 1978. Though rehearsed for the Isolar II Tour “Joe The Lion” would not make its live debut until the Serious Moonlight Tour of 1983.

The second track on the AA-side is a live version of “Alabama Song” also recorded July 1st 1978 — a different performance than the one featured on the live album Welcome To The Blackout.

7″ Picture Disc

  • A-Side (45 RPM)
    1. Alabama Song
      (Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht)
      Produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti
      Recorded at Good Earth Studios, London on July 2, 1978
  • AA-Side (33 1/3 RPM)
    1. Joe The Lion (Live at Earls Court ’78 Soundcheck) [Previously Unreleased]
      (David Bowie)
      Recorded live by Tony Visconti with the Manor Mobile at Earls Court, London July 1, 1978.
      Recording engineered by Jeremy Allom and Ken Capper
      Mixed by John Pestage at Air Studios, London, July, 2019
    2. Alabama Song (Live Earls Court ’78) [Previously Unreleased]
      (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht)
      Produced by David Bowie
      Recorded live by Tony Visconti with the Manor Mobile at Earls Court, London, July 1, 1978
      Recording engineered by Jeremy Allom and Ken Capper
      Mixed by David Bowie and David Richards at Mountain Studios, Montreux, January 17-22, 1979.