Digital and 5 CD boxed set to be released Nov 15th
Parlophone Records has announced David Bowie: Conversation Piece, a 5 CD boxed set and digital equivalent tracking Bowie’s early development throughout 1968 and 1969, for November 15th. The set compiles tracks from home demos, BBC radio sessions, studio recordings with guitarist John “Hutch” Hutchinson, and the experimental music and mime group, Feathers. The collection also celebrates the 50th anniversaries of the releases of the “Space Oddity” single and Bowie’s second album, David Bowie (aka Space Oddity).
David Bowie: Conversation Piece contains 12 previously unreleased tracks/demos from the period as well as a brand new mix of the Space Oddity album by long-time Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti.
The new mix of the album now features the title track of the boxed set, “Conversation Piece,” restored to the track listing in its initially intended position before it was originally dropped due to time constraints of the vinyl.
“It was so much fun to find hidden gems of musicianship with more time to mix the second time around, a guitar twiddle here, a trombone blast there, Marc Bolan’s voice in a group choir and more detail in general that we overlooked all those years ago when the label gave us a week at the most to mix this album,” says Visconti of the 2019 mix. “And in the details you will find 22 year old David Bowie, who would soon take the world by storm.”
The 120 page hardback book accompanying the box features exclusive memorabilia from the personal collection of Bowie’s former manager, the late Ken Pitt, as well as from the David Bowie Archive and includes photos by Ray Stevenson, Vernon Dewhurst, David Bebbington, Alec Byrne, and Jojanneke Claasen.
The sleeve notes have been written for the release by Bowie experts Mark Adams, Tris Penna, and Kevin Cann along with contributions from Bowie’s lifelong friend George Underwood, Vernon Dewhurst, and Dana Gillespie.
The 2019 mix of Space Oddity will also be released separately on CD, standard digital, 96/24 digital, and vinyl. The various vinyl configuratins will be randomly distributed worldwide with a mixture of hand-numbered labels: numbers 1 to 1969 on silver vinyl numbers and 1970 to 2019 on gold vinyl, with the remainder being black vinyl.
Titles marked * are unreleased and the two Decca tracks presented here are released in superior quality to that released on the Deluxe Edition of Bowie’s self-titled debut album on Deram. There is also a rare appearance for the full length mono version of Feathers’ “Ching-a-Ling.”
CD 1: Home Demos
- April’s Tooth Of Gold*
- The Reverend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fête On Thatchwick Green)*
- When I’m Five*
- Mother Grey
- In The Heat Of The Morning
- Goodbye 3d (Threepenny) Joe
- Love All Around
- London Bye, Ta-Ta
- Angel Angel Grubby Face (Version 1)
- Angel Angel Grubby Face (Version 2)
- Animal Farm*
- Space Oddity (Solo Demo Fragment)
- Space Oddity (Version 1) With John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Space Oddity (Version 2) With John “Hutch” Hutchinson*
- Space Oddity (Version 3) With John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Lover To The Dawn with John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Ching-a-Ling with John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- An Occasional Dream with John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Let Me Sleep Beside You with John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Life Is A Circus with John “Hutch” Hutchinson
- Conversation Piece*
- Jerusalem*
- Hole In The Ground with George Underwood*
CD 2: The ‘Mercury’ Demos (with John “Hutch” Hutchinson)
- 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
CD 3: Conversation Pieces (Mono)
- In The Heat Of The Morning (Decca Mono Version)
- London Bye, Ta-Ta (Decca Alternative Version)
- In The Heat Of The Morning (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- London Bye, Ta-Ta (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- Karma Man (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- When I’m Five (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- Silly Boy Blue (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- Ching-a-Ling (BBC Top Gear Radio Session With The Tony Visconti Orchestra, Recorded 13th May, 1968)
- Space Oddity (Morgan Studios Version – Alternative Take) With John “Hutch” Hutchinson *
- Space Oddity (U.K. Single Edit)
- Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Single B-side – Mono Mix)
- Janine (Mono Mix)
- Conversation Piece
- Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Dave Lee Travis Show Radio Session, Recorded 20th October, 1969)
- Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Dave Lee Travis Show Radio Session, Recorded 20th October, 1969)
- Janine (BBC Dave Lee Travis Show Radio Session, Recorded 20th October, 1969)
CD 4: 1969 Stereo Mixes
- Space Oddity (Space Oddity)
- Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed (Inc. Don’t Sit Down) (Space Oddity)
- Letter To Hermione (Space Oddity)
- Cygnet Committee (Space Oddity)
- Janine (Space Oddity)
- An Occasional Dream (Space Oddity)
- Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Space Oddity)
- God Knows I’m Good (Space Oddity)
- Memory Of A Free Festival (Space Oddity)
- Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Single B-side Stereo Mix)
- Letter To Hermione (Early Mix)*
- Janine (Early Mix)*
- An Occasional Dream (Early Mix)*
- Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (Full Length Version)
CD 5: 2019 Mixes (all previously unreleased)
- Space Oddity (Space Oddity)
- Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed (Space Oddity)
- Letter To Hermione (Space Oddity)
- Cygnet Committee (Space Oddity)
- Janine (Space Oddity)
- An Occasional Dream (Space Oddity)
- Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Space Oddity)
- Conversation Piece (Space Oddity)
- God Knows I’m Good (Space Oddity)
- Memory Of A Free Festival (Space Oddity)
- Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Single Version)
- Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola
