The track is taken from the forthcoming Rock ‘N’ Roll Star! box set
Parlophone Records releases “Lady Stardust (Alternative Version – Take 1),” the second track to be taken from David Bowie’s Rock ‘N Roll Star! 5 CD/Blu-ray Audio box set. The set explores David Bowie’s journey from February 1971 through the creation of Ziggy Stardust and the recording of the iconic The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Star! features 29 unreleased tracks, including early songwriting demos, recordings from Bowie’s band, The Arnold Corns, rehearsals at his then-home, Haddon Hall, BBC sessions, singles, live performances, plus outtakes and alternative versions from the album recording sessions, which have been newly mixed by original co-producer, Ken Scott.
The hitherto unknown “Lady Stardust (Alternative Version – Take 1)” surprised its original producer. Ken Scott recalls, “This was a shock when I first heard it. I pulled up the faders, and suddenly, what the hell? I had no recollection of it being like that originally, but I guess it was just a guide vocal. But it sounds great, is really interesting and brings a totally different feeling to the song.”
The band lineup for the song is David Bowie on vocals, Mick Ronson on piano, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Woody Woodmansey on drums. Scott singles out Ronson for praise, “Ronno on piano is very good indeed. The Trident Studio piano was just amazing, a Bechstein grand from around 1850 and I think the hammers had been treated with varnish or something – it was the best rock and roll piano in the whole world.”
“Lady Stardust (Alternative Version – Take 1)” was recorded at Trident Studios, St Anne’s Court, London on November 12, 1971, produced by David Bowie and Ken Scott and arranged by David Bowie and Mick Ronson.
Other unreleased highlights on the box, include an unheard version of the deep-cut classic “Shadow Man,” and an up-tempo take of The Who’s “I Can’t Explain,” which Bowie would later slow down and cover for the Pin-Ups album.
The audio-only Blu-ray Disc features the definitive 2012 remaster of the original Ziggy Stardust album in 96kHz/24bit PCM stereo, plus the album and additional mixes from 2003 in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as well as the singles, outtakes and alternative versions in 96kHz/24bit PCM stereo.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Star! also contains two books. The first is an extensive 112-page book with detailed liner notes, memorabilia, contemporary reviews and articles, rare photographs from Barrie Wentzel, Michael Putland, Mick Rock, Sukita and Alec Byrne, as well as brand-new notes and interviews with Ken Scott, Mark Carr Pritchett and Bowie’s plugger from the time, Anya Wilson. Accompanying the main book is a 36-page compiled reproduction of Bowie’s personal Ziggy Stardust-era notebooks.
