Oil Well Bootlegs - RSC CD: David Bowie - Cracked Actor Oil Well RSC CD 056

David Bowie - Cracked Actor
Oil Well RSC CD 056

1 Intro (9:57)
2 1984 (3:28)
3 Rebel Rebel (2:32)
4 Moonage Daydream (5:14)
5 Sweet Thing (7:35)
6 Changes (3:44)
7 Suffragette City (3:46)
8 Aladdin Sane (5:52)
9 All The Young Dudes (3:16)
10 Cracked Actor (3:20)
11 Rock `N` Roll With Me (4:53)

Note:
All songs by David Bowie.
Live in Los Angeles, CA - September 5, 1974 - Vol.1

Lineup:
David Bowie – vocals
Earl Slick – guitar
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar
Mike Garson – piano, mellotron
David Sanborn – alto saxophone, flute
Richard Grando – baritone saxophone, flute
Doug Rauch – bass
Greg Errico – drums
Pablo Rosario – percussion

Gui Andrisano – backing vocals
Warren Peace – backing vocals
Ava Cherry – backing vocals
Robin Clark – backing vocals
Anthony Hinton – backing vocals
Diane Sumler – backing vocals
Luther Vandross – backing vocals

This album is a clone of: "A portrait in flash" - Not On Label (David Bowie) – 070459-1 CD1
It's the "bootleg" of 1974, excellent quality, released in many editions.
Here documented an extraordinary show of the second tranche of the 1974 tour, the Philly Dogs tour.
It is the fourth date of a week of shows (2 to 8 September) at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. On the first date, September 2nd, prominent show biz characters were present, such as Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Michael Jackson, Tatum o'Neal, Iggy Pop, Elizabeth Taylor. It was in the Beverly Hills villa of Liz Taylor that David Bowie met John Lennon in those days, who a few months later would take part in the recording of some songs (Fame, Across The Universe) by Young Americans.

Recorded live at Los Angeles Amphitheatre, L.A. California, USA 1974, September 5, as part of the BBC coverage of Bowie's 1974 tour and then current period. Some recordings and footage from the concert were first broadcast in 1975 on the BBC TV special "Cracked Actor". In 1990 the professionally recorded tapes were first made available unofficially in a different mix than the one included on the official release. There is a myriad of releases, including some that contain the full intro (here reduced to less than two minutes), and more of the stage commentary from Bowie himself than is included on the official releas. The first part of the show is recorded here, the second is in Big Brother. Limited edition CD 100 copies.An official version of the 5 September 1974 show at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre, mixed by Tony Visconti in 2016, was first released as Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74), a 3-LP set, for Record Store Day on 22 April 2017. The set was later released on CD and digital formats in June 2017.Read below for more informations!

Audio quality:

Quality content:

© Official released material:

Tracks 1-11 have been released officially on: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)

__________________________________________________________________________

The Diamond Dogs Tour
The Diamond Dogs Tour was a concert tour by David Bowie in North America in 1974 to promote the studio album Diamond Dogs (1974). The end of the tour was also called The Soul Tour, which included some songs from the forthcoming album Young Americans (1975). MainMan, Bowie's management team, planned to cull a live album from the July 1974 performances at the Tower Theater just outside Philadelphia. When the band learned of this, they demanded to be paid a standard recording fee of $5000 per musician in addition to their normal pay or they would refuse to perform. They were given checks hours before show time, and the concert recording went on as planned. A Portrait in Flesh, a bootleg of the September 5, 1974 show in Los Angeles was released in Australia.

A number of audio and visual recordings from the fifth US tour are in circulation amongst collectors. The information below details the most commonly known pieces:Los Angeles Universal Ampitheatre 2 September 1974 The opening show of the West Coast dates which now began to feature new songs recorded during the Sigma Sound sessions. A review of this show appeared in The Los Angeles Times 4 September 1974. Los Angeles Universal Ampitheatre 4 September 1974 Los Angeles Universal Ampitheatre 5 September 1974 This was the concert filmed by the BBC for the Cracked Actor documentary. However, the source of this audio recording was not the BBC, as many assumed, but Wally Heider Recording who were contracted by RCA/Mainman. For many years it circulated as a bootleg titled, amongst others, “Strange Fascination” on both vinyl and CD.

This recording only used 2 of the original 4 reels which meant that there was a noticeable gap in “All The Young Dudes” (the point at which the reels were swapped over.) In 2016, all 4 original reels were reunited and remixed by Tony Visconti for an official release titled “Cracked Actor.” Unfortunately, the latter has been edited to reduce the length of the introduction and to remove a number of quips by David.
http://www.theyoungamerican.co.uk/tour_5_live_recordings.htm

Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) is a live album by David Bowie. It was released posthumously as a Record Store Day release on 22 April 2017 through Parlophone record label. Produced by Bowie and mixed by Tony Visconti, it was recorded on the Diamond Dogs Tour in September 1974, some material from which appeared in the BBC documentary Cracked Actor.

The full show spans across five sides of vinyl, with the sixth featuring an etching of Bowie. The album differs from the first Bowie live album, David Live, recorded on the same tour. It features a different and more R&B-oriented lineup, including long time collaborators Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar, as well as backing singer Luther Vandross. The setlist also includes material recorded for The Gouster, an album which later would turn into Young Americans. The album received a wider release on CD through the same label on 16 June 2017

Pitchfork critic Chris Randle wrote: "Hearing drums here distinct from murk, you can tell how complex the rhythm of '1984' was, its groove swerving in circles to welcome every new element. Bowie spent the mid-‘70s obsessed with power, wielding it through deeper and deeper timbre, until his seductions seemed purged of emotion: a ballad sung by a vampire. Cracked Actor shows he was already using his phrasing to command attention."

Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)

On April 22, 2017, I was up very early to get in line at Dead Dog Records to try and get the new limited edition releases for Record Store Day. Among my purchases, I got my copy of David Bowie’s Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles ‘74). A limited edition pressing (17,000 worldwide) and only available as a five sided, three record set (the sixth side is etched). The other Bowie release was the much more limited edition called Bowpromo, a reissue of a promo record originally released in 1971.

David Bowie released Diamond Dogs (RCA) on May 24, 1974, and kicked off the Diamond Dogs Tour in Montreal on June 14, 1974 to promote that album. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on September 5, 1974. This is also the second live album to be issued from this tour. The first live album, David Stage, was recorded over two dates, July 14th and 15th in Philadelphia. However that live album required studio overdubs, and the original issue left out songs, and changed the order of the tracks. Although well received at the time, it has gone through several revisions over the past 43 years since its release to get it right.

With Cracked Actor, they got it right the first time around. This is a far superior album to David Live both musically and as an album. David Bowie is credited as producer, which indicates he was working on this album long before it was issued. It was mixed by long time Bowie producer and collaborator, Tony Visconti and he did a beautiful job bringing this music alive. Great care was taken for the packaging, featuring seldom and never before seen pictures from that show. It is a beautiful set.

The album sounds amazing. It is hard to believe that Visconti was working with 42 year old tapes and yet it brings everything to life. He manages to make it sound current, vibrant and exciting. I would say it is probably the best sounding Bowie live album in his catalog. It is a pity it has taken so long to be released. For the record, this show has popped up over the years as a bootleg, the best release being A Portrait in Flesh.There are differences with this show (which was the second leg of the tour) and the David Live release, taken from the first leg. Luther Vandross and Robin Clark are two new additional background vocalists, Doug Raunch replaces bassist Herbie Flowers and Greg Errico replaces Tony Newman on drums. Michael Kamen dropped out of the tour at this point as Bowie was moving toward his “soul” stage. But the result is a much tighter and enthusiastic band. Their arrangements and versions of old and new (at the time) songs.

The songs are arranged differently. “John, I’m Only Dancing”, introduced as his new single, and it is one heavy version. The band plows through the song, leading to a dynamic ending. “All The Young Dudes” is probably Bowie’s best version of the song. “Space Oddity” has a brilliant arrangement and in this case is actually on par with the studio version. By this stage of the tour, Bowie seems more engaged and has his second wind. This album is an important document of an important tour for Bowie. Not only was it to promote Diamond Dogs, for Bowie, it was a transition. The glam rock from the previous three years was making way for his soul stage. This album is an excellent document of how great Bowie could be live, which the other album from this tour failed to do. My only complaint about the album is the limited nature. It should be available for all fans to enjoy.

http://spillmagazine.com/spill-album-review-david-bowie-cracked-actor-live-los-angeles-74/