Sweet Thing (David Bowie song)
"Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" | |
---|---|
Song by David Bowie | |
from the album Diamond Dogs | |
Released | 24 May 1974[1] |
Recorded | January 1974 |
Studio | Olympic, London |
Genre | |
Length | 8:50 "Sweet Thing" – 3:38 "Candidate" – 2:39 "Sweet Thing" (Reprise) – 2:31 |
Label | RCA |
Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
Producer(s) | David Bowie |
"Sweet Thing" or "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" is a suite of songs written by David Bowie for the album Diamond Dogs. Recorded in January 1974, the piece comprises the songs "Sweet Thing" and "Candidate" and a one-verse reprise of "Sweet Thing."
In the opening line, "Sweet Thing" contains the lowest note Bowie had recorded in a studio album (C2) until "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spacecraft" for the album Heathen (2002), where he growled the word "Well" (G1) towards the end of the song.[4]
Bowie recorded a track with the same title, "Candidate" – but no musical similarity to the Diamond Dogs song "Candidate" and only a few words of lyrics in common – during the first several days of January 1974.[5] It was unavailable until 1990 when it was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of Diamond Dogs; it also appeared on the bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of Diamond Dogs in 2004.
"Tragic Moments/Zion/Aladdin Vein"
A track now referred to as
David asks engineer Andy to run up a quick mix of the next project. Now this is really the one - the next album of Bowie's own original material. "There are no vocals on it yet - just my la-la-la-ing. Its going to be a musical in one act called 'Tragic Moments' probably running straight through two sides. We listen to perhaps seven minutes of music. I am confused. The contrast between 'Tragic Moments' and Pinups could not be greater. The former is a highly arranged, subtly shifting music with just a touch of vaudeville: Mike Garson's piano flashes through like quicksilver. Perhaps the closest approximation to what has gone before would be the title track of Aladdin Sane.[8]
Personnel
According to Chris O'Leary:[9]
- David Bowie – lead and backing vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, baritone and tenor saxophone, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer
- Mike Garson – piano
- Herbie Flowers – bass
- Tony Newman – drums, tambourine
Technical
- David Bowie – producer
- Keith Harwood – engineer
Live versions
A live version of "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" from the first leg of the Diamond Dogs Tour was released on David Live. A live recording from the second leg of the same tour (previously available on the unofficial album A Portrait in Flesh) was released in 2017 on Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74).
In one live version in the first line, Bowie sings a step higher than C2, and a little more clearly. Some skeptics have accused Bowie of "studio tinkering" to enhance his range, but this is proof that he was capable of singing a C2.
Cover versions
- Morel – on the album The Death of the Paperboy (2008), on Disc-0 of the two-disc set. This is a cover of the complete trilogy of "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)", as it appears on Diamond Dogs and David Live.
- Real Life(2006), on additional tracks of the 2-CD edition. This cover includes "Sweet Thing" and the reprise.
- Party in Lyceum's Toilets(2001). This is a cover of only the "Sweet Thing" song proper.
- Paper Jones – on the album Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered (2008). This is a cover of only the "Sweet Thing" song proper.
- Momus – on the album Turpsycore (2015). This is a cover of only the "Sweet Thing" song proper.
References
- ^ "Diamond Dogs album is forty today". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (19 March 2020). "David Bowie's 50 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "10 Essential Dystopian Albums". Treble. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ Kristobak, Ryan (20 May 2014). "Comparing The Top Artists, Past And Present, By Vocal Range". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ Cann 2010, p. 318.
- ^ a b "The Complete David Bowie: Zion". Nicholas Pegg (2000). Op Cit: pp.249-250
- ^ Naked & Wired at Bassman's David Bowie Page
- ^ Martin Hayman (October 1973). "Outside David Bowie... is the closest you're gonna get". Rock Magazine.
- ^ O'Leary 2015, chap. 8.
Sources
- Cann, Kevin (2010). Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974. Croydon, Surrey: Adelita. ISBN 978-0-95520-177-6.
- O'Leary, Chris (2015). Rebel Rebel: All the Songs of David Bowie from '64 to '76. Winchester: ISBN 978-1-78099-244-0.