A reel-to-reel tape of David Bowie songs, dialog, and a short bit of Mike Garson improvising on piano.

The box is dated September 20, 1972, one day before Bowie and the Spiders From Mars’ first rehearsal with Garson, and two days before their first-ever US concert, in Cleveland.  Bowie had hired Garson just a few days earlier and the legendary rehearsal lasted 7 hours.  The Cleveland show was Bowie’s first US concert.

This recording was almost certainly made so Garson could learn the songs he’d be playing during the group’s 1972 Ziggy Stardust US Tour.

The tape box is labeled ‘David Bowie U.S.A. Tour 72.’, ‘7 ½ IPS’, ‘2 Track’ and ‘Tail Out’, the last two identifying this as a professionally made recording.  There is a small circled ‘2’, and a large MainMan sticker (MainMan was Bowie’s management company).

The circled number 2 suggests this was the second tape of a larger number. As the five songs here were often played about 5th-10^th during Bowie’s 1972 US tour dates, it’s likely this was one of a set of tapes made for Garson’s benefit.

All of the songs included are Bowie’s studio recordings, with the exception of ‘My Death’, sung by Elly Stone on the original cast album of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (In 2003 Bowie included this in a list of 25 of his favorite albums).

Throughout the tape an English person and an America discuss sound and songs. The voices are recorded at a very low level and most of what they are saying is indiscernible—but it is very likely Bowie telling Garson, whom he met just a few days earlier, what he wants for each song in the set.

What follows is a breakdown of the tape:

‘Five Years’ – after the song, two people are talking, you can hear the words ‘lead guitar’; it sounds like Bowie giving instructions

‘Space Oddity’ – the taking continues for a few seconds into song, and for a few seconds after the song

‘Andy Warhol’ – talking for a few seconds at the start

‘My Death’ – From Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.  The music pauses at 42 seconds and the English voice, presumably Bowie, asks ‘Can we move this one to the next track?’  The American voice asks ‘what, you want to go back to Andy Warhol?’  The English voice responds, ‘no, the next track’.  Then the song continues.  After the song finishes, there is microphone handling noise, and some indecipherable talking by what sounds like Bowie.  You can make out ‘down in the village’ and what sounds like ‘sing this song’. This continues for a second into the next song,

‘The Width of a Circle’ – in the middle of the song there is an unintelligible but intent discussion which continues through most of the rest of the song.

After the song ends there is 25 seconds of Mike Garson improvising on piano, which ends with him playing the beginning of ‘Life on Mars’.  Then there is some silence followed by a few seconds of reel to reel tape rewind noise

A one-of-a-kind artifact from David Bowie’s legendary 1972 Ziggy Startdust tour.

With Recordmecca’s written lifetime guarantee of authenticity, and a professional digital transfer of the tape.