Discovery of the Lost Recordings
A decade ago, music historian and archivist Alec Palao was flipping through a stack of old records when he spotted faint pencil markings that made him gasp. The name written was Davie Jones, the birth name of David Bowie. What he had found was a 12-inch acetate containing five unreleased songs by a young Bowie. The record was part of a collection belonging to Shel Talmy, Bowie's first professional producer, who had also worked with The Kinks, The Who, Manfred Mann, and The Easybeats. After the initial discovery, five more unreleased songs came Palao's way.[S1]
Those ten songs, together with demos and remastered material, make up a new posthumous collection titled The Shel Talmy Recordings. Starting Friday, listeners can purchase and stream the music. Six of the never-before-heard tracks will also appear on vinyl, a format in which Bowie has proven especially popular. Music Week ranked him in 2022 as the top-selling vinyl artist of the 21st century, placing him above The Beatles. A limited vinyl pressing will be offered at Record Store Day and HMV shops.[S1]
Bowie's Early Years and the New Album
Back in the early 1960s, Bowie was a teenage performer known as Davie Jones, playing London venues and hoping for fame. Much of what he recorded in that period is obscure or missing. Palao called the recovered recordings perhaps the most visceral and raw music ever heard from Bowie, describing them as a fascinating window into London in 1965 and its possibilities. Palao, who termed the album absolutely pure rock 'n' roll, licensed it to Warner through Palao and Talmy Enterprises Incorporated. Warner's subsidiary Parlophone will issue it, with royalties going to Bowie's estate.[S1]
Dana Gillespie, who collaborated with Bowie early on and remained a close friend, praised the release. Their meeting came after a Marquee Club show in London, when he was 17. In her view, the songs don't truly resemble David, but reveal him searching for his voice and trying things out. Gillespie, still touring and recording at 77, described Bowie as extremely driven. She recalled that during the sixties he asked her to meet his parents in Bromley, and once they left the room he told her he would do whatever it took to escape, which he did.[S1]
One track on the album stands out to Gillespie. She recalled the Gioconda, a well-known café on Denmark Street, which was the heart of London's music scene in the 1960s and a place she frequented with David. On one occasion he burst in, grabbed her hand, and insisted she had to hear something. He pulled her around the corner and crowded them both into a tiny listening booth. She took one speaker and he took the other, and he played her I Pity The Fool. A remastered take of that song appears on the new album.[S1]
