BOWIE "SPACE ODDITY" 1972 PROMO FIRST PRESSING DYNAFLEX GOLD STAMPED LSP-4183

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BOWIE "SPACE ODDITY" 1972 PROMO FIRST PRESSING DYNAFLEX GOLD STAMPED PROMO LSP-4183
DAVID BOWIE "SPACE ODDITY" LABEL: RCA VICTOR LSP-4813 RELEASED: NOVEMBER 10th, 1972 PROMOTIONAL COPY w/ GOLD FOIL PROMO STAMP ORIGINAL ORANGE 'DYNAFLEX' LABELS RECORDED: TRIDENT STUDIOS LONDON ENGINEERING: KEN SCOTT PRODUCER/ARRANGER: TONY VISCONTI PRESSED AT RCA INDIANAPOLIS   'I' in MATRIX MATRIX A: (Stamped) BPRS 4501  4S  A0  I MATRIX B: (Stamped) BPRS 4502  2S  B2  I
CONDITION:  VINYL EX-   INNER SLEEVE: EX   JACKET: VG+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection this winter and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this very nice First Pressing Promotional Copy of David Bowie's 1972 release "Space Oddity"
This album was originally recorded from June to September 1969. It was first released November 4, 1969 on the Phillips label in the UK as simply "David Bowie", the same title as his first album 2 years earlier. In the US, Mercury released it as "Man of Words/Man of Music"
The original UK Phillips release had a short segment of Bowie droning 'Dont sit Down, Don't sit Down...' before 'Letter to Hermoine'. Not really a song, it was removed from the RCA pressings, resulting in the timing being messed up on the jacket. Song A2 on early pressings, like this one, have the song as 6:55, but later pressings correct it to 6:09.
Those 1969 albums didn't sell well, on either side of the Atlantic, and were shelved.
In 1972, following Bowie's commercial breakthrough, RCA, his new label, repackaged 'Man of Words..' and re-released it as 'Space Oddity'. That's what this album is.
So, this is a 1972 First Pressing of the second release of Bowie's 2nd Album, now called 'Space Oddity' to capitalize on his hit single.
This album has been re-released with various titles, various labels and various cover art over the years, but this is the First US Pressing version.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bulk of this album has a slightly folk-rock oriented sound with strong Prog Rock elements and even some British Psych leanings, styles that were popular in the UK at the time.
Even the more Folky songs on the album are sung in Bowie's unique individual style, with his dynamic, powerful voice and odd phrasing, intensifying and accelerating his delivery as he goes, a style that would become more obvious on later albums.
Most of the backing musicians are from the UK band Junior's Eyes, who would act as Bowie's band while promoting the album. 
Producer Tony Visconti plays flute, strings and some percussion.
Bowie himself plays some unusual instruments as well, including 6 and 12 string guitars, Stylophone, Kalimba, and strange sounding Rosedal electric keyboards.
Speaking of strange keyboards, Rick Wakeman, who would go on to play with the Prog Rock band YES, plays keyboards, Mellotron, and Electric Harpsichord. Wakeman's keyboard wizardry give some of the songs a clear Prog Rock feel. A few of the songs even hint at the artful glam-rock that would soon make Bowie a superstar.
Many of the songs have heavy use of reverb on the vocals and guitars, which add to the sense of isolation and loneliness that permeate much of Bowie's later work.
More on the folky side of the rock spectrum, but with prog rock tendencies, this album was a fantastic, charming, innocent, ambiguous foundation on which Bowie built his great legacy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPACE ODDITY The 1969 single "Space Oddity" was a big hit in America. The album starts off with the hit, which many Bowie fans feel is one of his best written early songs.
The title was a slight rip-off of the Stanley Kubrick blockbuster film '2001-A Space odyssey'. This album came out in November 1969, and the timing was perfect to fit right in with America's obsession with the Moon landings.
The song's thrilling 'rocket-launch' structure anticipated Bowie's own supernova ascent at the time. Space Odyssey's main character, Major Tom was just like Bowie at the time; a man seeking to ascend to great heights, a slightly mysterious and ambiguous character, and uncertain as to what happens to him once that height is attained. 
The song also has a theme of splendid isolation and an uncertain future, which would show up in Bowie's work throughout much of the 70s.
Other than "Space Oddity", this album contains some great songs, even though they weren't neccesarily 'Hit' material.
"Unwashed and Slightly Dazed" packs a raw, disheveled folk-rock punch. It has a great extended blues boogie feel. The song is clearly influenced by Dylan.
"The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud" is one of Bowie's most popular early songs. The folk epic was one of his favorites as well and it remained in his live set until as late as 1973.
The song was re-mixed for a 45 Single and the sessions for the remix marked Bowie's first studio collaboration with guitarist Mick Ronson. 
Side 1 ends with the long 9 minute song "Cygnet Committee" which talks about his disenchantment with the hippie culture, which was popular in 1969, but Bowie never embraced. It predicts the death of the hippy movement and the start of something new in music, which Bowie was hoping to lead.
"An Occasional Dream" sounds like it was written by Arthur Lee and would have not been out of place on Love's 'Forever Changes' album of the time. The song has a psych-folk feel and some great Mellotron playing by Wakeman.
"Letter to Hermione" is a melancholy break-up song, almost on par with a young Leonard Cohen.
"Janine" and "An Occasional Dream" are beautiful, pure, heartfelt ballads.
The closing track is the incredibly atmospheric "Memories of a Free Festival" which takes the album into a more Progressive Rock direction.
The song is somewhat of a hippie dream and has a very Beatle-esque 'Hey Jude' style group-chorus coda in it. 'Hey Jude' was a massive hit at the time Bowie was writing this album and you can hear the song's influence on him.
In my opinion, the Best songs on the album, other than the hit 'Space Oddity', are 'Cygnet Committee', 'Letter to Hermione', and the closing number 'Memory of a Free Festival.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1969, Bowie wrote 'Space Oddity' near the end of his contract with Decca. When Bowie signed up with RCA in 1972, they re-released his 2nd Album, renamed it "Space Oddity" trying to make it seem like a brand new release, and capitalize on his hit. The album starts off with the hit, which many Bowie fans feel is one of his best written early songs.
This album is generally considered Bowie's first rock album. It's actually a decent first chapter in Bowie's often brilliant career.
It's fascinating to listen to this album again, 50 years later, after hearing all the music he has done since. It's interesting to see how much this album shows off some of the things that Bowie would be known for in the future.
This album, when it first came out, was completely underrated and underappreciated, but it served as a very important stepping stone in building of the career and legend of David Bowie. Listening to it again, it holds up well.
Bowie's evolution can really be heard on this album. It's the start of Bowie's long fruitful collaborative relationship with producer Tony Visconti and, despite being his 2nd album, it really displays the birth of the classic David Bowie style we all know and love.
Several songs on this album showcase elements of Bowie's future and it properly introduces Bowie to the world as an artist. A solid second album from David Bowie.
This album is still an interesting listen for people who want to hear how Bowie sounded back when he was just starting to break through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Songs on this classic LP include:
Space Oddity Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed Letter To Hermione Cygnet Committee Janine An Occasional Dream The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud God Knows I'm Good Memory Of A Free Festival
~~~~~~~~ CONDITION I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl looks great. there's a few light hairlines in one area, but overall looks clean, bright and shiny. I showed one picture of the hairlines. I purposely played with the contrast to make them stand out more. They look worse than they sound. Just want to be honest and upfront.
No significant scuffs, scratches or defect. This is pressed on the infamous 'Dynaflex' vinyl, which despite being thin, sounds great. 
Most RCA pressings, especially from Indianapolis, from this time period, sound great despite the thin 'Dynaflex' vinyl.
The conservative use of vinyl on these Dynaflex pressings often led to small pressing 'dings' around the perimeter of the records, like little small bite marks. This one has 1 or 2 pressing marks on the lip, but they are far away from the grooves and don't affect play at all. Just the nature of these Dynaflex pressings.
I tried to show details of the vinyl in my pictures. You can see, it looks quite nice. The 'white' in my photos of the album sides is light glare, not defects.
LABELS: This has the classic Orange RCA Dynaflex labels. Clean and bright, with no marks or defects. Despite being a Promo copy, there is no indication of that on the labels. Standard Orange RCA labels from the time.
The spindle holes are sharp and clean, suggesting minimal play.
JACKET: The Jacket is in decent condition. Not perfect, but quite good. 
It has the Gold foil Promo stamp "Demonstration Not For Sale" on the back, left, upper corner. This album comes with it's original magenta colored 2-sided inner sleeve, which has photos and lyrics. A few early copies of this album came with a small folded poster. This has NO poster.
There is some mild edge wear and mild corner bumping, but still quite nice. Some light ringwear, which I tried to show the worst of in my photos.
This early pressing has the VERY tiny print on the front 'Previously released as "Man Of Words / Man Of Music" on Mercury SR61246'. RCA did their best to make this look like a brand new release.
This First pressing jacket has the price code (0598) on the spine and has the wrong timing for song A2, listed as 6:55.
It also has the 'Mainman' mention on the back; 'David Bowie - A Mainman Artist'
A great early original First Pressing PROMO copy of David Bowie's 2nd album, his first Rock album. A great addition to your Bowie collection or classic Rock album collection.
Original OG Bowie albums don't turn up often, Promo copies are even rarer. This one is a great example.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN