Over sixty years after David Bowie's first recordings, “The Shel Talmy Recordings” is released, the most complete collection dedicated to the sessions recorded in 1965 with producer Shel Talmy, a key figure in British rock thanks to his work with The Who and The Kinks. The box set will be released on September 18th by Parlophone, while from today the unreleased “I Want Your Love” is available in streaming, which anticipates the release of the album (listen below).
The collection, available in CD, LP and digital format, documents the period in which the future Bowie still called himself Davie Jones. The CD includes 21 recordings, many of which have never been released before, including definitive versions, demos and alternative takes. The vinyl instead offers a selection of eleven songs. The musicians involved also include Jimmy Page, then a highly sought after session musician before his experience with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, and the pianist Nicky Hopkins, destined to collaborate with the Rolling Stones, Beatles, The Who and Jeff Beck.
Among the most significant pieces stand out “You've Got A Habit Of Leaving” and “Baby Loves That Way”, two singles to which Bowie remained particularly attached, so much so that he re-recorded them decades later during the sessions for “Toy”, released posthumously in 2021. An exclusive edition on the artist's official website on red vinyl is also planned.
The liner notes
In the liner notes, music historian Alec Palao invites us to listen to these recordings without the filter of Bowie's future greatness: “David Bowie the artist is a book made of chapters: with each page you turn you find yourself faced with something completely different and unexpected compared to the previous one.” According to Palao, these recordings should be considered in the context of the very lively London scene of 1965, rather than as simple youthful curiosities: “The sounds here should not be judged by the standards of his later career, but by the standards of what was happening in Britain at precisely that moment in history.”
The meeting between Bowie and Talmy took place in the famous Denmark Street, then the beating heart of the British music industry. After signing Davie Jones with the Manish Boys in December 1964, Talmy also followed the artist in the subsequent formation of Davie Jones & The Lower Third, recording both songs with the band and solo demos. The sessions took place mainly at IBC Studios in London, with Glyn Johns as sound engineer and Jimmy Page called upon to strengthen the sound of the recordings with his guitar, often enriched by an innovative customized fuzz pedal.
That period would continue to exert a strong fascination on Bowie in subsequent years. It is no coincidence that in 1973 he dedicated the album “Pin Ups” to the British beat scene that had formed him, also reinterpreting four songs originally produced by Shel Talmy. At the end of September 1965 Davie Jones had definitively adopted the name David Bowie, ready to open a new chapter in his career, but these recordings capture the exact moment in which the myth was about to be born.
The complete tracklist of “The Shel Talmy Recordings”
CD
You've Got A Habit Of Leaving (2026 Remaster)^
I Want Your Love *^
Cupid *^
I Pity The Fool (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (2026 Remaster)^
Keep Up With The Jones (Instrumental) *^
Leave Her To Me *^
I'll Follow You^
You Gotta Tell Her (2026 Remaster)*^
Take My Tip (2026 Remaster)+
Certain Woman *^
Today (Demo) *-
I Want My Baby Back (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Live In Dreams (Demo) *-
Bars Of The County Jail (Demo)-
That's Where My Heart Is (Demo) (2026 Remaster)-
I Do Believe I Love You (Demo) *-
You've Got A Habit Of Leaving (Alternative overdub/vocal) (2026 Remaster)^
I Pity The Fool (Alternative vocal takes) (2026 Remaster)+
Baby Loves That Way (Alternative vocal take) *^
Take My Tip (Alternative vocal take) (2026 Remaster)+
VINYL
Side One
You've Got A Habit Of Leaving (2026 Remaster) ^
I Pity The Fool (2026 Remaster) +
Baby Loves That Way (2026 Remaster) ^
I'll Follow You^
Take My Tip (2026 Remaster) +
Side Two
I Want Your Love *^
Cupid *^
Keep Up With The Jones (Instrumental) *^
Certain Woman *^
Leave Her To Me *^
You Gotta Tell Her (2026 Remaster) *^
* Previously Unreleased
^ Davie Jones & The Lower Third
+The Manish Boys
-Davie Jones
The bands
Davie Jones & The Lower Third
Phil Lancaster – Drums
Graham Rivens – Bass
Denis Taylor – Guitar
Les Mighall – Drums
David Bowie – Vocals & Harmonica
The Manish Boys
Mick White – Drums
John Watson – Bass
Johnny Flux – Guitar
Bob Solly – Organ
David Bowie – Vocals
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
