Memory of a Free Festival

"Memory of a Free Festival"
Single by David Bowie
from the album David Bowie (aka Space Oddity)
A-side	"Memory of a Free Festival Part 1"
B-side	"Memory of a Free Festival Part 2"
Released	12 June 1970
Format	7" single
Recorded	Advision Studios, London 3, 14, 15 January 1970
Genre	Folk rock, progressive rock
Length	3:59 (Part 1) 3:31 (Part 2)
Label	Mercury 6052 026
Writer(s)	David Bowie
Producer	Tony Visconti
David Bowie singles chronology
"The Prettiest Star" (1970) "Memory of a Free Festival" (1970) "Holy Holy" (1971)
Alternative cover

"Memory of a Free Festival" is a 1970 single by David Bowie. The song had originally been recorded as a seven-minute opus for Bowie's second self-titled album (reissued as Space Oddity in 1972). It was reworked at the behest of Mercury Records, the label believing that the track had a better chance of success as a single than "The Prettiest Star", released earlier in the year.

Bowie and Tony Visconti roughly split the track in half, re-recording it so both halves could function as individual songs. A more rock-orientated version than the earlier album cut,^[1] this rendition marked drummer Mick Woodmansey's studio debut with Bowie's band, bringing together the line-up that would shortly record The Man Who Sold the World.

Biographer David Buckley described "Memory of a Free Festival" as "a sort of trippy retake of the Stones' 'Sympathy For The Devil' but with a smiley lyric".^[2] The track was written as a homage to the Free Festival, organised by the Beckenham Arts Lab, which was held at Croydon Road Recreational Ground in Beckenham on August 16, 1969.^[3]

The single was a commercial disaster on release in America in June 1970, with only a few hundred copies selling. It was also issued in the UK, but was similarly unsuccessful.

Track listing

1. "Memory of a Free Festival Part 1" (Bowie) – 3:59
2. "Memory of a Free Festival Part 2" (Bowie) – 3:31

Personnel

• David Bowie – vocals, guitar
• Mick Ronson – guitar
• Tony Visconti – bass
• Mick Woodmansey – drums
• Tony Visconti – producer

Other versions

• Bowie performed the show during a session for radio's The Sunday Show on 8 February 1970. An edited take of this performance was included on the 2000 compilation, Bowie at the Beeb.
• Bowie also performed the song during the 1973 Ziggy Stardust tour, as the third part of a medley which began with "Quicksand" and "Life on Mars?" (one such performance, from the Glasgow Apollo on 15 May 1973, has appeared on several bootleg albums).
• The Mike Garson Band, the name given to Bowie's backing group on his Philly Dogs tour, closed their supporting set with a soul-influenced version of the song on Bowie's 1974 US tour. The performance from the Radio City Music Hall, New York on 28 October 1974 was included on the bootleg album Infected with Soul Love.

Cover versions

• E-Zee Posse released a dance song in 1990, called "The Sun Machine" which mentions Bowie in their credits. It was a minor house-rave success, released in many formats on Boy George's dance label called More Protein.
• Dario G sampled Bowie in 1998 for their UK #17 hit single "Sunmachine"
• Mercury Rev played a cover of the song on their 2006 compilation Stillness Breathes
• The Gene Ween Band has been known to include Memory Of A Free Festival as part of their live performances.
• Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros cover it on Manimal Vinyl's tribute to David Bowie out in September 2010
• Danish Band Kashmir covered it live in Holland, 2006

Notes

1. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.33
2. ^ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.98
3. ^ The Free Festival which inspired the song: BowieWonderworld.com website. Retrieved on September 22, 2007.

References

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5