How did The Beatles influence David Bowie?
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| Bowie's first album (1967) |
Always a Beatles fan, David Bowie tried to sign for Apple in 1968. Their impact on his music was substantial, as Pete Doggett has pointed out:
I was struck ... by the influence the Beatles had on Bowie's work in the 70s. Some of that influence is obvious - the McCartney-inspired piano styling of 'Oh! You Pretty Things', for example. As early as 1965, in an obscure song entitled 'That's Where My Heart Is', Bowie sounded as if he was learning how to write songs by listening to With The Beatles. source
Fame
In 1974, Bowie went to New York in the hope of getting John Lennon to work on his new album, Young Americans. Lennon agreed to come along to the studio, and the two men worked together on Fame and a version of Across the Universe. This developed into a close personal friendship.
Bowie's relations with Paul McCartney were initially more distant. In public statements, he openly admitted to preferring Lennon's Beatles input. After John's death, personal relations became more cordial, though musical collaboration was never a realistic possibility.
Beef with George
In the early 1970s, George Harrison was dismissive of glam rock and was not impressed with the songs of either Bowie or Bolan
Bowie later covered George Harrison's 'Try Some, Buy Some', claiming that he hadn't realised that George had written the song.
According to Tony Visconti, relations between the two men remained frosty, with Harrison pointedly keeping his distance from Bowie.
