David Bowie Holy Holy – Black Country Rock (Mercury 1971) estimated value € 300,00

Holy Holy

"Holy Holy" was released as a single in January 1971. It was recorded in November 1970, after the completion of The Man Who Sold the World, in the perceived absence of a clear single from that album. Like Bowie's two previous singles, it sold poorly and failed to chart.

Track listing

Side A – Holy Holy

Written-By – Bowie

Producer – Herbie Flowers

Side B – Black Country Rock

Written-By – Bowie

Producer – Tony Visconti

Description

Media & Sleeve Condition

Media Condition: EX
Sleeve Condition: EX
Ring wear: no
All three seams looking perfect: see photo 3, small damage bottom
Picture sleeve looks near mint: Yes
Creases or folds: no
Stamps or writing: no

David Bowie 7 "single 1971 Germany In Very Nice Condition!

 

 

At the time Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex was a significant source of inspiration for Bowie. On this track, according to NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, "Bolan's influence is so much in the ascendant that it virtually amounts to a case of demonic possession". The single's B-side was another Tyrannosaurus Rex flavoured song called "Black Country Rock". Bowie performed "Holy Holy" on Britain's Granada Television wearing a dress, which he would also wear on the cover of the soon-to-be-released UK edition of The Man Who Sold the World.

A more energetic version of the song was recorded in 1971 for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It was dropped from the album, but subsequently appeared as the B-side to "Diamond Dogs" in 1974. This version was also released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of The Man Who Sold the World in 1990 (despite the sleeve notes referring to it as the original cut), as well as on the Ziggy Stardust – 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002. Bowie himself vetoed the inclusion of the original at a late stage (in favor of the remake), and the single remained the only official release of the 1970 recording until 2015, when it was included on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) compilation.

Track listing

A side
"Holy Holy" (Bowie) – 3:13

B side
"Black Country Rock" (Bowie) – 3:05

Production credits

Producers:
Herbie Flowers on "Holy Holy" (credited as Blue Mink)
Tony Visconti on "Black Country Rock"

Musicians

David Bowie: vocals, guitar
Mick Ronson guitar on "Holy Holy"
Herbie Flowers: bass on "Holy Holy"
Barry Morgan: drums on "Holy Holy"
Mick Ronson: guitar on "Black Country Rock"
Tony Visconti: bass on "Black Country Rock"
Mick Woodmansey: drums on "Black Country Rock"

1969 to 1970 was a period of tremendous creativity and artistic growth for David Bowie: one that saw him enter with Hendrix perm and acoustic guitar, only to exit with hair three times in length and a growing interest in unisex rock of the hardest order. Capturing his proto-Ziggy cusp perfectly was his last release on Mercury, the “Holy Holy” / “Black Country Rock” single. Oddly, “Holy Holy” did not appear on any subsequent Bowie album and to this day has never seen an official re-release. “Black Country Rock” is the same version from “The Man Who Sold The World” albeit in a far flatter, mono mix. But it’s the A-side that is the subject of appraisal here as it’s one of the more obscure and bewildering of Bowie tracks from this period.

“Holy Holy” saw Bowie draw together several diverse threads to construct a bouncy though haunting reverie placed somewhere between his own “Bombers” composition with a tinge of Tyrannosaurus Rex-era Bolan acoustic-strum tied together with similarly quavering vocals against a regimented and sharply fractured build. This track features one of the several proto-Spiders backing band lineups, Herbie Flowers appearing on bass accompanying Mick Ronson and Mick Woodmansey. Bowie drags the half-wordless, pleading lyrics over the music that reflects its dirge-like appeal for autonomy and release.

Bowie returned to the studio to overhaul “Holy Holy” in 1972 and a new approach was taken. It was fed amphetamines, thrown roughly on a bed, savagely stripped of its former Bolan-isms and the fuck was rocked out of it into a glisteningly sexy glam-blam blitz. Bowie and his Spiders cohorts ratchet up the tempo on “Holy Holy" to such an extreme it’s a minute shorter in length than the original as they dispensed with the final verse and replaced it with a blazing guitar solo from Mick Ronson.

Both versions of “Holy Holy” are two completely different takes of the same outsider invocation and are weirdly out of sync with the rest of Bowie’s material from the respective periods in which they were cut.

The song was produced by Tony Visconti.
"Holy Holy" was released as a single in November 1971 but was not included on any of Bowie's studio albums at the time.
The track features a glam rock style with prominent guitar riffs and energetic vocals.
Although it did not achieve commercial success initially, "Holy Holy" has since been recognized as an important part of Bowie's early career development.
Bowie later re-recorded the song during the sessions for his The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album, but this version was also not released officially.

Key Details about David Bowie's "Holy Holy"

The song was produced by Tony Visconti.
"Holy Holy" was released as a single in November 1971 but was not included on any of Bowie's studio albums at the time.
The track features a glam rock style with prominent guitar riffs and energetic vocals.
Although it did not achieve commercial success initially, "Holy Holy" has since been recognized as an important part of Bowie's early career development.
Bowie later re-recorded the song during the sessions for his The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album, but this version was also not released officially.