Recording: Rock ‘N’ Roll With Me, Candidate, Big Brother, Diamond Dogs

David Bowie worked on four songs at Olympic Sound Studios on 14 January 1974, for the Diamond Dogs album.

The songs were ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll With Me’, ‘Candidate’, ‘Big Brother’, and ‘Diamond Dogs’.

Kate Simon was taking shots for Disc & Music Echo of Stomu Yamashta, who was recording in another studio at Olympic. Afterwards, Simon visited Bowie as he was recording ‘Big Brother’ with Mike Garson, and was later given a lift home in Bowie’s limousine.

I can see David clearly now, sitting behind the huge desk in the main room, in a long green synthetic fur coat and a green felt hat, singing and playing acoustic guitar.

I was overwhelmed at how good he was, just accompanying himself. And he was lovely, gave me absolute freedom that day.

He kept calling me ‘Bette’ – he believed I looked like Bette Midler – and once I was done, said: ‘Bette, do you need a lift back into town?’

He was heading to Oakley Street and so I got a ride in this huge limousine to my flat in Fulham. He was very, very nice, but all the way – on what was quite a long journey – he didn’t say word, until I got out. Then he said: ‘I’ll see you again.’ Maybe he was kind of wistful that day.