In 1967, a 20-year-old David Jones decided to change his name to avoid confusion with the lead singer of the Monkees. He decided on 'Bowie'. By this time, Jones had been playing music for five years, appearing in and out of various bands, singing rock and roll at local youth gatherings, any pub that would have him and even a few weddings. Jones joimed the band the Konrads, but then soon left them for the King Bees. After a few more stop and starts, Jones became Bowie and met Derek 'Dek' Fearnley. David Bowie enlisted Fearnley to help record an album. Reportedly learning by studying the Observer Book of Music, the two young musicians practiced, wrote and hung-out at the home of Fearnley's brother, Gerald. When David Bowie by David Bowie was released on June 1, 1967 - the same day as The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - little if anything happened. Nothing charted and the band parted ways. Now - fifty years since the original photo session and release of David Bowie's debut album - the unseen photos of Gerald Fearnley are presented here for the first time. These whimsical, youthful images capture the artist as a young man only a few years before he'd transform himself into Ziggy Stardust and launch a career that would become one of the most successful and influential in the history of modern music. AUTHOR: Gerald Fearnley is a professional photographer, famous for capturing the front cover shot for Bowie's first album, David Bowie, in the '60s. The friendship between the Fearnley family and Bowie meant that Bowie spent a lot of time at Gerald's house in Worcester Park, Surrey, both preparing for gigs and writing songs. SELLING POINTS: ? Collects original and rare photographs from Bowie's debut album shoot, which were released for the first time as fine art prints in 2016 ? These pictures show Bowie pre-fame, pre Ziggy Stardust, as a young man unaware of what the future holds ? A glimpse at the origins of a late great pop-music icon 10 colour, 80 bo
