David Bowie - Tryin' To Get To Heaven / Mother (2021)

David Bowie’s unreleased covers of John Lennon’s “Mother” and Bob Dylan’s “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” will be released on what would have been Bowie’s 74th birthday.

Both tracks on the seven-inch vinyl “Birthday Single” — limited to 8,147 copies, including 1,000 pressed on cream vinyl, as well as a digital release — were recorded in the studio by Bowie in 1997 and 1998.

The cover of the Lennon classic “Mother,” from the 1970 LP Plastic Ono Band, was recorded for a planned-but-never-released Lennon tribute album; long-time collaborators Reeves Gabrels and Tony Visconti also play on the track.

Bowie’s cover of “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” was recorded at New York’s Looking Glass studio in February 1998 during the mixing sessions for the LiveAndWell.com live album; Bowie’s unreleased rendition came just six months after Dylan debuted the track on 1997’s Time Out of Mind.