Songfacts®:

• David Bowie originally recorded "Karma Man" on September 1, 1967 and debuted it on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in spring 1968. His label, Decca, didn't officially release it until the 1970 The World Of David Bowie compilation album.
• Tony Visconti produced the track in his inaugural session with Bowie. He worked with the Thin White Duke on numerous classic albums, including his Berlin trilogy.
• The song reflected Bowie's interest in Buddhism and Tibetan culture, a theme that continued into the 1990s with the Earthling track "Seven Years in Tibet."
  
  "1967, the year that David and I met, was the year of flower power, the Summer of Love," Visconti recalled to Uncut magazine. "Everybody seemed to be chanting, whether it was to do with Buddhism or something else. It was through my friendship with David that we studied under the same Tibetan monk, so we were always nattering on about Buddhism. It was a sort of casual Buddhism; we practiced it in our own way. And David's way was writing a song called 'Karma Man.'"
• Steve Peregrin-Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex (later renamed T. Rex) contributed to the backing vocals. "He used to crash at my flat in Earl's Court and, on the day of the session, I invited him over," Visconti said. "He and I sang, 'Slow down, slow down...' on the chorus."
• In 2000 Bowie re-tracked "Karma Man" for inclusion on his Toy album, where he revisited songs from his early career. Bowie recorded the album from July to October 2000 in New York City following his triumphant Glastonbury performance. His plan was to record the tracks live, choose the best takes and release Toy as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, in 2001 the technology wasn't yet ready to support a surprise album, so Bowie moved on to his next project, his Heathen LP.
  
  Warner Music Group finally released Toy on November 26, 2021 as part of the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) through Bowie's own ISO label and Parlophone. They dropped a separate deluxe edition on January 7, 2022.