Elton John Band

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriting partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top 10, four No. 2 and nine No. 1. For 31 consecutive years (1970–2000) he had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" sold over 33million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts






Elton John
The Rocket Man. Everyone knows he’s a hit factory. Everyone’s heard the soundtracks. Everyone’s seen the outfits. But what not everyone remembers is that from 1970-1975, he churned out nine classic records, a live album, a greatest hits, and a soundtrack. For a half-decade, there was nobody on Elton’s level of consistently excellent music being churned out at dizzying speed. Anything that he worked on with his classic band (Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone) and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin is essential listening.

Recommended Listen:
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Crash Course:
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. Honky Chateau
3. Tumbleweed Connection

Compilation Replacement:
Greatest Hits: 1970-2002

Signature Songs:
1. “Your Song”
2. “Tiny Dancer”
3. “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”
4. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
5. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”

Personal Note:
I would make Honky Chateau the recommended listen based on personal taste, but the double album is definitely considered the consensus for his best. Similarly with the signature songs, I would be much more likely to select album cuts like “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”, “Indian Sunset”, “Sixty Years On” or “Amy”, but wanted to try and stay objective. Definitely dig beyond the stuff listed here and you won't be disappointed. If you already know his 70s stuff well and you’re curious about his 80s period, Too Low for Zero would be the place to start.

 

Been listening to my favorite record of his, Honky Chateau during my free periods. God, was his band good. To be able to hit a funk groove like "Amy", a ballad like "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" and a cabaret swagger like "Honky Cat" in stride is no small feat.

 

Yes yes yes yes

My dad is a huge Elton fan and it definitely rubbed off on me. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is probably my favorite, but that whole Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album is fantastic. I mean, who the hell opens up their album with a 10 minute plus epic like that?

 

Trippy thing is there's pretty much nothing else like that in his whole catalog. Like he just said "Nailed it!" and never felt like he had to do it again.

 

Saw Elton last year at Staples and he blew me away, age be damned the dude puts on an excellent show

 

Yeah he's one of those guys that compensates for losing his fastball by learning how to fake it with breaking balls on the corners and deception. Total veteran

 

Hoping to explore more of his 80s records this week. Major missed area for me

 

Chris is going to kill me for making this my first post here: but damn his contributions to The Lion King are stellar

 

Knowing I was picking him, I revisited Honky Chateau today. His band on that record is as good as anyone's ever was, even more impressive because it was their first fully assembled together. The variety of styles they cover is dizzying and their harmonies as a group are really what take Elton's peak era to a new level.

 

I've only heard the first two albums in the Crash Course, which are great, but haven't digged any further. Elton's a bit of a blindspot for me, so I look forward to hearing more this week!

 

HOLD ME CLOSER TONY DANZA

 

Very excited for this one. He was an artist I started getting into around the same time I was first deep diving the Springsteen and Billy Joel discographies, but I never got as far as I wanted. I will try to rectify that this week, and be better about posting in here than I was in the Stevie thread.

Also, still probably going to go back to the Stevie thread, because I've been listening to him more this weekend.

 

Elton has such a huge catalog that really everybody still has room to explore, myself included. I've heard like 17 records, and still am excited to explore

 

I would be remiss not to mention how much I love it when Cameron Crowe throws Elton songs in his soundtracks. Obviously, the "Tiny Dancer" scene in Almost Famous is iconic, but the scene with "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" from the same movie is almost as great, and "My Father's Gun" is the cornerstone to what might be my favorite film soundtrack ever in Elizabethtown.

 

Have you listened to his new one? I wasn't such a fan of that, but I remember liking The Diving Board a fair amount whenever that came out.

 

The new one was fun, but just a total catalog listen, while The Diving Board was really trying for something

 

He was one of the artists I listened to a lot when I started listening to music based off of my mom's music tastes.

I still go back to his catalog all of the time. I enjoyed the Diving Board more than the the latest one but there are good songs on all of his records.

 

Even if you feel like you know enough albums from him, and don't think you need or want to do too much exploring this week, by all means post your thoughts on the records you do know, talk about your experiences with his music, give people some guidance on what you like and what you think they should listen to, etc. That's going to be the awesome part about having people with varying levels of experience in these artists we pick every week

 

Sounds neat. My favorite song is Daniel.

Funny story: Yesterday, I came back from the gym, and my mom was playing Elton's greatest hits CD and Daniel was on. I burst into her room and we had an impromptu sing-a-long it was awesome!

I have seen him live twice and hopefully I can see him again soon. Such an amazing performer.

 

Tumbleweed Connection is pretty damn cool. It's got this strong country / blues vibe running through it, but sometimes Elton just gets pure funky with it, like on Son of your Father, with some real groovy basslines. It's a very cinematic, dramatic album, Elton's never been afraid to ham it up, but he gets it just right on this one, creates a mood and an atmosphere, without going overboard. Some mildly experimental and non-conventional song structures here, which keep things interesting. My favourite are probably the more soulful, gospel tracks, rather than the bluesy ones, but it was a great listen.

 

Really glad you liked it. I feel like a lot of people never get to it because it doesn't have any of his hits, really, but it's such an ambitious and complete album. Later when he'd cover a lot of stylistic ground, it would never feel this cohesive, but it all hangs together on this one. There are just so many good songs, too. "Amoreena", "Country Comfort", "Come Down in Time", and "Burn Down the Mission", among others, have emerged as career favorites for me.

 

One of the biggest keys to how awesome his peak was: Paul Buckmaster. His string arrangements are never low-key. But they're also never cheesy. They always add this epic sweep that brings his best music to another level. They turn Tumbleweed Connection from just a western-themed album into a cinematic-feeling Western. And they make Madman Across the Water impossibly epic.

 

Whenever I try and listen to Madman Across The Water I end up just repeating "Tiny Dancer" for an hour. I really love the album, but I get so wrapped up in "Tiny Dancer" a lot of the time

 

But the song after it is freakin' "Levon"!

 

But the song before it is "Tiny Dancer"!