Artist of the week: Elton John

I've seen him four times on two different tours -- three shows with Billy Joel and then with a five-piece band. Unbelievable each time simply for the range he has, and can turn the same song within that range.

 

Rotten Peaches.

 

I saw this and thought Donna Summer had died.

 

Elton John popped in my head for some reason, so I'll throw him out first.

Favorite song -- One track? Ugh.

Completely agree with Bubbler that "Someone Saved My Life" belongs among the top of the list, but I have a few others. "Tiny Dancer" is atop the list, too, along with "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Ticking," "Funeral For a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)" and the piano version of "Skyline Pigeon."

Favorite album -- Tie between "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy." Probably lean toward the latter by the slightest of margin because it was a little tighter and a sliver more thematic. Completely disagree with Bubbler about Elton John being a singles artist ... during his prime, he put out some of the best albums going. The remarkable factoid is that he had a deal in which he had to produce two albums a year for quite a few years. He and Bernie Taupin did it ... and, remarkably, hit a lot more than he missed. Now after he and Taupin worked together less frequently around 1976 or '77, I'd be more prone to agree that the singles were the thing and that his albums, as a whole, weren't nearly as good.

Other strong albums by Reginald Dwight include "Madman Across The Water," "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" and "Caribou." Very well done in their own right.


Other observations -- Good on Elton John for coming back after surgery for throat lesions, which, along with poor album sales, is what Geffen used to toss John out. He also eventually cut out the drugs, which somehow didn't kill him, and revived his career. If he had a weakness, it was that he tried to squeeze hits out of tracks on weak albums - at least by the crazy standard he set for himself in the early- and mid-'70s - and, again, those albums were as good as they were during his first decade of so solo with Taupin.

 

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was his best album.
Bennie and the Jets was his best song.
I love Philadelphia Freedom, which he wrote for the Billie Jean King-led Philadelphia Freedom WTA team.

 

Levon sells cartoon balloons in town.

 

Love Levon.
Little known gems include Social Disease from GYBR

 

I've just never dug Elton John.
Not my bag.

 

This was well-played ... if a bit overplayed.

Kind of like "Island Girl."

 

Damn, I finally got it.

 

The first Elton John album (CD) I owned was Madman Across the Water. I used to love that album, but I think Captain Fantastic is a bit better. Probably because it's more personal.
I always thought Empty Garden was a great song.

Some other songs that I like, not previously mentioned:
Harmony
My Father's Gun
All the Nasties
Son of your Father
Take me to the Pilot

 

Five good Elton Johns deep cuts:

1) "I've Seen The Saucers"
2) "Elderberry Wine"
3) "Pinky"
4) "Grey Seal"
5) "The Ballad of Danny Bailey"