Elton John [Remastered] [Hybrid SACD] - Elton John > Reviews > The breakthrough album

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Quality of production, music & lyrics
Disadvantages:	Gloomy cover, will take ages to 'grow on you'

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It had been two & a half years since a little known musician called Elton John & his lyricist Bernie Taupin first met. In that time they got a job writing songs for Dick James Music publishers but had failed to get anyone's attention. They had released a coupe of singles but they had sunk without trace & even released an album called Empty Sky which failed to make any impression on the public.
They had even submitted a song for Lulu in the 1969 Eurovision song contest but it came last when it came to a public vote, 'Boom bang-a-bang' won instead. So as you can imagine moral was very low between the two of them.

It was January 1970, the start of new decade & for them the chance for a new start. They had written some more songs & a basic recording of 'Your Song' was amongst them. Their first album 'Empty Sky' was produced by Steve Brown in 1969 who also worked at Dick James Music & when he heard 'Your Song' he decided that it had to be produced by an experienced producer. He approached the Beatles producer George Martin, he liked what he heard but his demands were far too high.
At this point Brown decided that the songs would benefit an orchestral arrangement & he approached Paul Buckmaster as the arranger. He in turn suggested an up & coming producer called Gus Dudgeon who had already worked with him on David Bowie's Space Oddity.
At first Dudgeon wasn't keen to be involved with an unknown artist until he heard a couple of the songs & changed his mind.
Next problem was that Elton didn't have a band so sessions musicians would be used for the recording of the album, these included:

Caleb Quaye, Roland Harker & Colin Green on guitar
Dave Richmond, Les Hurdie & Alan Weighll on bass guitar
Frank Clark on acoustic guitar
Clive Hicks on 12 string guitar
Alan Parker on rhythm guitar
Colin Green on Spanish guitar
Barry Morgan & Terry Cox on drums
Dennis Lopez & Tex Navarra on percussion
Paul Buckmaster on solo cello
Diana Lewis on moog synthesiser
Brian Dee on organ
Skaila Kanga on harp
Backing vocals were Tony Burrows, Kay Garner, Tony Hazzard, Madeline Bell, Leslie Duncan & Roger Cook.

Dick James had set a £6000 budget to record the album & it was recorded in January 1970 at the Trident Studios in London. It was only half finished when the £6000 budget had been used up. Dudgeon had to go 'cap in hand' to Dick James to get more money to finish the album. Once Dick James heard the finished recordings he released the money & it was completed. The whole album was recorded live & completed in a week.

Produced by Gus Dudgeon
Orchestral arrangements by Paul Buckmaster
Co-ordinated by Steve Brown
Engineered by Robin Geoffrey Cable

The album was simply called 'Elton John', with a rather dark & gloomy picture of Elton looking like Manfred Mann on the front cover. The album was released on April 10th 1970 with a single called 'Border Song' released a month sooner on March 20th 1970. Apart from the album hitting number 45 in the charts for one week, both single & album made little impression.

In America a record promoter called Russ Regan heard the album & was so impressed by it that he signed up Elton to the Uni label, a subsidiary of MCA records. Elton by now had a band together with Nigel Olsen on drums & Dee Murray on lead guitar.
Regan asked for Elton & his band to attend a week long series of concerts at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles & invited a list of influential music journalists to attend. Although Elton was the support act the concert became legendary & attracted many big names such as Neil Diamond & Bob Dylan.
Elton didn't just sit at the piano & play his music, he belted out his songs on the piano kicking away his piano stool, standing on the piano & playing while jumping around, the crowds went wild & the journalists thought he would become the next 'king of rock'.

Needless to say his album & single sales in the USA took off & interest in him in the UK started in early 1971 with the release of 'Your Song' on the 7th January 1971 which peaked at number 7 in the charts. At last Elton & Bernie got their breakthrough & the rest as they say, is history.

Originally when this album was released in 1970 it featured 10 tracks but this digital version from the 1990s added three more tracks that were recorded on the same sessions.

YOUR SONG
The most famous song on the album is an Elton classic & the album starts with it. It's a simple song with nice melody about a young boy meeting his first girlfriend. Bernie Taupin wrote the lyric in Elton's mum's kitchen table. The finest accolade Elton could ask for was when John Lennon had heard the song & remarked that "Elton was the first thing that has happened since the Beatles happened".

I NEED YOU TO TURN TO
It's hard to imagine that a teenage Bernie Taupin could write such beautiful lyrics as the ones on this song. Elton plays harpsichord on it with Skaila Kanga on the harp. On two of the lines he wrote
"And I need you to turn to when I lose control; you're my guardian angel who keeps out the cold"
"You're related in feeling but you're high above, you're pure & you're gentle with the grace of a dove". Beautiful words & a rather beautiful song.

TAKE ME TO THE PILOT
This more up tempo song was a firm favourite when he appeared live on stage in the early 1970s. What is the song about? Well not even Bernie Taupin knows & he wrote the words!!

NO SHOE STRINGS ON LOUSIE
Listen to this raunchy number & you would have thought Elton was American. It's song with a Southern drawl & is a great number with an infectious chorus.

FIRST EPISODE AT HIENTON
This song is supposed to have been written about Bernie's adolescent years in Lincolnshire, it's a very intense song, beautifully sung.

SIXTY YEARS ON
If they ever make an album of Elton's best work (not greatest hits) this song would be on it. It starts with the haunting sound of the orchestra strings then Elton on piano is gently introduced. The first line reads
"Who'll walk me down to church when I'm sixty years of age, when the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave". It's a real classic song, dramatic & beautifully produced.

BORDER SONG
The original single from the album which didn't make much impact in 1970, Eric Clapton did a lovely version of it in the 1990s.

THE GREATEST DISCOVERY
A song written about the celebration of the birth of a younger brother, the lyrics are fairly straight forward & it's a lovely ballad.

THE CAGE
A more up-tempo song with a catchy chorus, it features Diana Lewis on moog synthesiser.

THE KING MUST DIE
On the original album this was the last track & it's in the same mould as Sixty Years On, dramatic & a real classic.

BAD SIDE OF THE MOON
Although not on the original album this song was recorded on the same sessions & featured on the 'B' side to 'Border Song'.

GREY SEAL
The 'B' side to 'Rock n Roll Madonna, another single released in Jun 19th 1970, it too flopped but this track was re-recorded in 1973 for the Goodbye Yellowbrick Road album.

ROCK N ROLL MADONNA
Recorded at the same time as the album but failed to make an impact on the charts, its actually a very catchy song & deserves to be on the album.

This is not an album you could play whilst belting up the motorway, at first I found this album difficult to 'get into', at 18 I couldn't really appreciate the orchestral sounds & it wasn't until I was older that it eventually hit me. It's an album to play with headphones on in a moment of solitude & then it will be fully appreciated. I find it amazing that Elton & Bernie could write this standard of music so early in their careers, little wonder they got such critical acclaim in those early days.