The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

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Flex
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The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Flex »

I'm seeing Sir Elton is February and I have been drinking deeply of his catalogue circa 1970-1975 (and studiously avoiding everything he's done since except for the record he put out with Leon Russell a few years ago). I always like his hits and remember Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau as good records, but holy fuck and I digging his catalog anew. Since I've lived my whole life with ELTON JOHN SUPERSTAR I'd sort of forgotten what a rock n roll, honky tonkin' motherfucker he could be back before his career shot into the stratosphere. I mean, check this shit out:



I was listening to 11-7-70 the other and it fuckin' smokes. He's channeing Jerry Lee Lewis with his manic piano playing and bashing out versions of stuff like Honky Tonk Women like the hungry musician he still was then. Check out a couple of these cuts:

Take Me To The Pilot


Honky Tonk Women


Burn Down The Mission/My Baby Left Me/Get Back


Anyways, it's too bad he stopped recording music until 2010 after Rock of the Westies.
Last edited by Flex on 18 Jan 2019, 12:32pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by 101Walterton »

He was great in 1970’s when he was a complete lunatic and an absolute prick but he as he seems to have become a more reasonable person in recent years his music has suffered 😊

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Rat Patrol »



I hear Elton also did a cover of this. :shifty:

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by revbob »

Elton John makes me think about Mojo Nixon for some reason and in that respect I like him. And the Mojo song I'm thinking of is Ain't Gonna Wash No Dishes No More

Flex
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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Flex »

Here's Elton John recording an early version of Madman Across the Water with none other than Mick Ronson on gee-tar:
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Marky Dread »

Flex wrote:
16 Jan 2019, 1:04am
Here's Elton John recording an early version of Madman Across the Water with none other than Mick Ronson on gee-tar:
Great track and a really great vocal performance.
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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Heston »

The only two Elton songs I ever really think about are Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Philadelphia Freedom. This thread may change that.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Low Down Low »

Always liked Elton John up to A Single Man, after that it just gets progressively worse. What are considered the best early albums apart from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? Feel like going on an extended listening curve.

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by laxman »

Given today’s Top 5 topic, Daniel My Brother springs to mind.

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Flex »

Low Down Low wrote:
17 Jan 2019, 1:11pm
Always liked Elton John up to A Single Man, after that it just gets progressively worse. What are considered the best early albums apart from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? Feel like going on an extended listening curve.
It's interesting because Elton's best work is really strewn across his classic era. There's probably a three or four disc killer collection to put together of his work up until 75ish. That said, Tumbleweed Connection and, particularly, Honky Chateau are - to my mind - total stone cold classic records. Combine that with the previously mentioned 11-7-70 and you have some peak early-era Elton.

Also, his first record, Empty Sky isn't exactly great but includes some Sgt. Pepper's-ish rockers that are pretty fun.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Flex
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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Flex »

Flex's Initial Snap Opinions About Elton John Records Until He Totally Lost The Plot:

-Empty Sky (1969): Elton and Taupin haven't really figured their shit out yet, but there's a little bit of fun post-Pepper's psych-rock here. It's the more Elton John-ish stuff that pales by comparison to what would come shortly after. If you pick up the recent reissue with the bonus cuts, those are early non-album singles that are quite nice (like a lot of 90s/00s reissues there's plenty of nerdy music debate about the quality of the remasters vs. older CD issues. I... will not expound on that here).

Elton John (1970): Pretty good. Some of the deep cuts are, imho, a little forgettable but check out this parade of classics: Your Song, Take Me To The Pilot (I've discovered this is one of my fave EJ songs) and Border Song. Not bad.

Tumbleweed Connection (1970): A concept record and stone cold classic end to end. Only kinda overlooked because of how massive he became later, but this is Pure Impact Elton.

17-11-70 (1971): His best live album and still maybe my favorite release of his. If you can find it, an expanded version of this concert was released for Record Store Day a couple years ago and the extra tracks are worth it.

Madman Across The Water (1971): Not quite as good, but a lot of people rank this highly. I have to say: I prefer the earlier version of the title track with Mick Ronson. I think Tiny Dancer and Levon are sorta overrated.

Honky Château (1972): This is the first EJ record I listened to that got me revved up for the deep dive. Another total classic, he's dipping in and out of different styles. This feels like the last album he put out before he became Elton John The Big Name Star (and we haven't even gotten to GYBR!) and the passion here is great. "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself" is some dark, punk as fuck shit too.

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973): Great album name or greatest album name? The songwriting on this is almost as good as Honky Chateau but the production is muddy. Too bad. Still, really fun to listen to. Some major standards from this one, particularly Crocodile Rock, but the deep cuts like Elderberry Wine and Have Mercy On the Criminal are just as good (if not better).

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973): I'll just note that this is the SECOND album he released in 1973. Insane.

Caribou (1974): Pass.

Elton John's Greatest Hits (1974): This is probably essential. A lean and mean collection of early hits. One of those comps that's become renowned as an album in its own right.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975): This is really fun. Autobiographical concept album and his last end-to-end consistent record. Pick up the vinyl since the artwork is great too.

Rock Of The Westies (1975): A half good record. He was still able to put out singles like Grow Some Funk Of Your Own b/w I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) which is crazy good, but there's definite filler here.

Here and There (1976): This live album turned into an expanded 2-disc set with the remasters and the performances are... pretty good. Really worth it because he does a few Beatles songs with John Lennon on the second disc (in what would turn out to be Lennon's final public performance).

Blue Moves (1976): The end of the Elton/Taupin partnership for a while. I've spun this a few times and can't get my arms around it. Not great. Not as bad as what would come after.

Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II (1977): Make sure you get the Polydor version if you're looking for this, as it has a better track listing than earlier and later issues. The best way to collect some of the key hits from his spottier 70s records if you don't want to delve that deeply into the catalog.

The Complete Thom Bell Sessions (1989): Early attempts with Thom Bell to record what would, eventually, wind up being A Single Man. These tracks are all better than what he'd eventually release in '78.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Low Down Low »

Great stuff. One of first records I ever got my hands on was greatest hits vol 2 and I played it every day for years. Still love all the songs on it.

Have decided just to start from beginning. Listened to first two albums yesterday. Debut doesn’t do a lot for me but eponymously entitled second is rather good, several high quality tracks. Onto Tumbleweed today.

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Low Down Low »

Sixty Years on stands out for me from the EJ album, alongside the obvious Your Song and Border Song. But don’t think there are any weak cuts on it.

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Flex »

Low Down Low wrote:
18 Jan 2019, 1:02pm
Sixty Years on stands out for me from the EJ album, alongside the obvious Your Song and Border Song. But don’t think there are any weak cuts on it.
Yeah, Sixty Years is great. I probably need to give EJ a few more spins. I haven't really listened to the catalog in order, so EJ's gotten a little lost int he shuffle.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: The Elton John song you're thinking about right now thread

Post by Marky Dread »

Flex wrote:
18 Jan 2019, 1:08pm
Low Down Low wrote:
18 Jan 2019, 1:02pm
Sixty Years on stands out for me from the EJ album, alongside the obvious Your Song and Border Song. But don’t think there are any weak cuts on it.
Yeah, Sixty Years is great. I probably need to give EJ a few more spins. I haven't really listened to the catalog in order, so EJ's gotten a little lost int he shuffle.
I've read through your reviews mate and I could've virtually wriiten it the same word for word. Those early albums contain so much fantastic song writing.

I recently heard the 2006 album "The Captain and The Kid" which picks up from "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" and proves to me at least that Elton hasn't completely lost the plot.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

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