Elton John (album)

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Elton John
Elton John - Elton John.jpg
Studio album by
Released10 April 1970 (1970-04-10)
RecordedJanuary 1970
Studio Trident, London
Genre Soft rock
Length39:27
Label
Producer Gus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Empty Sky
(1969)
Elton John
(1970)
Tumbleweed Connection
(1970)
Singles from Elton John
  1. "Border Song"
    Released: 3 April 1970
  2. "Your Song"
    Released: 26 October 1970

Elton John is the second [a] studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released on 10 April 1970 through DJM Records. Including John's breakthrough single "Your Song", the album helped establish his career during the rise of the singer-songwriter era of popular music.

Contents

In the US, Elton John was certified gold in February 1971 by the RIAA. In the same year, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2003, the album was ranked number 468 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance". [1]

Production

This was the first of a string of John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. As Dudgeon recalled in a Mix magazine interview, the album was not actually intended to launch John as an artist, but rather as a collection of polished demos for other artists to consider recording his and co-writer Bernie Taupin's songs. [2] Two songs from the album did find their way into the repertoire of other artists in 1970: "Your Song" was recorded by Three Dog Night as an album track on their LP It Ain't Easy , while Aretha Franklin released a cover of "Border Song" as a single that reached number 37 in the US pop charts and number 5 on the R&B chart, later included on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black .

The song "No Shoe Strings on Louise" was intended (as homage or parody) to sound like a Rolling Stones song. [3] [4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]

John Mendelsohn in a contemporary (1970) review for Rolling Stone felt that the album was over-produced and over-orchestrated, comparing it unfavourably with the less mannered and orchestrated Empty Sky ; though he felt that John had "so immense a talent" that "he'll delight you senseless despite it all". [7] Robert Christgau in his weekly "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice also felt the album was overdone ("overweening", "histrionic overload", "semi-classical ponderousness"), but that it had "a surprising complement of memorable tracks", including "Your Song" which, despite its "affected offhandedness", he considered "an instant standard". [8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Your Song"4:04
2."I Need You to Turn To"2:32
3."Take Me to the Pilot"3:46
4."No Shoe Strings on Louise"3:31
5."First Episode at Hienton"4:48
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Sixty Years On"4:35
7."Border Song"3:22
8."The Greatest Discovery"4:12
9."The Cage"3:28
10."The King Must Die"5:21
Total length:39:27
Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)
No.TitleLength
11."Bad Side of the Moon"3:15
12."Grey Seal"3:35
13."Rock and Roll Madonna"4:18
Total length:50:35
2008 deluxe edition bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Your Song" (Demo version)3:33
2."I Need You to Turn To" (Piano demo)2:10
3."Take Me to the Pilot" (Piano demo)2:34
4."No Shoe Strings on Louise" (Piano demo)3:31
5."Sixty Years On" (Piano demo)4:20
6."The Greatest Discovery" (Piano demo)3:56
7."The Cage" (Demo version)3:20
8."The King Must Die" (Piano demo)5:22
9."Rock and Roll Madonna" (Piano demo)3:10
10."Thank You Mama" (Piano demo)3:19
11."All the Way Down to El Paso" (Piano demo)2:48
12."I'm Going Home" (Piano demo)3:03
13."Grey Seal" (Piano demo)3:18
14."Rock and Roll Madonna" (Incomplete band demo)2:53
15."Bad Side of the Moon"3:11
16."Grey Seal" (1970 version)3:34
17."Rock and Roll Madonna"4:16
18."Border Song" (BBC session)3:19
19."Your Song" (BBC session)3:59
20."Take Me to the Pilot" (BBC session)3:33
Total length:65:49

B-sides

SongFormat
"Bad Side of the Moon""Border Song" 7" (US)
"Into the Old Man's Shoes""Your Song" 7" (UK)

Live recordings

John performed many of these songs live, [9] and included six of these ten songs on his 1987 album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra .

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

Technical

Accolades

Grammy Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1971 Elton John Album of the Year [10] Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male [11] Nominated

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [20] Gold20,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [21] Platinum100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [22] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [23] Platinum1,000,000 [24]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. Elton John was John's first album to be released in the United States, as his debut album Empty Sky (1969) would not be released there until 1975.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocket Man (song)</span> 1972 single by Elton John

"Rocket Man" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.

<i>Revamp & Restoration</i> 2018 dual tribute album to Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Revamp: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin and Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin are two tribute albums to English musician Elton John and his frequent songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, both released on 6 April 2018. Revamp was described as John's project and features covers of the duo's back catalogue by pop, rock and R&B artists, whereas Restoration was seen as Taupin's project and features covers by country music artists. Revamp was released via Island Records and Restoration by Universal Music Group Nashville. The release of the albums coincided with John's 2018–2023 Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

References

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  4. Bernardin, Claude (1995). Rocket Man: Elton John From A – Z . Westport, Conn.: Greenwood/Praeger. p.  186. ISBN   0-275-95698-9. He tried to impersonate Mick Jagger. The song is about loose women.
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