Chapter 3 Elton John (1970)
Personnel:
Elton John: vocals, piano, harpsichord
Frank Clark: acoustic bass
Madeline Bell, Tony Burrows, Roger Cook, Lesley Duncan, Kay Garner, Tony Hazzard: backing vocals
Les Hurdle, Dave Richmond, Alan Weighill: bass
Paul Buckmaster: solo cello
Barbara Moore: choir lead
Terry Cox, Barry Morgan: drums
Frank Clark, Colin Green, Roland Harker, Clive Hicks, Alan Parker, Caleb Quaye: guitars
Skaila Kanga: Harp
Brian Dee: organ
Dennis Lopez, Tex Navarra: percussion
Diana Lewis: synthesizer
Recorded: Jan. 1970 at Trident Studios, London
Producer: Gus Dudgeon
Engineer: Robin Geoffrey
Cable Arranger: Paul Buckmaster
Release date: 10 April 1970 (UK), 22 July 1970 (US)
Chart placings: UK: 5, US: 4, CAN: 4, AUS: 4
Fresh from working with David Bowie, orchestral arranger Paul Buckmaster was hired to work on the Elton John album. Scoring had commenced when Beatles producer George Martin was invited to produce the record. Conflicting stories exist as to why this never eventuated. One says that Martin simply declined and the other that he agreed to on the condition that he also arrange the album. Elton turned this down preferring to remain with Buckmaster as arranger. His work on the Elton John album ultimately encapsulated not only orchestral arrangement but also parts for guitar, bass and drums, 'No Shoestrings On Louise' being an example of this.
Through Buckmaster came producer Gus Dudgeon. Elton later described the recording process as being 'Like an army manoeuvre with Gus as Sgt. Major.' The project was certainly a step-up from Empty Sky, with recording taking place at London's Trident Studios and an army of session players enlisted to highlight selected tracks. 'Your Song' alone had three guitarists, not to mention half the tracks including an orchestra, which Elton played with live. Taking into account a picturesque and exotic development in Bernie's lyrics, the combined audio effect of all as a development from Empty Sky to here, was analogous to the visual advancement from Super 8 to Cinemascope.
'Your Song' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
Released as a single A-side, 7 January 1971 (UK), b/w 'Into the Old Man's Shoes'. UK: 7. AUS: 11. NZ: 18.
Released as a single B-side, 26 October 1970 (US), b/w 'Take Me to the Pilot'. US: 8 CAN: 3.
On Monday 27 October 1969, Elton composed 'Your Song' from Bernie's lyric. His recording was preceded by Three Dog Night's cover on their It Ain't Easy album in March 1970. Elton's recording was dressed in the prevalent easy- listening pop ballad style and placed as album-opener - a clever way to seduce the listener and sneak-through the upcoming dramatic oeuvre that was to sprout from the song's ear-pleasing but conventional seed.
Before becoming a ubiquitous hit, 'Your Song' was issued as the B-side of 'Take Me to the Pilot' in the USA where it became the preferred choice for airplay.
Lyrically the song is more than a mere innocent expression of romantic admiration. The second verse refers almost entirely to the act of writing the lyric itself, which led to the myth that it was written on the roof at Dick James Music. The truth is less glamorous, Bernie having simply dashed it out over breakfast at Elton's home in 1969. The words securely insulate themselves against possible criticism by admitting their ineptitude for the task at hand, finally fumbling across the complimentary finish line. Clever stuff, and it all rolls off Elton's tongue as smooth as silk without suggesting a hint of self- indulgence. Art and commerce hand in hand, and possibly Elton's finest example of that particular phenomenon.
On the surface, 'Your Song' was subtle, a creeper if you like, compared to contemporary masterpieces like Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' or The Beatles' 'The Long and Winding Road'. But it fulfilled its function perfectly, pinpointing a specific generic co-ordinate to which Elton and Bernie need not necessarily return.
'I Need You to Turn To' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
Track two enters slightly uneasy territory. The atmosphere of harpsichord, nylon-stringed acoustic guitar and string section keeps the tone mellow, so you know you're in a similar neighbourhood to 'Your Song' but minus a rhythm section as a guide. The clear river of that song flows into this saltwater which has a calm surface but is deeper and darker. The narrator's admiration is desperate, and he admits to losing control, an un-nerving weakness that can only be subdued by the availability of the second person.
'I Need You to Turn To' is a brief taste of the drama that gives the album life further down the groove. It's a singular saline drip, gone in a flash so as not to unsettle you too much.
'Take Me to the Pilot' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
Released as a single A-side, 26 October 1970 (US and CAN), b/w 'Your Song'.
The perfect foil for what came before it, 'Take Me to the Pilot' brought some welcome rock and roll relief with Caleb Quaye's chunky rhythm guitar style to. the fore. New to the fray, Paul Buckmaster and his angry celli took a stylistic cue to develop on from 'It's Me That You Need'.
Gone were the sugar and salt of the first two songs, replaced by a lyrical flavour cryptic enough to be immune from assessment. If David Bowie had recorded an Elton John cover in 1970, this would have been the perfect choice. Abstract in approach and edgy in declaration, it could believably be a conceptual lyric template of sorts for parts of Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World, which came later in the year.
Title identification notwithstanding, 'Take Me to the Pilot' shared in the chart success of 'Your Song', its original flipside outside the UK.
'No Shoestrings on Louise' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
Intended as a Rolling Stones send-up, this country waltz arranged from top to bottom by Paul Buckmaster, harked toward the Americana themes of Tumbleweed Connection and represented a development in Elton's singing. The twang he adopted in jest here was destined to subtly reappear as the ideal companion to Bernie's coming odes to America's west and south. The naturally flowing vocal technique was never overstated and even occasionally crept into later material for which it was likely unintended.
This song also introduced a dark lyrical exoticism that established an ongoing undercurrent in the subsoil of Bernie's conceptual repertoire. This was timely. The sexual revolution had happened, so that topic was freely approachable, which merely provided a license for additional taboo motifs to spice things up sporadically. This development crept into the lyrics over time with the reaction of a match to petroleum in slow motion.
'First Episode at Hienton' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
Every song on the Elton John album was a musical statement in itself, so it made perfect sense when producer Gus Dudgeon later stated that the album was initially conceived as an elaborate demo of Elton's songs with the intention of getting them placed with other artists.
Startling in its compositional maturity, 'First Episode at Hienton' turned yet another corner, revealing more surprises. Its vivid recollection of young love gave a sense of watching an old home movie. The strings here were the first powerful exposure of arranger Paul Buckmaster on an Elton record. Subtle and understated compared to coming orchestral intensities, there was nevertheless an undercurrent of unfinished business built into this arrangement.
By the word 'arrangement', I refer not only to the string section but the instrumentation as a whole, which was masterfully manipulated to communicate the ideas. It's still a fascinating listen today. The general mood is gloom, as emphasised by the raining low string lines, but with shafts of sunlight occasionally filtering through. The eerie Moog synthesizer compliments of Diana Lewis creeps around the middle bridge section giving the track a sudden modern makeover, as does Caleb Quaye's trembling tremolo guitar toward the closing section. Highlighting specific moments, all these details not only create tension but keep the listener focused on the unfolding reminiscence to the end.
Astonishingly, in this period, Elton didn't write his songs down, preferring to store them in his head. It's unthinkable that a milestone such as this song could have been lost in a flash, as fast as he and Bernie were making them appear.
'Sixty Years On' (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
The initial release of 'Sixty Years On' was as a fascinating cover along with two other Elton songs on San Francisco rock band Silver Metre's self-titled 1969 album. Without Elton's recorded version as a guide, the band took the song to an utterly British sound, not...
