Elton John, The #3 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

Guitarist Davey Johnstone, who played on the aforementioned track on Madman Across the Water, joined the band in time for the release of the album Honky Château in 1972.  

 

This classic was released at a time of great curiosity in outer space and mankind's desire to push the limits.  The subject is a son who longs to be an astronaut just like his father.  The son's idol doesn't seem to be fully committed to his cause, being tempted to go to the stars while also mournfully regretting leaving his family behind.  He agrees to one last mission that has disastrous results.  "Rocket Man" soared to #2 in the U.K., #6 in the United States and Ireland and #8 in Canada, and has also now sold over six million.

 Honky Chateau became the first of a string of #1 albums which carried John to superstardom.  There was no one hotter than Elton from 1972-75.  The riffs that EJ came up with, including on "Honky Cat", were from another world.  Like other early songs, there can be no doubt just who the "honky cat" is.  Taupin, born on a farm in Lincolnshire, made it known in no uncertain terms where he would rather be.  But he purposely made the lyrics ambiguous as to whether the honky cat made it back to his roots or made his fame and fortune in New Orleans.  The single peaked at #4 in New Zealand and #8 in the U.S.

 

Here is Bernie's ode to New York City:  "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters".  Elton, who identifies with the subject matter which alternates between despair and optimism, says it is one of his favorites.  In spite of his nearly unparalleled talent and success, he also experienced his own psychological problems including extreme bulimia as well as the problems resulting from alcohol and drug abuse.

 

The album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player followed, the first to be released by MCA, which had consolidated Uni into the parent organization.  Elton scored his biggest career hit to date with the #1 smash "Crocodile Rock" (#1 in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland), another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.

One of Elton's most memorable performances of this song was on September 7, 1973 at the Hollywood Bowl.  His engineer, Clive Franks, played electric piano behind him while wearing a giant crocodile head. 

 

"Daniel", about a Vietnam veteran, reached #1 in Canada and on the Adult chart in the U.S. (#2 overall) while topping out at #2 in New Zealand and Norway, #4 in the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland, #5 in Switzerland and #8 in the Netherlands.

 

John was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for "Daniel".  The album's title is from a placque Bernie saw while in an American novelty shop.  "Elderberry Wine" was released as the B-side to "Crocodile Rock" and received a lot of airplay on AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) stations.  Taupin had his tongue firmly in cheek when he wrote this one.

This tender ballad is another example of Bernie's best lyrics--"High Flying Bird".

In 1973, John released the phenomenal album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, not only one of The Top Double Albums of the Rock Era* but one of The Top 100 Albums*.  This song was the only one recorded in Jamaica but Elton and the band were dissatisfied with the recording equipment and re-recorded it and the rest of the album in France.

GYBR was Elton's sixth album in four years, and those six contained some of the most beloved songs of his career.  "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" was the opening single, #7 in the U.K. but with a peak of #12 in the United States, another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  The single highlighting Johnstone's guitar playing has to date sold over four million units, very much defying the #12 peak position. and was a solid #2 in the U.S.  Taupin was happy with the direction Elton took the song.  In the Eagle Vision documentary, Classic Albums:  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bernie said it features one of the greatest "strident, blistering guitar chords ever created in Rock & Roll.

 

It really was a magical time for Elton and the band, as they took just two weeks to record this masterpiece.  "I would write at breakfast at the table," he told the BBC.  "The band would join in.  And by the time breakfast was over, we'd written and rehearsed two songs, and we went in the studio and recorded them.  The boys did the backing vocals while I was in bed.  It was the height of our powers.  

In the title song, the Yellow Brick Road leads to cunning and deceit, a long way from the owls, hedgehogs and toads on the farm in Lincolnshire from where Taupin grew up.  He wants to break away from the controlling romantic partner who wants to display him at parties "where the dogs of society howl".

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" roared to #1 in Canada and New Zealand, #2 in the U.S., #4 in Australia and Ireland and #6 in the U.K.  The single has gone over four million in sales.

 

After a very successful year that included two albums, John and Taupin wrote this as a "thank-you card to fans".  They wrote it on a Sunday morning and Elton and the band recorded it at Trident Studios that afternoon.  "Step Into Christmas" has become a holiday favorite.

Don't worry, there's much more from the classic double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road--hear that in Part Four, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!