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

 

(Continued from Part Four)

"Philadelphia Freedom" was written by Taupin about Elton's friend Billie Jean King.  King at the time was a player/coach for the Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team.  It was one of the biggest hits of the year, reaching #1 in both the United States and Canada and a Platinum record.

John released the album of his career in 1975, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the first album in history to debut at #1.  The concept album tells the story of Elton and Bernie Taupin struggling in the early days, when Dick James & company just wanted to use of the talents of these legendary songwriters for his own purposes.  

 

While most of the Taupin/John compositions must be marveled at for the interpretative musical arrangements which Elton came up with to someone else's lyrics, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is clearly about Elton.  

The song tells the story about his secretary in the 60's, Linda Woodrow, who also helped get Elton and Bernie off the ground with financial assistance.  Woodrow and John became romantically involved, but Elton ended it two weeks before they were due to be married after listening to the advice of former bandmate and friend Long John Baldry.

In 2020, Elton helped pay for Woodrow's medical fees, despite the two losing contact for 50 years.  "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is underrated even at #2 in Canada and #4 in the U.S.; most stations had it #1.

 

Get set to hear some great album tracks as treats from this amazing album.  This one wasn't released as a single but should have been.  It perhaps better than any other track tells the despair the pair felt in their early days, to wit:  "The world's in front of me in black and white; I'm on the bottom line."  Taupin wrote more great lyrics:  "While the Diamond Jim's and the King's Road pimps breathe heavy in their brand new clothes..."  Another of Elton's great rockers (with a great riff from Johnstone) is "(Gotta' Get A) Meal Ticket".

"Bitter Fingers" is another song about the pair's frustration at writing songs for other artists instead of themselves.

  

"Tower Of Babel" is about the tough times the songwriting duo underwent to escape the doldrums of the industry and finally make it big.

Elton has said he felt a real connection with the lyrics in this song.  The line "Our Empty Sky was filled with laughter" is of course a reference to the early days which included that album.  Casual fans might interpret the song to be Elton's words, but it is Bernie putting the words in Elton's mouth--"We All Fall In Love Sometimes".

Captain Fantastic was already certified Gold before it shipped, reached the Top 5 in nearly every civilized country and has topped three million in sales.  But it's even better than that and here's another reason why--"Better Off Dead".

One of the greatest timekeepers and beatmakers of the Rock Era, Nigel Olsson, is superb with the sticks. It makes it even more amazing to know that the music was written for this classic album in about a week.  Percussionist Ray Cooper told Uncut magazine about the experience:

               Elton decided to take everybody on the

               boat to New York, and then we would go to

               Caribou Ranch out in Colorado to record.  

               His idea, which worked perfectly, was that

               he would write the material on the boat.  

               We went on the SS France, and it turned

               out to be the last voyage of that ship.  He

               had a suite with a grand piano, and he 

               wrote all the material for "Captain

               "Fantastic" on that boat trip, which was 

                six days.  Go figure that one!

 

Elton was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and rather than be cited for a song, as was customarily the case, the Academy recognized him for the work on the entire album.  Here is the outstanding title song that takes listeners to the early days of the partnership, and enjoy the great percussion of Ray Cooper--he is an unsung hero!

 

This track, while always well thought of, has been picking up steam the last few years (sorry for the pun!).  It is another song where we can feel Taupin just aching to go back to the country life.  According to Barry Toberman's biography of Elton, the whistle in the song refers to the train back to rural Lincolnshire.  Another great track here--"Tell Me When The Whistle Blows".

"Curtains" is the conclusion of "We All Fall In Love Sometimes" above, with the narrator speaking of life's regrets, told by Taupin and his memory of relationships and the lamentation of the end of those relationships (particularly the one with his wife Maxine) while Bernie and Elton were climbing the ladder of musical success.  Tension is created and then released with the thunderous and wonderful bashing of Nigel Olsson's drums.

Hold that thought to see what happens in Part Six!