Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

This article is about the Elton John album. For the single of the same name, see Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (song).

Untitled

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1973. It is regarded by many as his magnum opus. With worldwide sales of at least 20 million it is his best selling studio album. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. Template:RS500

History

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville, where John had previously recorded Honky Château and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. The amount of material was such that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released as a double album, his first. This album had originally been planned to be recorded in Jamaica, since The Rolling Stones had recorded Goats Head Soup there. Technical difficulties, coupled with political unrest in the country at the time forced the band to make an early departure without any productive work getting done.

In addition to the three successful singles released from this album (see below), many other cuts received substantial airplay at AOR stations when it was released, including "Harmony"; the 11-minute epic, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"; and his Marilyn Monroe tribute, "Candle in the Wind." It was produced by Gus Dudgeon.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Side one

1. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" – 11:09
2. "Candle in the Wind" – 3:49
3. "Bennie and the Jets" – 5:23

Side two

1. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – 3:13
2. "This Song Has No Title" – 2:23
3. "Grey Seal" – 4:00
4. "Jamaica Jerk-Off" – 3:38
5. "I've Seen That Movie Too" – 5:58

Side three

1. "Sweet Painted Lady" – 3:54
2. "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1903-34)" – 4:23
3. "Dirty Little Girl" – 5:01
4. "All the Girls Love Alice" – 5:09

Side four

1. "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n' Roll)" – 2:42
2. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" – 4:53
3. "Roy Rogers" – 4:08
4. "Social Disease" – 3:43
5. "Harmony" – 2:46

Bonus tracks (2003 30th Anniversary Hybrid SACD Deluxe Edition / DVD-A Edition)

1. "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" – 2:51
2. "Jack Rabbit" – 1:49
3. "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" – 4:43
4. "Candle in the Wind" [Acoustic version] – 3:51

The original LP and CD issues were on two discs, while the 1995 CD remaster put the album on one disc as it was slightly less than 80 minutes. The 30th anniversary edition followed the original format, splitting the album across two discs to allow the inclusion of the bonus tracks, while a DVD on the making of the album was also included. There is also an MFSL version of the album.

B-sides

Song	Format
"Jack Rabbit"	Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting 7" (US/UK)
"Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)"	Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 7" (US/UK)
"Screw You (Young Man's Blues)"	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 7" (US/UK)

Personnel

• "Funeral for a Friend"
  • Elton John – piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer

• "Love Lies Bleeding"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer

• "Candle in the Wind"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

• "Bennie and the Jets"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, organ
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – Leslie guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "This Song Has No Title"
  • Elton John – vocals, Farfisa organ, electric piano, mellotron, piano

• "Grey Seal"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, mellotron, electric piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, congas

• "Jamaica Jerk-Off"
  • Elton John – vocals, organs
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Prince Rhino – vocal Interjections

• "I've Seen That Movie Too"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Sweet Painted Lady"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, tambourine
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Dirty Little Girl"
  • Elton John – vocals, Leslie piano, mellotron
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "All the Girls Love Alice"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer
  • Ray Cooper – tambourine
  • Kiki Dee – background vocals

• "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, Farfisa organ
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric, slide guitars, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

• "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "Roy Rogers"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, steel guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Social Disease"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, Banjo
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Leroy Gomez – saxophone

• "Harmony"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

Production

• Producer: Gus Dudgeon
• Engineer: David Hentschel
• Assistant engineers: Peter Kelsey, Andy Scott
• Tape operator: Barry Sage
• Orchestra contractor: David Katz
• Arranger: Del Newman
• Art direction: David Larkham, Michael Ross
• Artwork: David Larkham, Michael Ross, Ian Beck
• Liner notes: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1973	UK Album Chart	1
1973	Billboard Pop Albums	1
1987	The Billboard 200	114

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1973	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	UK Singles Chart	6
1973	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	Billboard Adult Contemporary	7
1973	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	Billboard Pop Singles	2
1973	Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting	UK Singles Chart	7
1974	Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting	Billboard Pop Singles	12
1974	Bennie and The Jets	Billboard Pop Singles	1
1974	Candle In The Wind	UK Singles Chart	11

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
BPI – UK	Gold	October 1 1973
RIAA – USA	Gold	October 12 1973
BPI – UK	Platinum	February 1 1975
RIAA – USA	Platinum	March 23 1993
RIAA – USA	Double Platinum	March 23 1993
RIAA – USA	Triple Platinum	March 23 1993
RIAA – USA	4x Platinum	March 23 1993
RIAA – USA	5x Platinum	March 23 1993
RIAA – USA	6x Platinum	September 11 1995
RIAA – USA	7x Platinum	August 26 1998