Elton John (album)
Untitled | |
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | (B)[2] |
Rolling Stone | (not rated)[3] |
Elton John is the second album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, released in April 1970. However, because it was his first album released in America, many people there assumed it was his first album, as Empty Sky was not released in the US until 1975. Elton John includes his breakthrough hit, "Your Song", and helped to establish his career during what was considered the "singer-songwriter" era of popular music. In the US, it 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.
In 2003, the album was ranked No. 468 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. This was the first of many Elton John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance".[4]
Track listing
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
- Side one
- "Your Song" – 4:02
- "I Need You to Turn To" – 2:35
- "Take Me to the Pilot" – 3:47
- "No Shoe Strings on Louise" – 3:31
- "First Episode at Hienton" – 4:48
- Side two
- "Sixty Years On" – 4:35
- "Border Song" – 3:22
- "The Greatest Discovery" – 4:12
- "The Cage" – 3:28
- "The King Must Die" – 5:23
Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)
- "Bad Side of the Moon" – 3:15
- "Grey Seal" (Original version) – 3:35
- "Rock and Roll Madonna" – 4:17
Bonus tracks (2008 deluxe edition)
- Disc one - original album
- Disc two
- "Your Song" (Piano demo) – 3:35
- "I Need You to Turn To" (Piano demo) – 2:12
- "Take Me to the Pilot" (Piano demo) – 2:36
- "No Shoe Strings on Louise" (Piano demo) – 3:33
- "Sixty Years On" (Piano demo) – 4:21
- "The Greatest Discovery" (Piano demo) – 3:58
- "The Cage" (Piano demo) – 3:21
- "The King Must Die" (Piano demo) – 5:24
- "Rock and Roll Madonna" (Piano demo) – 3:11
- "Thank You Mama" (Piano demo) – 3:20
- "All the Way Down to El Paso" (Piano demo) – 2:49
- "I'm Going Home" (Piano demo) – 3:05
- "Grey Seal" (Piano demo) – 3:19
- "Rock And Roll Madonna" (Alternate take) – 2:55
- "Bad Side of the Moon" – 3:13
- "Grey Seal" (Original version) – 3:36
- "Rock and Roll Madonna" – 4:17
- "Border Song" (BBC session) – 3:21
- "Your Song" (BBC session) – 4:01
- "Take Me to the Pilot" (BBC session) – 3:33
On the album released in Portugal, a French horn is used in the introduction to "The Greatest Discovery" instead of a cello as is found on all other versions. An extended version of the introduction to "Sixty Years On" is available on the 1990 box set To Be Continued.
The original German release from 1970 (Hansa 80807) opens with the song "Rock and Roll Madonna", and the song "I Need You to Turn To" does not appear on the LP. The rest of the tracks and the running order remain the same as the worldwide release.
The album was remastered as a multichannel Super Audio CD in 2004.
B-sides
Song | Format |
---|---|
"Bad Side of the Moon" | "Border Song" 7" (US) |
"Into the Old Man's Shoes" | "Your Song" 7" (UK) |
Personnel
- Elton John – piano, vocals (All tracks), harpsichord (track 2)
- Frank Clark – acoustic bass (track 10), acoustic guitar (1)
- Colin Green – additional guitars (track 1, 7), Spanish guitar (6)
- Roland Harker – guitar (track 2)
- Clive Hicks – acoustic guitar (track 9), rhythm guitar (4), twelve-string guitar (1), guitars (7-8, 10)
- Alan Parker – rhythm guitar (track 3)
- Caleb Quaye – lead guitar (tracks 3-5), additional guitars (9)
- Les Hurdle – bass guitar (track 10)
- Dave Richmond – bass guitar (tracks 1, 7-8)
- Alan Weighall – bass guitar (tracks 3-4, 9)
- Brian Dee – organ (tracks 6-7)
- Diana Lewis – Moog synthesizer (tracks 5, 9)
- Paul Buckmaster – cello solo (track 8)
- Skaila Kanga – harp (tracks 2, 8)
- David Katz – violin
- Terry Cox – drums (tracks 8, 10)
- Dennis Lopez – percussion (tracks 3-4)
- Barry Morgan – drums (tracks 1, 3-4, 7, 9)
- Tex Navarra – percussion (track 9)
- Madeline Bell – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Tony Burrows – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Roger Cook – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Lesley Duncan – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Kay Garner – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Tony Hazzard – backing vocals (tracks 3-4, 7, 9)
- Barbara Moore – backing vocals, choir leader (track 7)
Production
- Producer: Gus Dudgeon
- Engineer: Robin Geoffrey Cable
- Editing: Gus Skinas
- Remastering: Tony Cousins
- Digital transfers: Ricky Graham
- Surround sound: Greg Penny
- Lyricist: Bernie Taupin
- Arranger: Paul Buckmaster
- Orchestra contractor: David Katz
- Art direction: David Larkham
- Liner notes: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler
Accolades
- Grammy Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | Elton John | Album of the Year[5] | Nominated |
Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male[6] | Nominated |
Charts
Peak positions
|
Year-end charts
Certifications
|
References
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine "Elton John". Allmusic.
- ^ "CG: elton john". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ [1] Archived 2007-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Grammy.org. Retrieved 21 December 2012
- ^ "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1970–1979". grammy.org. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male". rockonthenet.com. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 14, No. 26". RPM. 13 February 1971. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "dutchcharts.nl Elton John – Elton John" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
- ^ "Elton John > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Allmusic: Elton John : Charts & Awards : Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1971" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ articles with dead external links%5d%5d%5b%5bCategory:Articles with dead external links from February 2016%5d%5d[%5b%5bWikipedia:Link rot|dead link%5d%5d] "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1971". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
{{cite web}}
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value (help) - ^ "American album certifications – Elton John – Elton John". Recording Industry Association of America.