Elton John: Prisoner of New York
May 6, 2015 12:47 PM   Subscribe

In 1976 Elton John was one of the biggest superstars in pop music. His album from the previous year, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was the first album to enter the Billboard charts at #1. The follow-up album, Rock of the Westies, was the second album in history to enter the charts at #1. But behind the outrageous costumes and garish glasses was a lonely man whose fame had grown to the point where he and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin started referring to it as "The Beast". Thousands of adoring fans all over the world wasn't enough; as Elton confided to interviewer Cliff Jahr, "I crave to be loved".
posted by MattMangels (34 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
That's so interesting. I would be intrigued to hear from mefites older than me who remember Elton John's performances/cultural position from the seventies, because I definitely grew up thinking "Elton John, that's the really flashy guy who had that "Piano Man" song, no wait, that's Billy Joel, anyway the Boomers like him". He's sort of in this "I don't know what you actually sing but I think it's sappy adult contemporary" niche in my head.
posted by Frowner at 1:52 PM on May 6, 2015


I was born in '62 and grew up listening to AM radio. I recall Elton John's singles dominating the airwaves in the early 70s. As late as 1984, I heard people say that what Elvis was to the 50s, what the Beatles were to the 60s, and what Elton John was to the 70s, that's what Michael Jackson would be to the 80s. That certainly seemed the case in the early 70s, but then, after the Rolling Stone article, Elton seemed to just drop out of sight. When he came back his songs weren't the irresistible ear candy they were earlier. During the 80s he followed the same path to MOR that so many other 60s and 70s musicians did. My sons probably just think of him as the guy who wrote songs for Disney movies. When I think of Elton John, it's always his early hits -- "Your Song," "Daniel," "Rocket Man," "Honky Cat," "Crocodile Rock," "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," etc. -- that come to mind. But then, I always think of Springsteen as a 70s musician, too.
posted by ogooglebar at 2:14 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I can only speak for myself, but I am more of a fan of the John / Taupin works (say 1970 - 1975) than anything after. Once they split the songwriting just wasn't as good. (I'm Still Standing is a song I never need to hear again. I have never liked it ever.)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is untouchable. But this is also a pretty good album. I wasn't really even a "fan" of his early work until much later in my life (I was a child when all of these came out.)
posted by adamd1 at 2:16 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I saw him in concert in my junior year in high school in the 70's, a very fun event it was. That was when he was doing costumes like Liberace on LSD. A master pop musician, completely unthreatening.
For some visual fun, do an image search for "Elton John costumes 1970's"
posted by King Sky Prawn at 2:19 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I remember Elton from my 70's childhood. He had his great moments. Burn Down The Mission and The Bitch is Back still hold up great. He could rock then, now he's kinda veered off into show tune territory.
posted by jonmc at 2:22 PM on May 6, 2015


Elton John (Tumbleweed) and Rod Stewart (Mandolin Wind) from their early days is what I will remember these two artists for. Their later works are more commercially successful, but soulless by comparison.
posted by effluvia at 2:25 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was in high school when "Good-bye Yellow Brick Road" came out. It was HUGE. A double album, and most of the songs on it were really great. (I have "This Song Has No Title" on my ipod right now.) A lot of people I went to school with went to the concert when he came to Toronto. It was all anyone talked in class for the next couple of days. I agree that when he and Taupin parted ways something was lost.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:30 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


He was also great on the Muppet Show.
posted by dilettante at 2:39 PM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


(Taupin is still John's main lyricist and wrote the lyrics to "I'm Still Standing")
posted by sineater at 2:41 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Here's another factoid to help illustrate the enormity of EJ fandom: According to the Elton John biography His Song by Elizabeth J. Rosenthal, at the peak of his fame 2% of all records sold worldwide, across all genres, were Elton John records.
posted by MattMangels at 2:41 PM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


I am not overly fond of the "jumping the shark" meme -- most artistic endeavours or careers do not have a single moment where it all goes south -- but Madman Across the Water is one of the few perfect albums I have ever heard, with each song a gem. It is hard to realize that in four years and change, that Elton would have become the guy chirping "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" which opened the trap door into a few decades of slush -- "Little Jeanie", "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", "Nikita", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and on and on.

Looking at wikipedia, I find this revelatory quote:
He released The Union on 19 October 2010. John says his collaboration with American singer, songwriter and sideman Leon Russell marks a new chapter in his recording career, saying: "I don't have to make pop records any more."[123]
25 years too late, I think.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:47 PM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


Thanks for sharing this. A terrific little snapshot of a very human moment.

Personally, I think Tiny Dancer is one of the most unassailable creations in the history of pop. That scene in Almost Famous where it strikes up a singalong on the bus (led by Mark Kozelek, naturally) gets my eyes watering every time.

Whatever else Elton does, that song exists, and that's enough.
posted by mykescipark at 2:47 PM on May 6, 2015 [4 favorites]


I would be intrigued to hear from mefites older than me who remember Elton John's performances/cultural position from the seventies

We saw him at a stadium concert in the summer of 1976 when "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was the current hit. He was huge then, absolutely massive, and impressively so, considering other rock stars were able to coast a long way on their appearance and sexiness and coolness and moves, while Elton John was a pudgy, balding, gap-toothed, and, it was whispered, gay or bi or something, back when gayness was something you didn't admit to. He admitted to it and record sales fell.

If you're interested in him, you don't need to hear much after Blue Moves, and you could probably stop with Captain Fantastic.
posted by pracowity at 2:48 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm a young-ish person that grew up in San Francisco so I'm biased, but it's freakin' hilarious to read that people back then were just shocked, SHOCKED that Elton John wasn't straight. I mean, come on, really?
posted by MattMangels at 2:52 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I find it telling that everyone here seems to agree that basically anything Elton John did after 1975 is soulless, overcommercialized, bland, etc. Rockism at its peak sneer. Sort of like how Christgau once called him a "dangerous poseur" and said of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that "it seems to chatter on anonymously" and "this is one more double album that would make a nifty single."

I'm the first to admit that that he's recorded a hell of a lot of dreck. Who hasn't?

I'm a young-ish person that grew up in San Francisco so I'm biased, but it's freakin' hilarious to read that people back then were just shocked, SHOCKED that Elton John wasn't straight. I mean, come on, really?

People were very easily shocked when being publicly gay (or anything other than hetero) was a scandalous thing. Times change.
posted by blucevalo at 3:00 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


I think the release of Philadelphia Freedom in early 1975 caught my attention, as it did for millions of other people. (That link, BTW, goes to his live performance on Soul Train. Bonus from the same episode: Bennie and the Jets.) I also loved everything from Captain Fantastic (and I still have the LP and lyric booklet in my basement).

That single and my new focus on Dylan and Patti Smith in the fall of 1975 (and my discovery of the Ramones and punk in January 1976, when I first started buying CREEM) bracketed the intense phase of my Elton John fandom. It was a brief but thorough fandom that had me buying or borrowing a lot of his back catalogue for a few months and still listening to him with some affection into the new few years, although I shuddered when he released dross like this soon after. Catchy, but WTF with those lyrics, Taupin?

I think I wasn't the only conflicted semi-fan for those years. Rock royalty and punkish outsiders didn't seem to have much use for him. The writers at CREEM sometimes celebrated him (old MeFi thread here, archive.org mirror of the deleted Wall of Paul content here), but more often dissed him. But OTOH, he did well in CREEM's 1975 Reader's Poll.
posted by maudlin at 3:17 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh I understand that being gay was scandalous; what's hard for me to grasp is people's apparent ignorance of his alternative lifestyle. Unless a lot of people were just pretending that they didn't have a clue, which is also a possibility.

I find it telling that everyone here seems to agree that basically anything Elton John did after 1975 is soulless

I was going to post some links to great stuff Elton has done since he got sober in the early 90s, but it would be hard for me to pick just one song. I will say is that the songwriting on Peachtree Road is terrific (though I have heard fellow piano-playing Elton fans were disappointed by the relatively "boring" piano work on that album. I'm of the opinion that the songs are good enough that they don't need much flashiness). Elton's catalog is so vast that I bet almost none of you have heard this song he wrote with lyrics by Tim Rice, lyrics that were initially rejected by Andrew Lloyd Weber (plus drums by Jeff Porcaro!) Or did you know that he once recorded a song about cocaine with backing vocals by The Eagles?

Why yes, I did major in Eltonography, how could you tell? :)
posted by MattMangels at 3:17 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Well, valo, my comment above was meant as a tribute to the exceptional quality of John's early work, not as a sneer at all.
posted by effluvia at 3:18 PM on May 6, 2015


MattMangels: I would imagine that plenty of presumably straight male rock stars might have loved to wear something that flamboyant, for at least a segment of a show, in the '70s, although that wouldn't have lent itself to playing guitar very well. Maybe Dr. John could have pulled it off in more ragged/quasi-retro fashion the same era. (And the glam rock influence was heavy then.)
posted by raysmj at 3:36 PM on May 6, 2015


There's a pretty neat music video about all of this.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:01 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm a very big fan of Tumbleweed & Yellow Brick Road from back in my tadpole years. One thing that I recently learned: now that yt is making some old overlooked albums more easily accessible to hear, I found out that Empty Sky is actually pretty cool.

Useless hilarious trivia: 'Philadelphia Freedom' was a #1 hit throughout the USA in April 1975... except in the city of Philadelphia, where a novelty hockey song 'Penalty Box' by rough NHL player Dave Schultz briefly stole the local #1 spot during the NHL playoffs.
posted by ovvl at 4:45 PM on May 6, 2015 [5 favorites]


The fellow had seven great albums from Elton John to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It is very unusual for an artist like that to extend his streak at the top much further. How long do you think you could be close to like a Beatle without totally burning out on it?

(17-11-70 is one of the best live albums by anybody. It's in a radio studio so the acoustics are all clean.)
posted by bukvich at 5:19 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hey, this might be a good place to mention the Caribou Ranch studio where #1 album Brown Dirt (and part of its #1 predecessor) were recorded ... way WAY up in the high country over Boulder, CO. Joe Walsh finished Barnstorm there in 1972, and then the clients started rushing in.

For more have a look at the Music Biz Secrets writeup.
posted by Twang at 6:02 PM on May 6, 2015


I'm a young-ish person that grew up in San Francisco so I'm biased, but it's freakin' hilarious to read that people back then were just shocked, SHOCKED that Elton John wasn't straight. I mean, come on, really?

Elton John and David Bowie were the two living celebrities who were mentioned in The Book of Lists (1977) as being gay or bi, and I recall much schoolyard shock and nervousness among my cohort that such a thing would ever be revealed. Small City Canada; whaddya gonna do?

Of course, I suppose every generation has its apparently somehow successfully closeted celebrities. I remember asking my mom, who grew up in the fifties, how no one in her generation twigged on to Liberace's sexuality. She explained that "it just wasn't something considered as a possibility then."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:05 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Great post. One of my early Elton favorites was the New Orleans- gospel-ish "Take Me to the Pilot". Or who can forget, also from the first album, the poignant "I Need Yot to Turn To" one his loveliest and richest ballads. Both are helped by Paul Buckmaster's ballsy yet lush string arrangements. Great stuff.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 6:25 PM on May 6, 2015


In 1979 or so, aged eight, I was a massive fan of Watford FC; in a not unrelated fact, my father was Treasurer of the Supporters Club there. This was the period when Elton was Chairman.

After every home game, they would play Song For Guy from A Single Man, and, as a budding pianist, I really wanted to play it too, so my parents got me the A Single Man sheet music book.

On one rare occasion, it turned out that Elton was going to be around in the Supporters Club after a game, and my dad organised things so that I would get to be there too, along with my copy of the Song For Guy sheet music.

I'd just passed my Grade 1 piano exam, and Elton was absolutely lovely about it, and to me; he signed the book "Well done on your Grade 1, Keep Playing! Love, Elton".

You know what, Elton? I am still playing. Thank you.
posted by motty at 6:37 PM on May 6, 2015 [12 favorites]


I'm the first to admit that that he's recorded a hell of a lot of dreck. Who hasn't?

Otis Redding.
posted by ogooglebar at 8:01 PM on May 6, 2015


All I remember is seeing a press packet in '71, '72 introducing him as "the British answer to James Taylor". I guess he started out sort of melancholy and nostalgic. Took it in a different direction than Slim, though.
posted by Chitownfats at 8:04 PM on May 6, 2015


I think the release of Philadelphia Freedom in early 1975 caught my attention, as it did for millions of other people.

Amongst the sort of non-rock-mainstream people I hung out with, most of the attention was amusement at the (deliberately) misheard lyric.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:21 PM on May 6, 2015


I think the release of Philadelphia Freedom in early 1975 caught my attention, as it did for millions of other people.

Philadelphia Freedom was the first single I ever bought, right around the fervor of the US Bicentennial. Later, as a depressed teen I discovered and endlessly played "Your Song" during a brief stint in a psych ward which had a few of his albums in a dusty neglected corner of its community room. And I still remember the transcendent feeling of Bennie and the Jets playing through my aunt's high end car speakers 40 years ago -- leagues apart from the flatness of the AM radio I had been accustomed to.

I can't say he was ever my favorite singer; I liked a ton of his songs but never felt the need to learn his personal history and scrounge through every snippet of his canon like I did, say, with the Beatles. But he made a huge impact on my musical life, and seemed to keep popping up in the strangest places. At some point I decided I liked The Who and there was Elton John covering Pinball Wizard. I got into Elvis for a while, just in time for the Blue Eyes cover to come out. And in the height of my Beatles infatuation, I was stunned to realize that John Lennon had been lurking all along on the B-side of of my scratchy Philadelphia Freedom '45. singing along with Elton in a live performance. Talk about Instant Karma.
posted by xigxag at 8:34 PM on May 6, 2015


St. Louis used to have a free Fourth of July festival called the VP Fair. It was on the grounds of the Gateway Arch, squeezed between the Mississippi River and a whole mess of highways & streets, so it wasn't an easy place to get in or out of. It attracted about four score and seven thousand people who were all jammed together (I was one).

The afternoon headline act in 1982 was Elton John. Lots of people were curious how they were going to get him to the stage in the middle of the teeming masses. From a boat on the river? A helicopter? Driving seemed like it'd be impossible, between the traffic outside the fair and the throngs of fans who'd likely mob the vehicles once inside, even with a police escort.

Turns out he didn't have a police escort - he was a police escort. They found what was probably the smallest St. Louis PD uniform ever, with a cap intentionally a size or two too big that he wore low on his brow. Add a pair of very-un-Elton sunglasses, and voila. Officer John and a few real cops got out of a normal police vehicle and strolled through the crowd unremarked to the backstage entrance, whereupon Elton made his 2nd costume change of the day and performed.

I don't remember how he got out of the fair, though.
posted by NumberSix at 8:37 PM on May 6, 2015 [5 favorites]


Oh I understand that being gay was scandalous; what's hard for me to grasp is people's apparent ignorance of his alternative lifestyle. Unless a lot of people were just pretending that they didn't have a clue, which is also a possibility.

It is hard to understand because you first have to grasp how taboo just talking about homosexuality was even among supposedly liberal people, even after gay liberation got started. You sort of paid lip service to the idea that it was something people could do and were tolerant enough not to mind, but it all happened "over there" and certainly not anywhere in your own circles.

And the audience for such a massive crossover artist like Elton John went far beyond hip, young people towards that great mass of Silent Generation parents who certainly didn't know anything about that nor cared to find out

Homosexuality existed in that sort of doublethink no-mans land where the trappings of homosexuality (the campness, the dressing up, the sex) were somewhat understood to the point that gay and straight artists both could embrace it, but the lived reality of being gay was actively rejected by the socalled mainstream.

It's also hard to understand looking back now how nasty the mainstream press could be about homosexuality, especially in England: As late as 1984 The Sun talked about "The Perverts supporting the Pits" when gay groups raised money for the striking miners.
posted by MartinWisse at 6:24 AM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I mean, think about all the characters who are coded as gay in older film - with some exceptions (where we are intended to read the character as a villain or a failure) straight audiences wouldn't recognize this even though it seems pretty visible now. Gore Vidal has this whole story about how he basically created a past-gay-relationship subtext for Ben Hur, which he explained to one of the actors but not to the guy playing Ben Hur himself...and no one noticed, except that the subtext was intended to give some depth and tension to the story.

I can't figure out how to google it at work, but there was this one artist who worked in magazines and advertising from the thirties through the fifties and produced a lot of those "drawings of men in long underwear advertising long underwear, shaving supplies, etc" that seem so explicit now, very clingy union suits, lots of bending over, very camp, etc. His partner was the model for many of them and they're basically the equivalent of cheesecake pin-ups in general effect. And yet these ran on the covers and in the ad sections of all kinds of respectable Life-type magazines. Straight audiences didn't notice, but it wasn't just "oh, this was a normal way to depict men and our contemporary filthy minds find it sexual" - no, these were actual cheesecake dudes painted by an actual gay painter. It's just that it never occurred to anyone that this could be a gay thing.

It's always amusing to look at older advertising and magazine art and try to spot the stuff where the creatives were obviously gay or lesbian - I choose to believe that it was all fun and games like in Murder Must Advertise and not some kind of Mad Men-style miserable closeted existince.
posted by Frowner at 7:15 AM on May 7, 2015


Having been the first born in 1963, I came upon popular music in 1976 ( Grade 7). Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an eagle, Heart - Dreamboat Annie and Elton John's Greatest Hits Part One. We sang EJ song's in choir and did a terrible play at the end of the year using the music of EJ in a futuristic version of Cinderella. (that got me onto stage for the first time with a red cape, huge sunglasses, rollerskates lip syncing to Bennie and the Jets).

I came across this concert from 1982 that has him with his original four piece band, for the last tour before he went 'Disney'. It's pretty pricy to become a member of the ConcertVault site, but they have a lot of great concerts on there.
posted by drinkmaildave at 7:12 PM on May 7, 2015


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