Elton John (album)

The self-titled second studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John was released on 10 April 1970 by DJM Records and by Uni Records in the United States.[2] The album was the first release by John in the United States because his album Empty Sky was not released in the country until 1975.

"The Greatest Discovery" redirects here. For the Star Trek podcast, see The Greatest Discovery (podcast).

Elton John
Studio album by
Elton John
Released10 April 1970 (1970-04-10)
RecordedJanuary 1970
StudioTrident, London
Genre
Length39:27
Label
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Empty Sky
(1969)		 Elton John
(1970)		 Tumbleweed Connection
(1970)
Singles from Elton John
  1. "Border Song"
    Released: 20 March 1970[1]
  2. "Your Song" / "Take Me to the Pilot"
    Released: 26 October 1970

The album includes John's breakthrough single "Your Song", which reached number 7 in the UK charts and helped to establish his career during what was considered the "singer-songwriter" era of popular music.[3] 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 number 468 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance".[4]

Production

This was the first of a string of John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. As Dudgeon recalled in a Mix magazine interview, the album was not actually intended to launch John as an artist, but rather as a collection of polished demos for other artists to consider recording his and co-writer Bernie Taupin's songs.[5] Two songs from the album did find their way into the repertoire of other artists in 1970: "Your Song" was recorded by Three Dog Night as an album track on their LP It Ain't Easy, while Aretha Franklin released a cover of "Border Song" as a single that reached number 37 in the US pop charts and number 5 on the R&B chart, later included on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black.

The song "No Shoe Strings on Louise" was intended (as homage or parody) to sound like a Rolling Stones song.[6][7]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]

John Mendelsohn in a contemporary (1970) review for Rolling Stone felt that the album was over-produced and over-orchestrated, comparing it unfavourably with the less mannered and orchestrated Empty Sky; though he felt that John had "so immense a talent" that "he'll delight you senseless despite it all".[9] Robert Christgau in his weekly "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice also felt the album was overdone ("overweening", "histrionic overload", "semi-classical ponderousness"), but that it had "a surprising complement of memorable tracks", including "Your Song" which, despite its "affected offhandedness", he considered "an instant standard".[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Your Song"4:04
2."I Need You to Turn To"2:32
3."Take Me to the Pilot"3:46
4."No Shoe Strings on Louise"3:31
5."First Episode at Hienton"4:48
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Sixty Years On"4:35
7."Border Song"3:22
8."The Greatest Discovery"4:12
9."The Cage"3:28
10."The King Must Die"5:21
Total length:39:27
Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)
No.TitleLength
11."Bad Side of the Moon"3:15
12."Grey Seal"3:35
13."Rock and Roll Madonna"4:18
Total length:50:35
2008 deluxe edition bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Your Song" (Demo version)3:33
2."I Need You to Turn To" (Piano demo)2:10
3."Take Me to the Pilot" (Piano demo)2:34
4."No Shoe Strings on Louise" (Piano demo)3:31
5."Sixty Years On" (Piano demo)4:20
6."The Greatest Discovery" (Piano demo)3:56
7."The Cage" (Demo version)3:20
8."The King Must Die" (Piano demo)5:22
9."Rock and Roll Madonna" (Piano demo)3:10
10."Thank You Mama" (Piano demo)3:19
11."All the Way Down to El Paso" (Piano demo)2:48
12."I'm Going Home" (Piano demo)3:03
13."Grey Seal" (Piano demo)3:18
14."Rock and Roll Madonna" (Incomplete band demo)2:53
15."Bad Side of the Moon"3:11
16."Grey Seal" (1970 version)3:34
17."Rock and Roll Madonna"4:16
18."Border Song" (BBC session)3:19
19."Your Song" (BBC session)3:59
20."Take Me to the Pilot" (BBC session)3:33
Total length:65:49

B-sides
Song Format
"Bad Side of the Moon""Border Song" 7" (US)
"Into the Old Man's Shoes""Your Song" 7" (UK)

Live recordings

John performed many of these songs live,[11] and included six of these ten songs on his 1987 album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

  • Elton John – piano, vocals (all tracks), harpsichord (2)
  • Diana Lewis – Moog synthesizer (5, 9)
  • Brian Dee – organ (6, 7)
  • Frank Clark – acoustic guitar (1), double bass (10)
  • Colin Green – additional guitar (1, 7), Spanish guitar (6)
  • Clive Hicks – twelve-string guitar (1), rhythm guitar (4), guitar (7, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (9)
  • Roland Harker – guitar (2)
  • Alan Parker – rhythm guitar (3)
  • Caleb Quaye – lead guitar (3, 4, 5), additional guitar (9)
  • Dave Richmond – bass guitar, double bass (1, 7, 8)
  • Alan Weighall – bass guitar (3, 4, 9)
  • Les Hurdle – bass guitar (10)
  • Barry Morgan – drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Terry Cox – drums (8, 10)
  • Dennis Lopez – percussion (3, 4)
  • Tex Navarra – percussion (9)
  • Skaila Kanga – harp (2, 8)
  • Paul Buckmaster – cello solo (8), orchestral arrangements and conductor
  • David Katz – orchestra contractor
  • Madeline Bell – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Tony Burrows – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Roger Cook – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Lesley Duncan – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Kay Garner – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Tony Hazzard – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9)
  • Barbara Moore – backing vocals, choir leader (7)
Technical
  • Gus Dudgeon – producer, liner notes
  • Robin Geoffrey Cable – engineer
  • Gus Skinas – editing
  • Alan Harris – original mastering
  • Tony Cousins – remastering
  • Ricky Graham – digital transfers
  • Greg Penny – surround sound
  • Steve Brown – production coordinator
  • David Larkham – art direction
  • Stowell Stanford – photography
  • Jim Goff – artwork
  • John Tobler – liner notes

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1971Elton JohnAlbum of the Year[12]Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male[13]Nominated

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[22] Gold 20,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[23] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[25] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Border Song 45cat". 45cat. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  2. "Elton John". discogs. 23 August 1971.
  3. Colin Larkin (2007). "John, Elton". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 2005. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  4. "Grammy Hall of Fame Award Archived 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Grammy.org. Retrieved 21 December 2012
  5. Clark, Rick (October 2002). "Gus Dudgeon, 1942–2002". Mixonline.
  6. J (18 April 2015). "Won't you please excuse my frankness but it's not my cup of tea: Elton John – Elton John (1970)". www.resurrectionsongs.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016. The side is rounded off with the 'Rolling Stones country' tinged 'No Shoe Strings on Louise' (even Elton's phrasing is similar to Jagger's at times – "All those city women want to make us poor men and this land's got the worse for the worrying")...
  7. Bernardin, Claude (1995). Rocket Man: Elton John From A – Z. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood/Praeger. p. 186. ISBN 0-275-95698-9. He tried to impersonate Mick Jagger. The song is about loose women.
  8. Stephen Thomas Erlewine "Elton John". Allmusic.
  9. John Mendelsohn (12 November 1970). "Album Reviews Elton John". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007.
  10. Robert Christgau (November 1970). "Consumer Guide Album Elton John: Elton John". robertchristgau.com.
  11. "Elton John Albums Statistics". setlist.fm.
  12. "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1970–1979". grammy.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  13. "Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male". rockonthenet.com. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  14. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3762". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Elton John – Elton John" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  17. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  18. "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  19. "Elton Johnrefname=Billboard 200 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  21. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1971" (in Dutch). Archived from the original (ASP) on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  22. "Elton John Self Titled LP. Australian Gold Disc Award". 20 February 2023.
  23. "Elton John: Self-Titled "Platinum" Record Award". 27 February 2023.
  24. "great britain's million sellers, 1972-73" (PDF). Cash Box. 6 July 1974. p. 8, Part II. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  25. "American album certifications – Elton John – Elton John". Recording Industry Association of America.
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