Last night, we went to see Elton John play in St. John's. It was quite the concert; I wrote about it for my day job at CBC, although the clever headline I came up with in the shower drew a knock in the comments section. (Look, everything draws a knock in the comments section.)
This week's collection of five facts is all about Elton. The shot below, incidentally, was nicked here; it was taken in Dubai, although it feels like it could have been shot last night.
The "someone" in Elton John's 1975 hit Someone Saved My Life Tonight was Long John Baldry. The hit ballad recollects John's suicide attempt while dealing with a relationship where he was being pressured into a marriage. John has credited Baldry with talking John out of getting married and instead focusing on his musical career. A year later, his Elton John album made him an overnight superstar.
The crowd noise on Bennie and the Jets was collected from several sources, including an Elton John live show and a Jimi Hendrix concert. In an episode in the Classic Albums series, producer Gus Dudgeon recounts meticulously making sure the clapping was off-beat ... just the way that English audiences are. (!)
Speaking of both of the above songs ... Elton John had to figure out to sing some of his own songs, after he lost his ability to move into a falsetto after throat surgery in 1987 permanently changed his voice.
John and Bernie Taupin, his collaborator over four decades, wrote and completed Tumbleweed Connection - which is filled with Old West inflections drawn by the U.S.-based inspirations of their childhoods, and laced with what's much-too-often called Americana - in 1970, before either made it America.
It's no Cherry Garcia, but there's a Ben & Jerry's flavour inspired by the Rocket Man: Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road.
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