Elton John, Come Down In Time - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction
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- Опубликовано: 9 апр 2024
- • Elton John, Come Down ...
Here’s the link to the original song by Elton John:
• Come Down In Time
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Elton John
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The unsung hero of Elton's early work is arranger Paul Buckmaster. He was responsible for the incredible string arrangements on this piece as well as on many of Elton's classic albums.
Elton John learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for five years.
Tumbleweed is such a great album , with many fine songs. Elton and Bernie have written some of the best songs ever written. I am lucky to have seen him twice., 25 years apart, he had a lot more hair second time round . A music festival was cancelled on our island, but they still had a huge tent standing . Phone calls were made, Elton left a german tour to fly in , to perform with just a piano. He had to jam , and demonstrated just what a wonderful pianist he is. He said later it was in his top 5 favourite concerts. He IS the piano man.
This is from a somewhat atypical Elton John album, Tumbleweed Connection, in which he experimented with US music, including western styles.
Elton and Bernie just received the Gershwin award. I saw the 2 hr show and award ceremony just the other night on PBS.
So did I yesterday and it was amazing, especially the version of skyline pigeon. But Come down in time wasn't on it.
Excellent show not sure why they played. Sorry, seems to be the hardest word so many other songs.
Elton John, the arranger, oboist, and harpist all attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. Apart from John, they all worked both in rock and the classical world. The harpist did rock sessions and taught the harp at the Royal Academy. The oboist is Karl Jenkins who is a well-known British classical composer, he also played in a jazz-rock group called Soft Machine. Paul Buckmaster the arranger, has worked with Taylor Swift and Miles Davis. They found a way of combining their classical training with rock.
For me the peak of Elton's work is Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. Definitely worth a listen.
For me it's: "I've Seen That Movie Too"...or perhaps, "Tiny Dancer" ...or one of many others...I can't be sure now...
AGREED !!!
Pinky and Captain Fantastic are my faves!!!
Buckmaster was a MASTER in his work, being able to envision just what a song needed to bring it to a level of artistry as opposed to just being a song!
For example, Elton John has written many songs with harp in it. You really need to explore so many more of his earlier songs that exhibit the harp!
This has been one of my favourites of his for many years - possibly my favourite, for its being in a minor key, its understated delivery, gorgeous strings & haunting atmosphere - it conjures up a very specific scene for me, for which I have no explanation. Love it.
The production quality is absolutely through the roof.
Yes, Gus Dudgeon produced all of Elton John's classic albums. He never misses!
This and “Love Song” from the same album are easily among my favorite EJ songs…. So exquisitely gorgeous….!
"Love Song" was written by Leslie Duncan though.
@@jdenino6022 Yes, and she sang those lovely harmonies on it.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin in the early days were Magnificent!! 🤘☮ (Madman Across The Water) album.
One of the greatest albums of all time!
Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across The Water! Two artistic masterpieces! ❤
A couple other songs worth checking out by Elton John: My favorite - "Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding" and my mom's favorite - "Tonight"
Funeral For A Friend came about because somebody asked Elton John what would be the best music for a funeral, so he composed some.
Taupin has always written the lyrics to his songs and sent them to Elton, having perfect confidence that they would be treated perfectly. It’s hard to say collaboration at its most specific, except the two men were so clued into each other’s sensibilities, it just worked. And they are so different in life style and craft.
I also love Sting’s interpretation of this song in the tribute album “Two Rooms”. The harp is replaced by piano, which is played by Sir Elton himself, and is a great, very nice listen
My all-time favourite Elton John song! Totally unique and absolutely NEW sound at the time, and I LOVE the harp in it.
Elton John is his stage name. His real name is Reginald Dwight.
Reginald Hercules Dwight?
@@altair8598 Reginald Kenneth Dwight was his original name. He later had it legally changed to Elton Hercules John.
Elton Hercules John is his real name after legally changing his name from his birth name Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1972. From 1968-1972 he was Reg Dwight aka Elton John and insisted people call him Elton during that time.
Just a beautiful song a great place to start with Elton Love you
It’s always interesting to me, on this channel, that so often when you are “introduced” to an artist who is new to you, like Elton John, the first song you hear is something very obscure. It might be lovely, as is this song. But since it is usually months (or perhaps never) before you will revisit said artist, it seems, to me at least, that your time might be better served listening to one of the songs that made him the super star that he was and is. Anyway, it’s just a thought.
Ha!....a thought I've had MANY times.....!!
If you're a 'rock virgin'.....and you know NOTHING about an artist or their music....it seems completely PERVERSE to be given obscure, unrepresentative tracks to listen to as an introduction to said artist!!!!(Vlad ....!!!)
... I'd go as far as to say bizarre and weird ....!!
Why on earth not show Amy - Rocket Man....Daniel... Someone Saved my Life Tonight....Candle In the Wind..etc, etc, etc, etc.............!?!?!?
... Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting....if you want to be a bit 'rocky'......!?!?)
I’m glad you are making this point. I’m often making this same point myself. I didn’t this time since Amy enjoyed it so much, and I think it represents his music better than a lot of the obscure songs she’s done. But my preference is that her first intro to an artist is always a song that they are well known for. So I’m glad you made the point.
@@andymccabe6712 I'd say the songs you listed are the ones less representative of Elton and Bernie's best music.
Interesting point, but I disagree. His biggest hits (Crocodile Rock, say) don’t really tell you that much about who he really is. This is one of my favourite EJ songs, and for me represents a core of who he is, as a musician, composer, and person. I think it was a good choice.
@@memarkiam From the standpoint of which one Amy would personally enjoy and appreciate the most I think that this song was better than a song like "Crocodile Rock". But not from the standpoint of Amy learning what the songs are that made Elton popular. Although for me "Crocodile Rock" would be further down the list of his popular songs I would like Amy to hear first, several others of which I think she would find similar qualities to what she enjoyed in this one. In addition to Amy being educated as to which songs made an artist popular, the more popular ones will do much better on the channel which brings in more viewers and subscribers. Unfortunately, there has been a pattern of selecting the deeper cuts for Amy's intro to popular artists, which end up getting low views relative to how popular the artist is overall. Although in this case I really do like this song, and more importantly I am glad that Amy really enjoyed it, and I think it gave her an appreciation for Elton's music. But that is often not the case with these deeper cuts she does. Good deeper cuts are fine to do, I would just prefer they not be her intro to an artist.
Check out Elton's recent interview of Joni Mitchell! So much talent in one room.
Thanks for the heads up , i will
Great reaction and analysis, Amy! I haven't thought of this song in decades; but, as soon as I saw the name in the reaction, I could hear it playing in my head. Such a beautiful song! In the 70s Elton and Bernie composed and sang the music I fondly remember as a young man. IMO also, they made their best music during this period.
Thank you for listening to Elton John, one of my favourite artists. He comes from my home town. In my opinion he did his best work in the first half of the 1970s (up to and including Captain Fantastic). After that he became a bit too middle of the road and commercial. Can I suggest Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Tiny Dancer, Border Song and the majestic Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters for further listening. And if you want to rock out try Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting. I am suprised Vlad didn't mention in the biog that he performed at Princess Diana's funeral with a rewritten version of Candle in the Wind. It was released with the proceeds going to charity and became the world's best selling single with over 33 million copies sold.
Elton was 3 or 4 when he sat at the piano in his grandmother’s house, heard the Skater’s Waltz playing on the radio and picked out the melody by ear. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 11 which he supports to this day.
Such a beautiful song. This, "Love Song" and "St. Peter" are such great tracks off of the Tumbleweed album.
Finally!!! Tumbleweed Connection is an awesome album. A great candidate for a series because his abundant music and excellet quality of his input
For some time I have been bagging you to review Elton John's music. He is one of the most successful musician, artist and popular entertainer of all time. Elton and lyrics Bernie Taupin partnership has resulted in one of the most successful songwriting team of all time. Elton can do it all, rock, ballad, pop, songs for movies and Broadway. He has created a series of classic albums and hit after hit. You say that in hearing this song you can imagine him as a rocker. Well if you started out with one of his rock songs then you will say you cannot imagine him as doing ballads. Elton does it all. He is a brilliant composer, fantastic vocalist. There is so much to dig into with reviewing Elton and Bernie's music and I am glad that you have finally reviewed one of this piece of work. I hope you will do more. Funeral For A Friend, Love Lies Bleed from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album is an excellent one to review but this is a good start. Lawrence :)
He has one of the most versatile voices in music. he's amazing, I grew up with his music but did a deep dive of his catalog from the early 70s after the movie Rocketman came out and I was really shocked by the amazing output by him from 1970. I was more familiar with his top ten hits. So many hidden gems from Elton John. I think he is a pop/rock genius. His voice was also really gorgeous in the early days and even throughout the 1990s till he did the Princess Diana tribute: Goodbye England's Rose a/k/a Candle In the Wind. Voice got really deep after that.
Good review Amy - I always described this song as 'Pastoral Rock!' You definitely want to have a listen to 'Love song' from the same album. It's more 'Folky' but a lovely gem.
I’m glad you’ve discovered Elton’s early work. This is just one of many great melodies that he matched perfectly to Bernie’s poetry/lyrics. Buckmaster and Dudgeon added their expertise to create some fantastically, breathtaking songs.
Elton John - vocals
Skaila Kanga - harp
Les Thatcher - acoustic guitar
Karl Jenkins - oboe
Herbie Flowers - bass guitar
Chris Laurence - acoustic bass
Barry Morgan - drums
Paul Buckmaster - arranger, conductor
Skaila Kanga (the harpist) gave an interview to a podcast which I found on an Elton John podcast called I Guess That's Why They Call It The Elton John Podcast. She and Elton (Reg) took a class together in The Royal Academy of Music. She is of Indian descent. She talks about working with Elton and about her life as a musician, her father played violin in India I believe. And some topics I don't remember offhand. It's probably easily to find if you google it.
Elton John is a legend
You're description of Progressive Rock was, in my opinion, spot on. I couldn't have verbalized it any better than you did. I'm a Beatles, Led Zeppelin kinda guy, who loves the roots of it all (Robert Johnson, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Hank Williams Sr., Glenn Miller, etc.). My late brother was a huge Progressive Rock guy (as well as many other genres and artists). He turned me on to a lot of cool music, including early Elton John (which I wouldn't put into the Progressive Rock category), but he also turned me on to early Genesis (with Peter Gabriel on vocals), which in my honest opinion, is the best of the Progressive Rock stuff that I've ever heard (and I've heard quite a lot). Some early Genesis can get quite boring for the reasons you stated (like a lot of the progressive rock stuff does imho), but much of the early genesis is really great, especially Peter Gabriel's last album with Genesis, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". That could be a great album for you to review. Either way, if you are going to delve more into the Progressive Rock genre, you might want to consider focusing on early Genesis. Just my opinion.
Peace
I think all of us knowingly, and collectively would say to her, "With Elton John, you ain't seen nothing yet." Elton John's (born: Reginald Kenneth Dwight) main instrument is piano, which to me, had taken Jerry Lee Lewis of the 1950's into modern rock. Elton has a huge library of music, some of which are classic rock songs of all of our youth, but, as you've noted at the beginning as he matured got into film scores. Elton's rock songs were developed from the lyrics that Bernie Taupin wrote (it is said a finished set of lyrics, although I believe there's a bit more collaboration then that), and Elton would set music to those lyrics. Elton's band are also top notch musicians and I would say that they too collaborate on their contribution of the music in which Elton has written the basic (although fabulous) piano score. This song (prior to his film score period) is one of few songs that Elton didn't use his band on the song.
You might have forgotten his first movie score was “Friends” in 1970. It was one of 4 Elton John albums simultaneously in the charts in 1970.
The musical style is generally referred to as Chamber-Pop or Baroque-Pop. Many, many examples of this throughout the past 40-50 years of rock/pop music. The bass is an acoustic bass, which allows a much more refined and evocative feel. I'd suggest a listen to the East Village Opera Company for a look at how a group of musicians can more homogeneously combine Rock and Classical (using well-known classical/opera pieces). Mind-blowing. What you said about prog rock feeling forced or contrived, hit home. It's not always that way, but I do understand where that comes from. Finally, thank you for your work--it's been a joy to watch you discover and unravel the mysteries of rock on a personal level. It's like I'm discovering this stuff for the first time too!
I love Elton Johns music and that's how I came to your channel. How interesting to hear your perceptions of Come Down in Time, not having heard Elton John's music before. And not knowing much about him.
I think Elton acknowledges that it has always been a team effort, a marvelous one, beginning with his collaboration with Bernie Taupin, who wrote the words to most of his songs. Hes a true poet. Both are masters of their own craft and produce this magic together. And then, Paul Buckmeister, Gus Dudgeon, etc, who orchestrated, lay down the different layers. Creative geniuses, crazy lives and times and it all came together.
You'd be interested to see how Elton composes. Thank you for your joy and observations
I'm so glad you've now heard Elton John, and that you enjoyed this one so much, finding so many great musical qualities in it. Elton John was very popular during my high school years in the 70s, even if not always with some of my hard rocking friends, although he had a few that rocked pretty hard, and I always liked him and his songs a lot. I'm glad you found that the harp works well on this song. The Harp Twins have also shown it can be used on some harder rocking songs. I've recommended a few covers they do for your Great Covers series, including Metallica's "One" for which you have done the original. Loved all your observations, and how you were able to tell he had some formal training by noticing his musical sensibilities. There is a good video worth checking, in which Elton interviewed Joni Mitchell in 2022 at her home. He is a huge admirer of Joni. Great reaction.
Elton John "idolised" Laura Nyro. Her incredible progressive art pop song December's Boudoir (1968) utilises only classical instruments including harp, except for a bit of jazz drumming. Nyro" probably influenced more successful songwriters than anyone " Elton John, 2007. There is a short youtube video of Elton discussing Nyro with Elvis Costello.
One reason I like watching your channels and others, but mainly yours, is that I find music that I didn't know about in the style that I like. If the local radio stations didn't play it, one didn't know about it most times. I was a kid decades before the internet so a lot of music got by me. Also listen to you break down music gives me the time to really listen to the music that may have flown by me in a quick listen. Now I have the time to see if it hits my heart. This also happen with "Brothers in Arm". I have the album but I never really listened to the song, now it cuts me to the heart. Thank-you Amy.
Can’t believe no one mentioned Captain Fantastic - my favourite Elton/Bernie album.
Because there are so many...
And the true Elton fans if they’re old enough are from empty sky to goodbye yellow brick Road those were Elton’s heydays
Yep Captain Fantastic and Caribou are my two favorites.
He was a great friend of Freddie Mercury. Freddie had a painting delivered to Elton after Freddie had passed. And since you also mentioned Rod Stewart, another mutual friend of Freddie and Elton they were affectionately known to each other as ‘Teeth, nose and hair’. Freddie was teeth and I guess Elton was nose and Elton hair.
Thank you Amy. This is one of the most sublime of Elton’s masterpieces.
Finally we have the chance to watch your react and analysis of Sir Elton John, and i enjoyed a lot, thanks Amy.
This is from his greatest album, Tumbleweed Connection. Don't stop with this number. The entire album is incredible. Bernie finest writing.
I've studied Elton for almost 40 years and in my uneducated opinion I would confidently say he could produce a song like this in his sleep. I'd be keen for a critique of his other songs especially from his Live From Australia album with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I'd be very interested to know if there is something really special about this song that I'm missing, or whether some of his other work would blow Amy to the moon and back :)
If you're interested in progressive rock...Elton has an amazing song called 'Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding' that you might like.
Another Elton possibility is a song called 'Sixty Years On'. The studio version is very orchestra-heavy, and from his early stuff in 1970. Elton wanted to play this song in his live show, and he and his band (then he was a trio with Nigel Olsson drums/vocals and Dee Murray bass/vocals) made a piano/bass/drums version that is really great...arguably better than the original (on the live album '11-17-70').
I love the bass in this song. It's certainly not rock! But Progressive rock, jazz, classical... like many progressive musics. If you like this, also check out Jethro Tull's Reason's For Waiting. A similar fusion.
One of his first appearances on tv was on the Morecambe and Wise show.
Elton John, real name Reg Dwight, became the chairman and director of Watford, English Football club in 1976, after supporting the team since his youth. John appointed the future England national football team manager Graham Taylor as manager and invested large sums of money as the club rose three divisions into the then English First Division, which is now the Premier League. At their height, the club finished runners up in the First Division to Liverpool in 1983 and reached the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in 1984. John sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987, but remained president.
Elton is a classical musician. You will love Elton John LIVE REMASTERED - Royal Festival Hall, London, UK (orchestra) | 1972 and
Elton John LIVE HD - Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia | 1986 the second part is with the orchestra. The Harp is there to 😊
I've been listening and watching his music for months (which is a very short period of time) and he has so much content it's quite staggering. I also check out other musicians too though, I tend to get easily sidetracked. Of course I knew who he was before then though. I grew up in the 1970s with his music along with a lot of other talented people's music. The 1960s and 70s were a very creative time for pop/rock music. The first song I heard from Elton John when I was a kid was "Crocodile Rock" (and "Elderberry Wine" which I believe was the b side of the single) by Elton John playing on the radio, I was quite enchanted by that song. Later I heard Honky Cat and then I heard Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Someone Saved My Life Tonight and other many other hits of Elton John.
Amy, as always I like your analysis style very much. Thank you.
As for parts for a harp, Welsh rock band Catatonia included a track called "Bulemic Beats" on their album Equally Cursed and Blessed in 1999 that was, essentially, a duet for harp and female voice. It's a lovely song too. Take a listen or react..? Love your Reactions.
I look forward to many more Elton reactions. Many in this style in his catalog. Indian Sunset comes to mind.
Or "Writing" and "Curtains" come to mind.
Tumbleweed and madman are his best albums
Another song I've never heard of. How do you do it?
And to do it knowing that it will get far less views than a popular song...very brave.
Elton John has performed at a number of events involving the British royal family, such as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey in 1997.
"Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a song by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song "Candle in the Wind". It was released on 13 September 1997 as a tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales, with the global proceeds from the song going towards Diana's charities. In many countries, it was pressed as a double A-side with "Something About the Way You Look Tonight". It was produced by Sir George Martin, producer of the Beatles.
Wikipedia.
So enthusiastic & with feeling & i must say ( me being English ) so eloquently spoken ❤
An outstanding piece. It's from an excellent album... Tumbleweed Connection.
I would call it Soft Rock. 😊
Have to recognize Paul Buckmaster, who arranged and orchestrated part of John's work and, I believe, this album, Tumbleweed Connection (one of my faves...).
Elton John will be fantastic rabbit Warren to explore, please do more...like funeral for a friend
Metallica just did a cover on "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" on Elton and Bernie's Gershwin Prize special on PBS. You can find it on youtube. Amazing tribute by Metallica. Elton and Bernie loved it.
Amy a must for harp in Rock music is Alan Stivell, from France; it’s celtic harp. The song “Brian Boru” would be a good example.
Awesome! You are really going down a stellar rabbit hole now! Elton on a Stern show I believe said Nothing Else Matters by Metallica is his fave song and the most beautiful song ever written.
Thank you for your work, Amy! Elton John is a great composer, singer, and piano player. A bit like Billy Joel. There are many similarities between them. But I think Elton is more productive.
Bernie wrote the lyrics. Elton created the melody as he sang the lyrics while playing a piano. Then he just walked away from it. The producer and conductor completed the work. The drummer, bass and guitars were allowed to write their own parts. He relied on having a great and talented team around him. I like the live concert from Sydney opra house where he played a solid set of Paul Buchmaster tributes including "Have Mercy on the Criminal" in the late 80's.😊
When you made the comment about not being sure if you were hearing a guitar or a cello, I believe what you are hearing was a fretless electric bass guitar. Or at least, the fretless bass is there a long with whatever you might have been hearing.
As always, excellent video, always enjoyable. Thank you
If you’re going down the E.J rabbit hole, The album Captain Fantastic is a must hear.
I forgot to mention that Elton always wrote the music and Bernie did the lyrics.
I wonder which came first? The lyrics I suppose.
@@johnsilva9139 Yes. Bernie would send them through the post. Elton would read them and would play a melody that he felt would suit them. Hey presto - another one rolls off the production line. Both amazingly talented guys.
Elton has been a regular collaborator during his long musical career. Even when not being backed by his regular band, his collaboration with his lyric writer Bernie Taupin is remarkable in that they were usually on opposite sides of the Atlantic! As explained in a post below, much of the musical finesse of this track should be credited to Paul Buckmaster, though Elton himself is a classically trained pianist.
This track is closest to his ballad style, though at the opposite extreme you will find him rocking and even raucous on 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting', 'The Bitch is Back', and 'Benny and the Jets'. More mellow, but still rock, is 'Crocodile Rock'. For softer and more melodic songs, check out 'Your Song', 'Tiny Dancer', 'Daniel' for example. 'Song for Guy' is a piano instrumental. But really his catalogue is so rich in well known songs you could do an 'Elton 100'.
I've never heard this track before Amy, so I am learning with you. Thanks as always!
you can hear harp in one of my favourite Siouxsie & the Banshees' song - Forever. + sometimes in Bjork's songs like 'Unison'....
Wow, everyone really geeked out over Elton!😊 Me too. Guilty.
Tumbleweed Connection was an album I loved. This was the only song I used to skip..lol.. it was too mushy for my 10 year old self. 'Where to Now St. Peter..and Talking old soldiers i knew by heart.
Sir Elton...superb 👌 Rock and classical instruments go great together if it serves the song. A fine example for me is 'Marathon' by Rush. String arrangements by UK's Anne Dudley gives a euphoric climax but the superb pacing of drums and rythmic bass guitar make you feel like you've ran the race, pushed throught the wall and end with the sun beaming onto your sweaty brow at the finish line. Anne features again superbly on their dramatic 'Manhattan Project'.
Its an upright bass, which is the main percussive drive. Early EJ songs had superb bass voicings.
Elton John chose his own stage name, including Hercules. He was born Reginald Dwight.
He was classically trained in piano at London's Royal Academy, so much of his music has a timeless quality. This song is typical of his style, often blending rock with classic themes.
The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin ( as in tall - pin) who worked independent of Elton.
Elton would be given the words, sometimes even by post, & sit at the piano & add the music.
Sometimes this took him just a few minutes, half an hour or so being quite normal for him.
They produced a flurry of albums in the early 1970's which contain the majority of Elton's greatest music. Bernie wrote many of the verses; he refuses to call them poetry; while still a teenager, so they often display the naivete & romanticism of youthful love. There is a boys obsession with the world of the early TV world, of black & white westerns etc , that Bernie, with the rest of that generation, experienced at that time. He was a genius with the pithy phrase, as several in this song demonstrate.
I like his second album especially First Episode at Hienton and the famous Your Song but this one is gorgeous too
Yes, he had a classical education at The Royal Academy of Music. I think he was something of a child prodigy
The session players here that you enjoy so much are mostly from a jazz background. I think it’s time to face facts. You will never be a rocker, but you could have the makings of a jazz aficionada!
Elton has a Live álbum calles Live in Australia with a full orchestra. The three first songs, Sixty years on, I need you to turn to and The Greatest Discovery are based on harp.
His first couple of albums were somewhat orchestrated. But as time went by his sound became more rock oriented. Until you get to Blue Moves which returned that softer orchestrated sound.
I always liked Skyline Pigeon and Border Song from the early albums and they are far from what I would consider rock.
This song was the first song by Elton that I remember.I would borrow the album from the library back in 1974.
You should react to some Laura Nyro, a major early influence on Elton John, especially on songs like this that change the pace and flow frequently
Masterpiece
Nice reaction Amy! I was wondering if you'd ever listen to some Elton John. He's truly a giant of 20th century popular music. I look forward to more analysis of his body of work. One other point - regarding rock songs with harp as an integral instrument rather than a novelty, a contemporary rock artist that frequently uses harp in their music would be the group Florence and the Machine (Florence Welch is the lead here). Might be worth checking them out.
i would categorize this as soft rock. there used to be a bunch of radio stations with the word 'magic' in their names that played this kind of music. today i hear it mostly at my dentist's office.
For famous harp in pop I think Andreas Vollenweider is importand to have at some point. Like the famous "The Play Of The Five Balls" or "Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree", many others.
My dad and Elton John were brought up in exactly the same town. Pinner 😮
You were wise to pick his prettiest song. That damned clarinet, man.
I think you're probably more of a fan of Paul Buckmaster than Elton. PB's arrangements were incredible! He also worked on Bowie's Space Oddity. Check out the Elton John soundtrack to Friends, PB arranged the instrumentals on the album. Great reaction, I enjoyed it.
Elton operates in so many styles…perhaps explaining his longevity upon the charts.
As good as this is, Sting's cover version which is just a duet of he and Elton, from the Two Rooms LP, blows this away.
I second this! This cover by Sting is an absolute beauty. Amy, you have to listen to it.
I agree 100% that Sting's cover (it's not a duet with Elton, it's just Sting) is far better than the original. It's in fact one of my favorite covers ever. Amy -- you should include this in your covers series!
@@jimmychandler - Well since Elton played piano on the track, that's what I as thinking of as the duet. But yes only Sting is singing.
I second all of this
Pinky and Captain Fantastic are also great Elton songs.
Judy Collins sang this song very beautifully on her Bread and Roses album from the mid-70's.
Amy, one question is very interesting to me: during your jorney through rock music, your discovery of songs and YOU dived deeply into them, your learnings about rock music instruments etc. - how did or do that modify your attitude to your primary world of music, the classical music? Your answer would be very appreciated.
Your take is interesting searching for a category/classification. Tumbleweed Connection is seen as very much the height of Elton and Bernie's Americana period, a term recently defined to describe music that wasn't particularly Rock & Roll, Country, Blues or any other pidgeon hole category such as music by The Band etc.
I agree with your assessment of prog rock. You should consider reviewing Goodbye Yellowbrick Road as an entire work - masterpiece
Another song with an harp (and acoustic guitar and viola) in it and that you could listen to is Be Not Always by The Jacksons (actually by Michael Jackson).
You might consider the movie Friends. Elton's first soundtrack from this same concept.
In my understanding, style and identity and "making a difference" seems to mean more than creating an original piece of music.
Ideally, again in my opinion, I would give any given song the right vocal interpretation, based on a musical "feeling", "groove", or as I would call it: A moderate sense of culture, identity and novelty, but not with any forced emphasis on either of these elements. This is where talent enters the equation.
But I would make sure the singer and the musicians were feeling good about it. And that they all knew what to play when and why. And in case of the piece involving improvisation, all bets are off.
😎👍 The ultimate harp song would be Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" (1976). It's nothing but his voice accompanied by a harp.
Listen to his song called "Amy" from the same album. It has your name all over it😊
He was born Reginald Dwight but changed his name by deed poll for something that he though was more 'Rock Star'. He and Bernie Taupin did consecutive auditions for music publisher Dick James. Mr James told them he couldn't sign them individually, but that he though the combination of Elton John's melodies and Bernie Taupin's lyrics would sell. Note that Bernie always goes first and writes the lyrics like poetry. Elton John then sits at a piano and sets the lyrics to music.
Talk about Sir Hercules conjuring a mood. This one's almost a scene out of a Victorian novel like Jane Eyre or Great Expectations, the singer being stood up on a frigid winter's evening in the candlelight. Yeah, I don't think she's going to show up. Or, given the album's wild west theme, maybe it's a scene out of McCabe & Mrs. Miller. At any rate, I think we might have a new Elton John fan on our hands! Everyone's going to recommend the big hits, as they should, but here are some deep cuts and obscurities you might enjoy exploring at some point down the road: "Lady Samantha," "Sixty Years On," "The Greatest Discovery," "My Father's Gun," "Burn Down the Mission," "Rotten Peaches," "Goodbye," "Blues for Baby and Me," "Grey Seal," "Harmony," "Sugar on the Floor," "Tonight." I think someone should put this on a t-shirt: "Elton John: Like Prog Rock, But Better."