01. Your Song 
02. Take Me To The Pilot 
03. The Great Discovery 
04. Sixty Years On 
05. The King Must Die 
06. Indian Sunset 
07. Border Song 
08. Madman Across The Water 
09. Burn Down The Mission 
10. Goodbye

Elton John & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 
Royal Festival Hall 
London, UK 
March 3, 1971

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1. Natural Sinner (Andy Fairweather Low)
2. United We Stand (Tony Hiller / Peter Simons)
3. Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum)
4. Travelin' Band (John Fogerty)
5. I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top (Guy Fletcher / Doug Flett)
6. Good Morning Freedom (Cook / Greenaway Hammond / Hazelwood)
7. Up Around The Bend (John Fogerty)
8. She Sold Me Magic (Lou Christie / Herbert Twyla)
9. Come And Get It (Paul McCartney)
10. Love Of The Common People (Hurley / Wilkins)
11. Signed Sealed Delivered (Wonder / Garrett / Wright / Hardaway)
12. It's All In The Game (Dawes /Sigman)
13. Yellow River (Jeff Christie)              play
14. My Baby Loves Lovin (Cook / Greenaway)
15. Cottonfields (Leadbetter)
16. Lady D Arbanville (Cat Stevens)           play

These were taken from the time prior to Elton John's first success as a solo performer and were used on budget-priced compilations of hit songs by nameless 'soundalike' performers under such brand names as Top of The Pops and Hot Hits often on the Music For Pleasure label. These compilations were extremely cheap and sold in vast quantities in the years before compilations featuring the original artists were on sale from such labels as K-Tel. On this particular album some of the tracks do not sound like Elton because he was trying to replicate the sound of the original artist as best he could.

The title is no joke, but dead-on truth in advertising. Circa 1970, John helped pay the rent and gain studio expertise as a session vocalist for British quickie budget exploitation LPs that "re-created" the sound of current hit singles. John takes on such vintage AM mothballs as "In the Summertime," "Up Around the Bend," "My Baby Loves Lovin'," "Yellow River," and "Signed Sealed Delivered" here, along with a few songs that were only hits in the U.K.. These records were never intended to be taken seriously as artistic statements, and one suspects that the studio players were having fun at someone else's expense on "In the Summertime," with farting raspberry noises and ridiculous orgiastic grunts by John during the instrumental break. Most of the time, though, he played it straight, his supple pipes proving to possess the necessary versatile anonymity required of such projects. This reissue, complete with scholarly liner notes, aspires to do nothing more than preserve this footnote in the budding superstar's career, of interest mostly to completists and novelty seekers. As far as unintentionally funny moments go, the highlight has to be John extolling, "To be young, gifted and black, that's where it's at!" on his cover of the Nina Simone classic. ---Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

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A1 	Your Song 	4:00
A2 	I Need You To Turn To 	2:30
A3 	Take Me To The Pilot 	3:47
A4 	No Shoe Strings On Louise 	3:30
A5 	First Episode At Hienton 	4:51
B1 	Sixty Years On 	4:33
B2 	Border Song 	3:19
B3 	The Greatest Discovery 	4:11
B4 	The Cage 	3:28
B5 	The King Must Die 	5:09

Elton John – piano, vocals, harpsichord
Frank Clark – acoustic bass
Colin Green – guitar, Spanish guitar
Roland Harker – guitar
Clive Hicks – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, twelve-string guitar
Alan Parker – rhythm guitar
Caleb Quaye – guitar
Les Hurdle – bass guitar
Dave Richmond – bass guitar
Alan Weighall – bass guitar
Brian Dee – organ
Diana Lewis – Moog synthesizer
Paul Buckmaster – cello
Skaila Kanga – harp
David Katz – violin
Terry Cox – drums
Dennis Lopez – percussion
Barry Morgan – drums
Tex Navarra – percussion
Madeline Bell – backing vocals
Tony Burrows – backing vocals
Roger Cook – backing vocals
Lesley Duncan – backing vocals
Kay Garner – backing vocals
Tony Hazzard – backing vocals
Barbara Moore – vocals, choir, chorus
Paul Buckmaster  - arranger, conductor

Empty Sky was followed by Elton John, a more focused and realized record that deservedly became his first hit. John and Bernie Taupin's songwriting had become more immediate and successful; in particular, John's music had become sharper and more diverse, rescuing Taupin's frequently nebulous lyrics. "Take Me to the Pilot" might not make much sense lyrically, but John had the good sense to ground its willfully cryptic words with a catchy blues-based melody. Next to the increased sense of songcraft, the most noticeable change on Elton John is the addition of Paul Buckmaster's grandiose string arrangements. Buckmaster's orchestrations are never subtle, but they never overwhelm the vocalist, nor do they make the songs schmaltzy. Instead, they fit the ambitions of John and Taupin, as the instant standard "Your Song" illustrates. Even with the strings and choirs that dominate the sound of the album, John manages to rock out on a fair share of the record. Though there are a couple of underdeveloped songs, Elton John remains one of his best records. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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01 Can You Feel The Love Tonight 4:02
02 The One 5:55
03 Sacrifice 5:09
04 Daniel 3:55
05 Someone Saved My Life Tonight 6:47
06 Your Song 4:03
07 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me 5:50
08 Believe 4:44
09 Blue Eyes 3:29
10 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 3:50
11 Blessed 5:03
12 Candle In The Wind 4:02
13 You Can Make History (Young Again) 4:56
14 No Valentines 4:11
15 Circle Of Life 4:50

Not strictly a "greatest-hits" collection, Love Songs contains Elton John's most famous ballads, from "Your Song" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." Featuring two new songs, including the single "You Can Make History (Young Again)," Love Songs is designed for the casual John fan who is familiar with his songs through adult contemporary radio. If you don't fall into that category, the compilation is bound to fall short of expectations, but the record nevertheless works well as a collection of ballads and soft rock. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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   1. Postcards From Richard Nixon
   2. Just Like Noah's Ark
   3. Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)
   4. Tinderbox
   5. And The House Fell Down
   6. Blues Never Fade Away
   7. The Bridge
   8. I Must Have Lost In On The Wind
   9. Old '67
  10. The Captain And The Kid

Elton John - Piano, Vocals 
Guy Babylon - Arranger, Keyboards
Bob Birch - Bass, Vocals (Background) 
Davey Johnstone - Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Mandolin, Vocals (Background) 
John Mahon - Percussion, Vocals (Background) 
Nigel Olsson - Drums, Vocals (Background) 
Matt Still - Mixing, Vocals (Background) 
 

Ever since 2001's Songs from the West Coast, Elton John and his longtime collaborator, Bernie Taupin, have been deliberately and unapologetically chasing their glory days of the early '70s, but nowhere have they been as candid in evoking those memories as they are on 2006's The Captain & the Kid, the explicitly stated sequel to 1975's masterpiece Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. That record was an autobiographical fantasia of John and Taupin's early years -- the days when they were struggling to make their mark, right up till their glorious success -- and the idea behind this album is to tell the story of those salad days, which not only isn't a bad idea at all -- it's clever and well-suited for John, the most self-consciously unautobiographical of all major rock artists -- but fits right into Elton's desire to make records like he used to; after all, if he's trying to sound like the way things used to be, he might as well sing about the way they used to be, too. And The Captain & the Kid is nothing if not a proudly nostalgic piece of work bearing no modern touches; even the synths that occasionally color this country-ish rock are old fashioned analog synths. It sounds like an dream project on paper, but like a lot of dream projects, The Captain & the Kid doesn't quite live up to its lofty ideals. Part of the problem is that John has patterned the music not after Captain Fantastic -- which lived up to its glamorama title through intense flights of camp and glitz that helped give its narrative a theatrical flair, not to mention a hell of a lot of color -- but after the stripped-down, country-tinged pop and rock of Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau. That is the sound at the core of most of his best music of the early '70s, but it's not necessarily the best choice for this album, since it doesn't quite fit with the original Captain Fantastic or the gaudy story of their success; it's a tale that calls for bright neon colors, and everything about this album is muted and tasteful.

It might not quite seem like what a Fantastic sequel should be -- in fact, it seems more like a sequel to its direct predecessor, 2004's Peachtree Road -- but that's hardly a bad thing. Like that album and Songs from the West Coast before it, The Captain & the Kid is a sharp, professional piece of work by sharp professionals conscious of their past and no longer wishing to rest on their laurels, so they're consciously evoking their best work without quite recycling it. They might not hit their mark directly, but they get close enough -- it may be a little self-conscious and the production is a shade too clean, but the performances are warm and intimate, so this music feels right even if it doesn't necessarily feel exactly like Elton's '70s heyday. And the more familiar this song cycle becomes, the easier it is to admire the craft behind it, particularly in individual moments like the slow build on "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way (NYC)," or how "Tinderbox" hearkens back to "Somebody Saved My Life Tonight," or the lightness of "I Must Have Lost It on the Wind," or the lazy blues of "Old 67," or how "The Captain and the Kid" brings to mind not Tumbleweed Connection but Billy Joel's approximation of that album on Piano Man. So, no, The Captain & the Kid isn't quite the second coming of Captain Fantastic, but it's hardly a cash grab by an aging diva -- in other words, it's no Basic Instinct 2. John's intentions are pure and even if he doesn't quite make an album as good as his '70s work, it does stand alongside that work nicely -- it's clear that he and Taupin are really trying, and it's far better to have albums like this and Peachtree Road that fall short of the mark but nevertheless get close than to have an endless series of well-produced but empty records like The One and Made in England. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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1. Oceans Away
2. Oscar Wilde Gets Out
3. A Town Called Jubilee
4. The Ballad of Blind Tom
5. Dream #1
6. My Quicksand
7. Can’t Stay Alone Tonight
8. Voyeur
9. Home Again
10. Take This Dirty Water
11. Dream #2
12. The New Fever Waltz
13. Mexican Vacation (Kids In The Candlelight)
14. Dream #3
15. The Diving Board

Musicians:
Elton John - Composer, Piano, Vocals
Jack Ashford - Tambourine
Jay Bellerose - Drums
George Bohanon - Euphonium, Horn (Baritone), Trombone
Doyle Bramhall II - Guitar
Bill Cantos - Vocals (Background)
Alvin Chea - Vocals (Background)
Keefus Ciancia - Keyboards
Carmel Echols - Vocals (Background)
Chuck Findley - 	Flugelhorn
Bruce Fowler - Trombone
Larry Goldings - Hammond B3
Stjepan Hauser 	- Cello
Judith Hill - Vocals (Background)
Darrell Leonard - Flugelhorn, Horn Arrangements, Trumpet, Trumpet (Bass)
Bill Maxwell - Vocal Arrangement
Perry Morgan - Vocals (Background)
Ira Nepus - Trombone
David Piltch - Arco Bass
Louis Price - Vocals (Background)
William Roper - Tuba
Raphael Saadiq - Bass
Rose Stone - Vocals (Background)
Luka Sulic - Cello

So the story goes like this. Inspired by their work on the Leon Russell duet album The Union, producer T-Bone Burnett encouraged Elton John to return to making albums like he used to in the old days for 2013's The Diving Board, harking back to the days when he wrote quickly and recorded with little more than a rhythm section. This all sounds like a major shift in aesthetic for John, but Elton has been on a decade-long quest to tap into that old magic, beginning his voyage into the past with 2001's Songs from the West Coast and getting progressively elliptical with each subsequent release. The Diving Board does indeed evoke ghosts of Elton past but it never suggests the hits. It's an album consisting almost entirely of songs that riff on "Sixty Years On" and "Rotten Peaches" -- long, languid ballads or open-ended blues-rockers where atmosphere trumps hooks. Occasionally, Elton musters up elongated melodies that eventually catch hold, but The Diving Board isn't a collection of finely sculpted pop; it's a set of song poems and ballads, all placing emphasis on mood, not immediacy. This is an exceptional idea in theory; in practice it is ever so slightly formless, floating whenever it should be taking root. There are moments where the tempo gets ever so slightly sprightly -- "Take This Dirty Water" has a dirty gospel shuffle reminiscent of a toned-down "Take Me to the Pilot," "The Ballad of Blind Tom" is faithful to the spirit of Tumbleweed Connection, "Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)" not only rocks but has a welcome gust of tastelessness -- but that only emphasizes just how ponderous the rest of the record is. There is much that is admirable about The Diving Board -- the feel is spacious and haunting, the ambition is commendable -- but the emphasis on tone over song means it leaves only wistful wisps of melancholia behind with the actual songs seeming like faded, distant memories. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Mistrz ekscentryzmu Elton John od lat niczego nie musi udowadniać. Nie tylko dlatego jego 30. solowy album "The Diving Board" to wyjątkowo dobry materiał.

"The Diving Board” jest pierwszym krążkiem od wydanego w 1979 r. „Victim of Love”, w którym nie wzięli udziału członkowie jego regularnego bandu. To pokaz kunsztu samego Eltona Johna, choć od razu trzeba zaznaczyć bardzo ważne role autora genialnych tekstów Berniego Taupina oraz producenta T-Bone Burnetta. Nagranym głównie w towarzystwie fortepianu albumem Elton nie próbuje mizdrzyć się do młodej widowni, do list przebojów. Oczywiście John świadomy jest tego, co obecnie dzieje się w muzyce, inspiruje go praca chociażby z Eminemem i Kanye Westem, ale jak sam przyznaje: „To płyta 66-letniego faceta, a nie 26-latka nagrywającego przebój »Rocket Man«. Piosenki są dojrzałe i refleksyjne. Zmieniłem się”. Trudno nie przyznać mu racji. „The Diving Board” jest krążkiem przemyślanym, mieszającym bluesa, gospel oraz country i skutecznie ilustrującym klasę Eltona jako pianisty i wokalisty. A wspomniani współtwórcy „The Diving Board”? Berniego Taupina muzyk spotkał już pod koniec lat 60. Gazeta „New Musical Express” zorganizowała wtedy konkurs dla autorów tekstów. Berniego dojrzał wydawca Eltona i skojarzył obu panów. Duet doskonale się dogadał, co owocowało przez lata. Stworzyli razem takie przeboje, jak „Rocket Man”, „Crocodile Rock”, „Candle in the Wind”, „Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, „Your Song” i „I’m Still Standing”. Bernie pisał też m.in. dla Alice’a Coopera i Williego Nelsona. Jest poza tym autorem słów do piosenki „A Love That Will Never Grow Old” z filmu „Brokeback Mountain”, za którą w 2006 r. otrzymał nagrodę Złoty Glob. Próbował również sił jako wokalista. Słuchając Eltona śpiewającego jego teksty, można odnieść wrażenie, że Bernie doskonale odczytuje intencje muzyka, wciela się w niego. To podobna chemia do tej, która towarzyszy na przykład Martinowi Gore’owi i Davidowi Gahanowi z Depeche Mode. Na „The Diving Board” Elton śpiewa o tęsknocie do swoich rodzinnych stron, przemijaniu, pokusach młodości (z których wiele przecież sam doświadczył). Bez nadęcia, dojrzale i z wyczuciem. --- Wojciech Przylipiak, kultura.gazetaprawna.pl

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01 Island Girl
02 Made In England
03 The One
04 Someone Saved My Life Tonight
05 Don't Go Breaking My Heart
06 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
07 Blue Eyes
08 Believe
09 Tiny Dancer
10 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
11 Circle Of Life
12 Are You Ready For Love
13 Bennie And The Jets [Live]
14 This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
15 Saturday Night's Alright
16 Nikita
17 Honky Cat
18 Three Way Love Affair
19 Crocodile Rock
20 I'm Still Standing
21 The Bitch Is Back
22 Rocket Man
23 Kiss The Bride
24 I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
25 Sad Songs
26 Daniel
27 Candle In The Wind
28 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
29 Written In The Stars
30 Song For Guy
31 Philadelphia Freedom
32 Your Song
33 Sacrifice
34 Something About The Way You Look Tonight
35 Can You Feel The Love Tonight
36 I Want Love

An English singer-songwriter, composer and pianist, born March 25, 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, UK. Elton John has been one of the dominant forces in rock and popular music, especially during the 1970s. He has sold over 200 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits including seven consecutive No. 1 U.S. albums, 59 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won five Grammy awards and one Academy Award. His success has had a profound impact on popular music and has contributed to the continued popularity of the piano in rock and roll.

Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 (as Performer). ---discogs.com

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01. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry) – 8:04
02. Warm Love In A Cold World (Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll) – 4:30 
03. Born Bad (Bellotte, Geoff Bastow) – 5:16
04. Thunder In The Night (Bellotte, Michael Hofmann) – 4:40
05. Spotlight Bellotte, Wisnet, Moll) – 4:23
06. Street Boogie (Bellotte, Wisnet, Moll) – 3:57
07. Victim Of Love (Bellotte, Sylvester Levay, Jerry Rix) – 4:51 

Personnel:
- Elton John - piano, vocals
- Michael McDonald, Patrick Simmons - vocals
- Keith Forsey - drums
- Thor Baldursson - keyboards, arranger
- Tim Cansfield, Craig Snyder, Steve Lukather - guitar
- Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
- Roy Davies - keyboards
- Marcus Miller - bass
- Lenny Pickett - saxophone
- Julia Tillman Waters, Stephanie Spruill, 
  Maxine Willard Waters - background vocals

This thoroughly dated affair is the result of a chance re-acquaintance between Elton John (vocals) and Pete Bellotte (producer). The artist was not fully satisfied with the initial results of the three-song "Mama Can't Buy You Love" EP, which became as much a product of Philly soul maverick Thom Bell as it did John. When Bellotte approached John to record a full-length disco album, he took him up on the offer. This was providing that John's contributions would be limited to providing vocals only. The results can be heard on Victim of Love (1979), a dismissible platter of Teutonic 4/4 rhythms and extended (mostly) instrumental indulgence. None of the seven cuts offer very much in terms of what Elton John enthusiasts would not only have expected, but more importantly, enjoyed. Although the title track was extracted as a single in the U.S. and the disgraceful cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was issued as a 45 rpm in Europe, neither made much impact. In fact, with the exception of the Friends (1971) motion picture soundtrack -- consisting of mostly instrumental incidental scoring -- Victim of Love was John's lowest charting album to date. Although on a temporary touring hiatus, once John returned to the road, he wisely chose not to incorporate any of the material from the project on-stage. In fact, contrasting the blatant sonic excess of this release, John was concurrently performing as a solo act, backed only by longtime percussionist Ray Cooper. This "unplugged" setting restored some of the good will between John and his audience that Victim of Love had disenfranchised. Thankfully, the artist (and the rest of the music world) abandoned disco as the 1970s turned into the 1980s. His next effort, 21 at 33 (1980), allowed him to begin a long re-ascension on the music charts as well a restoration of his pop/rock leanings. ---Lindsay Planer, AllMusic Review

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01 – Good Morning To The Night
02 – Sad
03 – Black Icy Stare
04 – Foreign Fields
05 – Telegraph To The Afterlife
06 – Phoenix
07 – Karmatron
08 – Sixty

As Elton John tells it, he was in a Sydney record shop, picked up a record by Australian electro-duo Pnau and liked it so much he signed them to his management company. Pnau – whose Nick Littlemore had minor UK success as Empire of the Sun – have repaid him by refashioning his early-70s catalogue into eight new songs, the result being half-art, half-science. Each track contains slivers of up to nine (mostly obscure) songs, with Elton's voice drifting through like ether. At its best, shimmering and Balearic, the process makes dreamy summertime listening, but when it misfires, it may as well be sent straight to your local winebar. Foreign Fields is an example of the latter, being essentially 1973's High Flying Bird plumped out by church bells and cosmic "oohs". It also has the misfortune of being sandwiched between two of the record's best confections: Black Icy Stare seamlessly stitches three tunes into one enormously enjoyable retro-funk disco number, while the dubby atmospherics of Telegraph to the Afterlife show Pnau at their best. An interesting diversion for both parties.--- Caroline Sullivan, guardian.co.uk

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01. Teardrops (with K.D. Lang) 
02. When I Think About Love (I Think About You) (with P.M. Dawn) 
03. The Power (with Little Richard) 
04. Shakey Ground (with Don Henley) 
05. True Love (with Kiki Dee) 
06. If You Were Me (with Chris Rea) 
07. A Woman’s Needs (with Tammy Wynette) 
08. Old Friend (with Nik Kershaw) 
09. Go On And On (with Gladys Knight) 
10. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (with RuPaul) 
11. Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing (with Marcella Detroit) 
12. I’m Your Puppet (with Paul Young) 
13. Love Letters (with Bonnie Raitt) 
14. Born To Lose (with Leonard Cohen) 
15. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (live, with George Michael) 
16. Duets For One (Alone)

Unlike Frank Sinatra's album, John actually recorded in the studio with his duet partners, adding a spark to his album missing on Sinatra's Duets, even if his choices are nearly as bewildering. Some of the material doesn't work in the duet format, and his partners occasionally don't mesh with his current adult contemporary style. All of this makes Duets an ultimately disappointing record, even with the occasional successful track, like the kitschy number with drag queen RuPaul. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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