Elton John followed up his 1970 self-titled album with Tumbleweed Connection later the same year. I’m leaving that country-themed album out of my rundown because the songs I kept from it were already known to me: ‘Come Down in Time,’ ‘My Father’s Gun,’ and ‘Amoreena.’ Nothing else from the album really won me over.
It’s a very different story for 1971’s Madman Across the Water, which would definitely vie for my award as John’s best album overall.
My overall enjoyment of the movie Rocketman sent me down a bit of an Elton John rabbit hole.
I created a playlist of his most notable albums (particularly those released between 1970 and 1975 plus a couple of entries from the 80s) and listened to them all in order. I wanted to see what I’d been missing, as I’m primarily a fan only through his best-known songs.
After spending a few weeks on the exercise, the simple verdict is that John is primarily a greatest hits artist for me. But not entirely.
Elton John’s Madman Across the Water is my seventh favorite album of 1971, though it would be more accurate to say the first side of Madman Across the Water made the list. When ‘Tiny Dancer,’ ‘Levon’ and ‘Madman Across the Water’ are three of your first four songs, you can pretty much hang up your hat and call it a day.
The other tracks — ‘Razor Face,’ ‘Indian Sunset,’ ‘Holiday Inn,’ ‘Rotten Peaches,’ ‘All the Nasties’ and ‘Goodbye’ — are all solid, if not up to the level of the opening classics.
Closing out my week of songs favored by my daughter Fiona is another 80s hit, Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing.’ This one didn’t come courtesy of her neighborhood friend, however, but through an animated film.
Specifically, the 2016 movie Sing, which features a group of animals competing in an American Idol-style singing competition.
It’s time for everybody to admit their age, as Day 19 of the 30 Day Music Challenge calls for ‘A Song From the Year You Were Born.’
In my case, that’s 1972, and I had quite a list of impressive works to choose from. Some of my favorites include Jackson Browne’s ‘Doctor My Eyes,’ The Rolling Stones’ ‘Tumbling Dice’ (and all of Exile on Main Street, for that matter), the Eagles’ ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ (already used in this game), and Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together.’
Meet Me In Montauk 