One thing I’ve always liked about Elton John is his appreciation and championing of other artists. Whether it’s Rufus Wainwright or Eminem, John isn’t shy about proclaiming his love for the music of others.
In his Rolling Stone interview with Cameron Crowe, John says his 2001 album Songs From the West Coast was inspired by the alt-country sound of Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker.
Jumping ahead 18 years, we reach the 1989 album Sleeping With the Past, which Elton John describes as a “drunken album” rather than a “drugged” one, and the last album he recorded before entering rehab.
When I first read the title of this song, it didn’t ring a bell. But once I fired it up on YouTube, it was instantly familiar. I don’t know if I heard it a bunch when I was 17 or more in the years since, but I certainly know it.
Elton John’s third album, Tumbleweed Connection, is one I own but I’m not very familiar with it. ‘Burn Down the Mission’ is the best-known track, and the only one I know by title alone.
In the Rolling Stone interview, John singles out the second track, ‘Come Down in Time,’ as a favorite from this album, citing its melancholy nature (a quality that should make it a favorite of mine as well).
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Cameron Crowe interviews Elton John about the songs that mean the most to him. The Elton John songs that mean the most to Elton John, that is.
Some were obvious, and popular — ‘Your Song,’ ‘Burn Down the Mission,’ ‘Madman Across the Water,’ ‘Rocket Man,’ Crocodile Rock,’ ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ — but just as many were deep cuts. Songs I’ve never heard, at any rate.
I’d like to be a bigger Elton John fan. Silly thing to say, I know, because there’s certainly nothing holding me back from further exploring his catalog — nothing but the lack of time and the presence of hundreds of other artists vying for it.
John is one of those artists, like Prince, who has released so many albums that I can’t fathom being the kind of fan who owns everything he’s done. Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello are similarly prolific, but I started following them long ago and added many of their albums as they were released. With John I’d be starting almost from scratch.
Meet Me In Montauk 