''Elton John'' is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. It was released on 10 April 1970 by DJM Records and by

Uni Records Uni Records (short for the label's legal name Universal City Records and rendered as UNI) was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinctive UNi logo, was established in 1966 in music, 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen ...

in United States. The album was the first release by John in the United States because ''

Empty Sky ''Empty Sky'' is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 6 June 1969. It was not issued in the United States until January 1975 (on MCA), with different cover art, well after John's fame had been established ...

'' was not released in that country until 1975. The album includes John's breakthrough single "

Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in M ...

", which reached number 7 in the UK charts and helped to establish his career during what was considered the "singer-songwriter" era of popular music. In the US, it was certified gold in February 1971 by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. In the same year, it was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording ...

. In 2003, the album was ranked number 468 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance".

Production

This was the first of a string of John albums produced by

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

. As Dudgeon recalled in a '' Mix'' magazine interview, the album was not actually intended to launch John as an artist, but rather as a collection of polished demos for other artists to consider recording his and co-writer

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

's songs. Two songs from the album did find their way into the repertoire of other artists in 1970: "Your Song" was recorded by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

as an album track on their LP '' It Ain't Easy'', while

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

released a cover of "

Border Song "Border Song" is a song by Elton John with music by John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. The song initially appeared on the 1970 album ''Elton John'', and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. After failing to chart in the U ...

" as a single that reached number 37 in the US pop charts and number 5 on the R&B chart, later included on her 1972 album ''

Young, Gifted and Black ''Young, Gifted and Black'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in early 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album climbed to #2 on ''Billboards R&B albums survey and peaked at #11 on the main al ...

''. The song "No Shoe Strings on Louise" was intended (as homage or parody) to sound like a

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

song.

Reception

John Mendelsohn in a contemporary (1970) review for ''

'' felt that the album was over-produced and over-orchestrated, comparing it unfavourably with the less mannered and orchestrated ''

''; though he felt that John had "so immense a talent" that "he'll delight you senseless despite it all".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

in his weekly "Consumer Guide" column for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' also felt the album was overdone ("overweening", "histrionic overload", "semi-classical ponderousness"), but that it had "a surprising complement of memorable tracks", including "Your Song" which, despite its "affected offhandedness", he considered "an instant standard".

Track listing

B-sides

Live recordings

John performed many of these songs live, and included six of these ten songs on his 1987 album '' Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra''.

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album. * Elton John – piano, vocals (all tracks),

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

(2) * Diana Lewis –

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

(5, 9) * Brian Dee – organ (6, 7) * Frank Clark – acoustic guitar (1), double bass (10) * Colin Green – additional guitar (1, 7), Spanish guitar (6) * Clive Hicks –

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

(1), rhythm guitar (4), guitar (7, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (9) * Roland Harker – guitar (2) *

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

– rhythm guitar (3) *

Caleb Quaye Caleb Quaye (born 9 October 1948), is an English rock guitarist and studio musician best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Hall & Oates and Ralph McTell, and also toured with ...

– lead guitar (3, 4, 5), additional guitar (9) *

Dave Richmond David Henry Richmond (born 1940 in Brighton, Sussex) is a professional bass player, best known as a founder member of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann, playing with the band in 1963.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Rock Discography'', Canong ...

– bass guitar, double bass (1, 7, 8) * Alan Weighall – bass guitar (3, 4, 9) * Les Hurdle – bass guitar (10) * Barry Morgan – drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 9) * Terry Cox – drums (8, 10) * Dennis Lopez – percussion (3, 4) * Tex Navarra – percussion (9) *

Skaila Kanga Skaila Kanga (born in India) is a harpist and Professor Emerita of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After winning a Junior Exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music for piano, she switched to harp studies at age 17. She studied wi ...

–

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

(2, 8) *

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a Grammy Award-winning British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Sha ...

– cello solo (8), orchestral arrangements and conductor * David Katz – orchestra contractor *

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show ''Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the ...

– backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) *

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in the production of numerous transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of wh ...

– backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) * Roger Cook – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) *

Lesley Duncan Lesley Cox (née Duncan; 12 August 1943 – 12 March 2010) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved ...

– backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) * Kay Garner – backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) *

Tony Hazzard Anthony "Tony" Hazzard (born 31 October 1943, Liverpool, England) is an English singer and songwriter. He has written songs for The Hollies (" Listen to Me"), Manfred Mann (" Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" and " Fox on the Run"), "Me, The Peaceful Heart ...

– backing vocals (3, 4, 7, 9) * Barbara Moore – backing vocals,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

leader (7) ;Technical *

– producer, liner notes * Robin Geoffrey Cable –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

* Gus Skinas – editing * Alan Harris – original mastering * Tony Cousins – remastering * Ricky Graham – digital transfers * Greg Penny –

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

* Steve Brown – production coordinator * David Larkham –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

* Stowell Stanford – photography * Jim Goff – artwork *

John Tobler John Hugen Tobler (born 9 May 1943) is a British rock music journalist, writer, occasional broadcaster, and record company executive. With Pete Frame, he was one of the founders of ZigZag magazine in April 1969. The magazine focused on the "und ...

– liner notes

Accolades

Grammy Awards , - , style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

, , rowspan="2", ''Elton John'' , ,

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, , , - , Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male , , , -

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elton John (Album) 1970 albums Albums arranged by Paul Buckmaster Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon Albums recorded at Trident Studios DJM Records albums Elton John albums Uni Records albums