Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
As mentioned in the last MT, Elton’s November 20th show at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, will be streamed live on Disney+.
Footage from his two other concerts, on November 17 and 19, will be used for a documentary called Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years The Made His Legend and this is to be released on Disney+ after a festival run and limited theatrical release.
Dodger Stadium won’t be the only venue featured: Performance clips from New York and London, as well as exclusive new interviews, will be part of the package.
Bob Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, believes there ”are no superlatives left to describe Elton John and his impact on music and culture–he’s simply unrivaled,” and is excited about the new project.
What would you pick if asked to come up with seven legendary gigs that changed history? According to Far Out, one of them was Elton’s Troubadour concert in the summer of 1970, when he ”broke America.” The pop maestro said the atmosphere was ”electric” and that something inside him ”took over” as he kicked over his piano stool, and realised this was his ”big moment.”
In November, the Rocket Man’s songwriting partner is coming to Houston, Texas, but Bernie Taupin points out that it’s not because of music.
He will be displaying a collection of prints at the Off the Wall gallery. He created Reflections to celebrate his longtime partnership with Elton as well as the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
Bernie will make a couple of appearances: RSVPs can required for when he does. You can go online or give the gallery a call.
Meanwhile, the artist has contributed a couple of hand-signed prints to One805, a nonprofit for first responders. It was started after the Montecito Mudflow in January 2018, which killed 23 people and wrecked hundreds of homes. This was after a Ventura County wildfire a month earlier, which wound up destroying well over a thousand structures.
This year’s benefit will take place on the 17th of September and features performers from the Cars‘ Elliot Easton and Chicago‘s Danny Seraphine, among others.
Not only has Bernie donated artwork, says one805, he’s to be a special guest. Go to auction to bid on his prints–or perhaps autographed guitars from notables like Kevin Costner and Robby Krieger.
As revealed previously by EJW, REGENERATE: Lost Songs from the Musicals is set for a day later. The September 18th event will include a number from Elton and Tim Rice.
This is to be livestreamed in support of charity Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network.
There will be 16 never-before-heard songs. That includes Elton and Tim’s I Could Not Miss You More (cut from the movie Gnomeo and Juliet). Duncan James will sing the tune, rather than Elton. Duncan, of course, covered another EJ song years back. In 2002, his band, Blue, collaborated with Elton on Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. It made the top spot on the UK Singles Chart on 15 December 2002. For more information, please click here.
Davey Johnstone recently spoke about what it was like recording classic tracks with Elton. With Honky Chateau‘s Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, he told Guitar-player, ”I remember Elton playing it and I thought Oh wow, mandolin would be beautiful here.” He would know, having played the instrument since he was 15.
In the case of Crocodile Rock from Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, Davey recalls that they ”were stealing little things.” So he came up with the idea of using some ”twangy Duane Eddy guitar parts.”
When it came to Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), the musician ”worked out a very specific guitar riff because Elton wanted a recurring part that was kind of ringing and chimey. It became sort of a theme of the song. There’s also those big power chords that I play.”
Davey cites two other Goodbye Yellow Brick Road numbers: All The Girls Love Alice and I’ve Seen That Movie Too. He says the former opens with a ”really cool guitar volume swell. That’s through a Uni-Vibe, which I’ve used for various sounds since way back. In those days, there was very little hardware available for guitarists.”
The 71-year-old says that I’ve Seen That Movie Too is ”such an atmospheric
song” and he appreciated Paul Buckmaster‘s string arrangement. In fact, he didn’t plan on a guitar solo until producer Gus Dudgeon suggested it.
Davey also appreciated being able to experiment, even when some didn’t work out so well. But many turned out to be good, happy accidents.”
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