Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

by Elton John

Overview

It was designed to be a blockbuster and it was. Prior to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John had hits -- his second album, Elton John, went Top 10 in the U.S. and U.K., and he had smash singles in "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel" -- but this 1973 album was a statement of purpose spilling over two LPs, which was all the better to showcase every element of John's spangled personality. Opening with the 11-minute melodramatic exercise "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" -- as prog as Elton ever got -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road immediately embraces excess but also tunefulness, as John immediately switches over to "Candle in the Wind" and "Bennie & the Jets," two songs that form the core of his canon and go a long way toward explaining the over-stuffed appeal of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This was truly the debut of Elton John the entertainer, the pro who knows how to satisfy every segment of his audience, and this eagerness to please means the record is giddy but also overwhelming, a rush of too much muchness. Still, taken a side at a time, or even a song a time, it is a thing of wonder, serving up such perfectly sculpted pop songs as "Grey Seal," full-bore rockers as "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock & Roll)," cinematic ballads like "I've Seen That Movie Too," throwbacks to the dusty conceptual sweep of Tumbleweed Connection in the form of "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)," and preposterous glam novelties, like "Jamaica Jerk-Off." This touched on everything John did before, and suggested ways he'd move in the near-future, and that sprawl is always messy but usually delightful, a testament to Elton's '70s power as a star and a musician. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/25/2014
Label:	Mercury / Universal
UPC:	0602537585892
Rank:	1342

Tracks

1. Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)
2. Candle in the Wind
3. Bennie and the Jets
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. This Song Has No Title
6. Grey Seal
7. Jamaica Jerk-Off
8. I've Seen That Movie Too
9. Sweet Painted Lady
10. The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)
11. Dirty Little Girl
12. All The Girls Love Alice
13. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)
14. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
15. Roy Rogers
16. Social Disease
17. Harmony

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elton John   Primary Artist,Organ,Piano,Vocals,Keyboards,Mellotron,Farfisa Organ,Fender Rhodes,Piano (Electric)
Miguel   Primary Artist,Vocals (Background)
Ed Sheeran   Primary Artist,Bass,Cajon,Shaker,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Hunter Hayes   Primary Artist,Primary Artist,Guitar,Wurlitzer,Percussion
Alfred Newman   Primary Artist
Emeli Sande   Primary Artist
The Band Perry   Primary Artist
John Grant   Primary Artist
Fall Out Boy   Primary Artist
Imelda May   Primary Artist
Zac Brown Band   Primary Artist
Dee Murray   Bass (Electric),Bass,Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Nigel Olsson   Tamboura,Drums,Congas,Tambourine,Sound Effects,Vocals (Background)
Del Newman   Orchestra
Coy Bowles   Guitar (Acoustic)
Steve Aho   Percussion
Wale   Featured Artist,Featured Artist
Bill Cinque   Guitar (Bass)
John Driskell Hopkins   Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Kiki Dee   Vocals (Background)
Steve Rushton   Drums
Jeff Alan Ross   Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer,Farfisa Organ,Guitar (Acoustic)
Chris Fryar   Drums
Ray Cooper   Tambourine,Percussion,Tambourine
Chris Loco   Keyboards
Sam Ellis   Vocals (Background)
Jimmy de Martini   Vocals (Background),Violin
Davey Johnstone   Synthesizer,Slide Guitar,Guitar (Steel),Guitar (Leslie),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Banjo,Guitar,Vocals
Darrel Higham   Guitar (Electric)
David Hentschel   Keyboards,Synthesizer,ARP Synthesizer
David Katz   Violin
Jim Keltner   Drums
Ann Marie Calhoun   Viola,Violin,Mandolin
Victoria Asher   Vocals (Background)
Dave Priseman   Trumpet,Guitar (Acoustic)
Graham Sharp   Banjo
Al Gare   Guitar (Bass)
Bryan Forbes   Director
Stephen Hilton   Synthesizer,Drum Machine
Prince Rhino   Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Jason Bonham   Drums
Clay Cook   Piano,Mellotron,Organ (Hammond),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Waddy Wachtel   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Ryeland Allison   Drums
Leroy Gomez   Saxophone
Peter Asher   Bass,Guitar,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Gus Dudgeon   Audio Production,Producer,Liner Notes
David Hentschel   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Steve Brown   Coordination
Del Newman   Arranger,Orchestral Arrangements
David Scutt   Insert Illustration
Matt Mangano   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Bill Curbishley   Executive Producer
Michael Ross   Artwork,Art Direction,Illustrations
Ben Robinson   Engineer,Drum Engineering
Emeli Sande   Performer
The Band Perry   Performer
Andy Scott   Assistant Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Miguel   Producer,Performer,Vocal Engineer
Ed Sheeran   Producer,Performer
Hunter Hayes   Producer,Performer
Timothy Marchiafava   End Chorus
Tyler Bradley Walker   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Jeff Gartenbaum   Engineer,Vocal Engineer,Overdub Engineer
Chris Loco   Engineer,Producer,Programming
Brandon Conway   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Wes Sideman   Engineer
Alfred Newman   Composer
Chris Bolster   Engineer
Patrick Stump   Producer
Elton John   Composer,Sample Source,Executive Producer
David Katz   Orchestra Contractor
Sammy Lerner   Translation
Pete Townshend   Composer
Geoff Zanelli   String Arrangements
Ivy Skoff   Production Coordination
Seth Morton   Vocal Engineer
Zac Brown Band   Performer
Imelda May   Performer
Olubowale Akintimehin   Composer
David Larkham   Artwork,Art Direction,Illustrations
Robert Rosenberg   Executive Producer
Rene Rouzaud   Composer
Bryan Forbes   Producer
Emile Waldteufel   Composer
Paul Buckmaster   Arranger
Stephen Hilton   Engineer,Programming,Keyboard Engineer,Additional Production,Percussion Programming
Johnny Marks   Composer
Prince Rhino   Vocal Ad-Libs
John Tobler   Liner Notes
Barry Sage   Tape Operator
Clay Cook   Producer
Fall Out Boy   Performer
Freiderich Hollaender   Composer
John Grant   Performer
Jeff Griffin   Producer
Peter Asher   Mixing,Producer,Executive Producer
Nathaniel Kunkel   Mixing,Engineer,Vocal Engineer,Overdub Engineer
Peter Kelsey   Assistant Engineer
Bernie Taupin   Composer,Lyricist
Zac Brown   Producer
Marguerite Monnot   Composer
Tom Burns   Engineer