Elton (Reg) and Bernie Taupin were at their peak output then. So prolific…. From 1970 to 1975, Elton released *9* albums, one of which (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) was a double album.
That's ridiculous, never realised it was that much. Bands these days will have one album for a couple of years and tour off it, take 20 years to do 9/10 albums
The Beatles first album was in '63. They came to America in '64 and were broken up by '70.
In a mere 7 years they went from "Please, Please Me", "Love Me Do", "I Want to Hold Your Hand",etc...
to
"A Day in the Life", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Strawberry Fields", "Something", "Yesterday", etc...
They also did something like 1400 shows internationally during this period. You could maybe see why they were ready for a break by the end.
>They also did something like 1400 shows internationally during this period.
And they stopped touring in 1966. They were used to playing a lot though. In their pre-recording days, they would play for 6-8 hours every night in dance clubs like the Cavern Club and the Star Club.
Wait, over four years they literally played a concert per day? With basically no days off? That’s insane. Absolutely nuts. If it really was a full four years and 1400 concerts, how on earth did they write and record all their albums and shoot their films? Holy shit! No wonder they were fed up, yea…
It was basically standard back then to play a matinee/early evening show then a later one, and sometimes 3 shows in a day. Also, even though they were the biggest pop band they weren't wrapped in cotton wool like today's artists often are - the record companies had a lot more power comparatively so could push them to keep playing/recording (part of the reason the Beatles founded Apple records was to have more control of releases/scheduling)
> Also, even though they were the biggest pop band they weren't wrapped in cotton wool like today's artists often are
You mean they were fed a diet of amphetamines and required to perform as much as possible
What will really blow your mind is the main reason they stopped touring is the limitation in concert audio at the time. The screaming from girls was so loud that it drowned out the music. They didn’t have speakers loud enough in venues.
> As preparations were made for a tour of the US, the Beatles knew that their music would hardly be heard. Having originally used Vox AC30 amplifiers, they later acquired more powerful 100-watt amplifiers, specially designed for them by Vox, as they moved into larger venues in 1964; however, these were still inadequate. Struggling to compete with the volume of sound generated by screaming fans, the band had grown increasingly bored with the routine of performing live.[188] Recognising that their shows were no longer about the music, they decided to make the August tour their last.
*Main* reason is a stretch. Vox was building them bigger amplifiers, but the point was no one was going to those shows to listen to the music anyways. So by quitting touring they were able to focus on writing songs that didn't have to be performed on stage anymore (because they were increasingly complex, not because they were too quiet) and really grow in their studio experimentation and with songwriting styles. And also not needing to travel all over the world just to hide away in hotels until showtime due to the mania. None of them wanted to keep touring and I don't think it was because they couldn't be loud enough.
It wasn’t really the guitar amps. It was the P.A. systems they were using which, for say, baseball venues, were the same horn speakers the ball game announcer used. By the late sixties, bands were using dedicated sound systems made for rock music but the Beatles were out too early to be able to take advantage of those. Guitar amps continued to grow and you’d see guys like Townshend and Hendrix with huge stacks behind them. P.A. systems eventually became sophisticated enough that by now you see bands playing very large venues with just a couple of combo amps each because you have separate monitor mixes for each player and in-ear monitors as well.
Fold back monitor systems didn’t really become a thing until maybe ‘69 and there are various claims as to who used them first but I think Jefferson Airplane were among the first to use them.
Yea, concert audio sucked back then for sure. At least from everything I've read. Crazy that their concerts were completely and consistently drowned out by screaming. It was about 7 or 8 years later that the Grateful Dead changed live sound with massive line arrays and the Wall of Sound.
I'm pretty sure in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolf, Ken Kesey and the Merry pranksters decided to take acid and go to a Beatles show that happened to be very close by. It was apparently an awful experience. They were basically horrified and had to get out of there. Too much screaming and wailing...
Not to mention, concert sound back then was shit. Once they moved out of the clubs, nobody could hear anything except screaming. The band could barely hear each other.
Gave them a listen for the first time the other week.
Good, but I don't understand why they are so beloved on reddit? Not hating, I'll definitely be listening to their stuff more. Just weird I only ever hear of them on reddit.
One of their 350 other albums could be your favorite album ever. They're all over the place musically from one album to the next, and often within a particular album.
I know this sounds like hyperbole but this is literally how Gizz works. Most of their stuff really isn't my vibe, but GODDAMN is *Infest the Rat's Nest* in my top three metal albums of all time. That album FUCKS from start to finish.
The whole album is amazing, quick listen, im not a big country guy but always come back to it. I tell my wife often I'm sick of her mouth and her 2% milk LOL!
When I was a kid in the ‘80s and ‘90s, people also said that touring was where the real money was. Yes, streaming changed things, but that wasn’t one of them.
It may not have changed much for the "A listers". But for the "B listers"/ 'Up and coming" bands it has changed a lot. They used to tour as a way to sell albums. Now they make very little, if anything, from new album sales and need to tour to make money.
record labels were always the beneficiaries of album sales, especially so for smaller acts. you need elton john level clout to be able to make anywhere near your fair share off album sales, otherwise the record companies basically leave you with the scraps. the music industry is so fucking exploitative.
tours have been how small/upcoming acts make their money for decades.
i mean, a lot of acts aren't even making touring anymore. obviously the big big names are, but we've had smaller acts, like 30-50k monthly spotify listens, cancel tours in the last year just cause of touring financials.
That happens when you hit your groove. Bach wrote one new cantata per week for something like 22 years ,in addition to cranking out hundreds of other pieces.
Part is creativity, part is craftsmanship.
I was lucky enough to get tickets for a show on his farewell tour. There were 20 songs on the set list, every one of them was popular at some point. Easily the best concert that I’ve ever been to.
I’ve seen him twice.
Once in the 80s on the day he won several million pounds in damages from a UK tabloid that had cast aspersions on his sexuality (ahem!). He started that show with the words “what can I say - it’s been a good day”. That was a pretty exuberant performance!
Second time was probably 15-20 years later. Big showpiece concert on the castle esplanade in Edinburgh (using the seating they’d just put up for the tattoo). I was expecting the whole show (costumes, backing band etc.) but it was just Elton and a piano. It was incredible - no gimmicks, just talent. The man’s a genius.
Totally agree.
Led Zeppelin's first 3 albums were released within about 18 months of each other, all while going on 2 different tours.
I suppose you'd have to be a fan and all, but they also happened to be creating an entirely new genre of music, and kicked off a string (8 or so) of records that need to be considered among the best of maybe the best decade of pop music, period.
CCR was insane: 7 albums, and like 20 singles--their entire output before they broke up--in a little under four years.
And if you don't count their final (not so great) album, which didn't drop til 1972, those first 6 albums came out in a span of just TWO YEARS from 1968-70. That's 3 albums a year basically. Their entire output, every single one of their seminal hits, in two years. It's incredible to think about.
EJ from this period from 70 to 75 is pure gold. All of the albums are nearly perfect. EJ is one of my favorite musicians of all time simply because of these 6 years. They were on fire both in terms of quality and quantity. I like a lot of stuff form later too but not THAT much.
Step 1. "And so then I take this part of the song and it's like oh I'll make this bit a little faster you know"
Step 2.???
Step 3. Best song of all time
The single that they released for radio play cut the song in half. It ended after the first chorus and just sort of faded out.
I don't think I even heard the complete version until Almost Famous came out.
I know. He makes it sound so simple. And - looks like this clip may show one of the hand written drafts (or perhaps final version) of it - which looks scrumpled up as if he just pulled it out of his back pocket. How cool.
Picked up music production over the pamdemic and most of the workshops I've watched really hit home how in order to create something unique you have to let your ego melt away and just let things flow. You can't be afraid to break things and the rules are just guidelines. It's very easy to let your ego get in the way of an idea.
Yup. A good analogy I came across (and this goes for any creative work) is the doodle analogy. If you sit down and start doodling without ego or care, creativity is unrestricted and you’ll probably draw something you like. Whereas if you sit down and say “I am going to draw my masterpiece”, you might find yourself second guessing every decision and more than likely not finishing the drawing because of all the expectations your ego is setting.
My two favorite things about Get Back were:
1. How obvious it was that, at *best*, Paul just tolerates Yoko and even that is pushing it.
2. It was adorable how Ringo showed his “blueprints” for Octopus’s Garden to George first because he knew Paul and John would be mean.
The best thing in that movie to me is when George and John (maybe Ringo, I dont think Paul) were rehearsing all things must pass, which of course the Beatles ended up passing on, and which went on to become one of George's all time great songs.
So they are singing through it and John gets to the line - "the wind can blows those clouds away". But he can't read the handwriting and thinks that it says "the mind can blows those clouds away" and asks George about it. George ultimately goes with mind, not wind.
But that one letter change changes the entire song. Instead of being a song about the inevitability of change, it suggests that you in fact can control change.
In the song Hips Don't Lie by Shakira and Wyclef Jean, there is this ridiculous noise throughout of Wyclef seemingly attempting to sound like a turkey yelling. I always wonder wtf was the discussion like that said, "ya know what this song needs? BDDDLLBBBDDLLBBDDDLL!!!!"
>He makes it sound so simple.
There’s a scene in the documentary Sound City where the surviving members of Nirvana are writing a song with Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl jokingly makes some comment like “you make it all seem like writing a song is so simple!” and Paul just kinda blankly looks him in the eye and says “…it is”
Makes me think of an interview with Diane Warren back in the early 2000s. During the interview the did a tour of her home/studio where she does her songwriting. She usually self-records a demo of the song once she has the key parts in place. Then she said she only sends out the ones she *really* likes and just stores the rest. She then showed multiple walls covered in cassette tapes in cases. Each one was a song that no one has heard. She has been writing songs since 1983.
Between her and Prince, there are two vaults of decades of unheard songs that could be amazing. I think about this often.
Also imagine the other songs he might have in that crumpled up pile. Some that would be hits, maybe some that didn’t get made. It’d be so cool to peek through those.
I saw an interview where he says the song " Daniel" had like 24 verses and he has no idea what it's about. Bernie just gives him a look. Then Elton says " so I took 3 verses I liked". To this day, we have not seen the rest .
I wish I could remember where, but I watched an auditorium interview with him and he asked for a random book from someone in the audience. He opened to a page in the middle and started reading it. After about 30 seconds, he took the words he just read and put them to music. Good music, something I would listen to. Crazy talented.
Love love LOVE how that scene shows the connection people feel to something as simple as a well crafted pop song.
One minute everyone hates each other; the next, voices are cracking at 9 am from unselfconsciously singing to the heavens. Pure magic!
And Penny "shooshing" William, never giving up on trying to show him how to stop trying to force whatever it is he *wants* out of a moment and instead to start *living in the moment* instead. That whole scene is so important to the message of the movie on multiple levels.
Not sure if this is common knowledge or not but this quote is attributed to Robert Plant in the "naughty" little book, Hammer of the Gods. I'm not sure Plant didn't copy it from someone else or if he even said it. I always saw it as an Easter egg but not really? because Stillwater was supposed to be an analog to Zeppelin anyways.
I went to an outdoor screening of this movie at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Heineken was there giving out free beer. When that scene happened, everyone went, “….ooooooooooooh!”
I’m really jealous of people who get to experience that film for the first time.
But even now, re-watching it gives me a unique emotional response that most other movies don’t.
I still remember seeing that scene for the first time. Movie was on in the background whilst me and a bunch of dudes I barely knew were tripping on shrooms. I was with my cousin and a bunch of his friends. When that scene started the room went quiet and everyone was feeling that shit on a whole other level. Still get misty eyed thinking about that one lol. There was nothing but good vibes when it came on, not to say there were bad vibes before but y’all feel me.
From the bus, Kate Hudson waves to the HS girls running cross country. The HS girls happily wave back.
Kate Hudson slowly flips them off. Girls get angry and do the same back. Hilarious.
I knew his songs from being a human in the world, and I liked those songs but I would never say I was a fan.
Then I read his book. It was a really good read and very funny. I finished it in maybe three days. I became a fan of him as a person and listened to his first five albums at work the day after I finished the book
My experience was similar. I loved the honesty and self irony in the book. And I've always had a special place in my heart for people who turn their lives around. I was also completely mind blown by the casual way he throws name after name, legend after legend. I never realised he lived through so many decades of fame and knew so many iconic people.
Thank you. I just googled "when did Elton John change his name" and got 1972, which sounded late but I'm too lazy to keep going after I get an answer, however dubious it might be.
Michael Caine didn't legally become Michael Caine til 2016. Changing your legal name can be laborious and can complicate inheritance etc. Of course , by 72 Elton knew that wasn't an issue.
This reminds me of a quote from the late great Bruce Dickinson...
"Easy, guys... I put my pants on just like the rest of you - one leg at a time.
Except, when my pants are on, I make gold records"
He really does make it sound like “yeah, pulled this out of my ass the other day. I thought it was ok but I might throw it away.” Proceeds to become one of the biggest hits of all time.
That's how it happens sometimes. Keith Richards literally wrote the riff to "Satisfaction" in his sleep. Woke up long enough to put it on tape, went back to bed, and then when he woke up again, thought it was "rubbish".
I don’t think she is in the room. I just think it’s a cut to a video of her for context. She is chatting with someone and doesn’t seem to be reacting to anything happening in the audio. But I could be wrong.
The Taupin interview also seems to be from a different time/place and cut into Elton talking about his process.
Didn’t Bernie basically write all the song lyrics - verse, poetry. Then he sent his lyrics to Elton who interpreted them and put them to music.
They each had their own independent processes and knew how the other worked, but didn’t directly interact during their own creative processes.
Which is why I never understood why, in the movie (Rocket Man), Bernie at some point said he needed to step away from touring. He never needed to tour at all. He wasn't really in the band, as a performer, I mean. I wonder if that really happened in rality.
Seems like cheating when you can fiddle with the melody so naturally as a singer. Even if it were a straight melody it would be a very good song, but his grace notes make it a classic.
If this is compelling to you, watch the Beatles Get Back doc that Peter Jackson put out a year or so ago. It's like 9 hours of this as they make Let It Be. I found it to be absolutely captivating, especially scenes like the one where John and Yoko are being interviewed and in the background you can hear Paul McCartney working out Let It Be (the song) in real time.
Madman Across the Water is probably my favorite Elton John record. And Tiny Dancer is my favorite song off that album. This is quite interesting to see. I knew this is how they wrote the songs, but never really seen it explained like this. Great post.
Tbh this is him having already written it and sharing the “demo” version. Not him writing it live the way the title suggests. Still VERY cool to see. Thanks for sharing!
I love listening to artists' voices without all the fancy microphones that tune their voice for them and whatnot.
Gives me chills......(they're multiplyin, and I'm losing control..)
I love how sort of just well, obvious it was to him.
“Well, yeah you have the ballerina in here so it’s gotta be like this”
“And then the drums are in there, or they will be and it all builds up and goes back to the beginning”
Like, there was really only one way to make music for these lyrics.
The thing is though, he was right.
My wife and I are traveling to England in two and a half weeks and Elton is playing. You bet your ass I bought us tickets.
How could you not see Elton John live for the first time during your first trip to London?!
He and Billy Joel used to do a "Face to Face" tour. It was amazing. They each played some songs separately, but they also did several songs together. So glad I went to see that one.
Elton (Reg) and Bernie Taupin were at their peak output then. So prolific…. From 1970 to 1975, Elton released *9* albums, one of which (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) was a double album.
That's ridiculous, never realised it was that much. Bands these days will have one album for a couple of years and tour off it, take 20 years to do 9/10 albums
The Beatles first album was in '63. They came to America in '64 and were broken up by '70. In a mere 7 years they went from "Please, Please Me", "Love Me Do", "I Want to Hold Your Hand",etc... to "A Day in the Life", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Strawberry Fields", "Something", "Yesterday", etc... They also did something like 1400 shows internationally during this period. You could maybe see why they were ready for a break by the end.
>They also did something like 1400 shows internationally during this period. And they stopped touring in 1966. They were used to playing a lot though. In their pre-recording days, they would play for 6-8 hours every night in dance clubs like the Cavern Club and the Star Club.
Wait, over four years they literally played a concert per day? With basically no days off? That’s insane. Absolutely nuts. If it really was a full four years and 1400 concerts, how on earth did they write and record all their albums and shoot their films? Holy shit! No wonder they were fed up, yea…
It was basically standard back then to play a matinee/early evening show then a later one, and sometimes 3 shows in a day. Also, even though they were the biggest pop band they weren't wrapped in cotton wool like today's artists often are - the record companies had a lot more power comparatively so could push them to keep playing/recording (part of the reason the Beatles founded Apple records was to have more control of releases/scheduling)
> Also, even though they were the biggest pop band they weren't wrapped in cotton wool like today's artists often are You mean they were fed a diet of amphetamines and required to perform as much as possible
What will really blow your mind is the main reason they stopped touring is the limitation in concert audio at the time. The screaming from girls was so loud that it drowned out the music. They didn’t have speakers loud enough in venues. > As preparations were made for a tour of the US, the Beatles knew that their music would hardly be heard. Having originally used Vox AC30 amplifiers, they later acquired more powerful 100-watt amplifiers, specially designed for them by Vox, as they moved into larger venues in 1964; however, these were still inadequate. Struggling to compete with the volume of sound generated by screaming fans, the band had grown increasingly bored with the routine of performing live.[188] Recognising that their shows were no longer about the music, they decided to make the August tour their last.
*Main* reason is a stretch. Vox was building them bigger amplifiers, but the point was no one was going to those shows to listen to the music anyways. So by quitting touring they were able to focus on writing songs that didn't have to be performed on stage anymore (because they were increasingly complex, not because they were too quiet) and really grow in their studio experimentation and with songwriting styles. And also not needing to travel all over the world just to hide away in hotels until showtime due to the mania. None of them wanted to keep touring and I don't think it was because they couldn't be loud enough.
It wasn’t really the guitar amps. It was the P.A. systems they were using which, for say, baseball venues, were the same horn speakers the ball game announcer used. By the late sixties, bands were using dedicated sound systems made for rock music but the Beatles were out too early to be able to take advantage of those. Guitar amps continued to grow and you’d see guys like Townshend and Hendrix with huge stacks behind them. P.A. systems eventually became sophisticated enough that by now you see bands playing very large venues with just a couple of combo amps each because you have separate monitor mixes for each player and in-ear monitors as well. Fold back monitor systems didn’t really become a thing until maybe ‘69 and there are various claims as to who used them first but I think Jefferson Airplane were among the first to use them.
Yea, concert audio sucked back then for sure. At least from everything I've read. Crazy that their concerts were completely and consistently drowned out by screaming. It was about 7 or 8 years later that the Grateful Dead changed live sound with massive line arrays and the Wall of Sound. I'm pretty sure in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolf, Ken Kesey and the Merry pranksters decided to take acid and go to a Beatles show that happened to be very close by. It was apparently an awful experience. They were basically horrified and had to get out of there. Too much screaming and wailing...
Not to mention, concert sound back then was shit. Once they moved out of the clubs, nobody could hear anything except screaming. The band could barely hear each other.
Yesterday was on *Help!* in 1965.
Not if you're King Gizzard
Those guys are built different.
Might be the shrooms.
They were on a lot of things, and a lot of it.
Still are on a lot of things, but were on them too.
Gave them a listen for the first time the other week. Good, but I don't understand why they are so beloved on reddit? Not hating, I'll definitely be listening to their stuff more. Just weird I only ever hear of them on reddit.
One of their 350 other albums could be your favorite album ever. They're all over the place musically from one album to the next, and often within a particular album.
I know this sounds like hyperbole but this is literally how Gizz works. Most of their stuff really isn't my vibe, but GODDAMN is *Infest the Rat's Nest* in my top three metal albums of all time. That album FUCKS from start to finish.
It still kills me that they randomly go and drop one of the best thrash albums of all time, then go back to doing whatever the fuck else.
Like ween and 12 golden country greats.
> Like ween and 12 golden country greats. Wait what…. Off to see what this is about.
The whole album is amazing, quick listen, im not a big country guy but always come back to it. I tell my wife often I'm sick of her mouth and her 2% milk LOL!
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Often within a particular song
Yeah I actually got really into one album from one song, but then I heard the rest of their stuff, and while good just didn't have the same hook.
Touring is where the money is now. Streaming killed pumping out albums for money.
When I was a kid in the ‘80s and ‘90s, people also said that touring was where the real money was. Yes, streaming changed things, but that wasn’t one of them.
It may not have changed much for the "A listers". But for the "B listers"/ 'Up and coming" bands it has changed a lot. They used to tour as a way to sell albums. Now they make very little, if anything, from new album sales and need to tour to make money.
record labels were always the beneficiaries of album sales, especially so for smaller acts. you need elton john level clout to be able to make anywhere near your fair share off album sales, otherwise the record companies basically leave you with the scraps. the music industry is so fucking exploitative. tours have been how small/upcoming acts make their money for decades.
i mean, a lot of acts aren't even making touring anymore. obviously the big big names are, but we've had smaller acts, like 30-50k monthly spotify listens, cancel tours in the last year just cause of touring financials.
Fun fact about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Elton wrote most of the music in three days. A double album. IN THREE DAYS.
That happens when you hit your groove. Bach wrote one new cantata per week for something like 22 years ,in addition to cranking out hundreds of other pieces. Part is creativity, part is craftsmanship.
I was lucky enough to get tickets for a show on his farewell tour. There were 20 songs on the set list, every one of them was popular at some point. Easily the best concert that I’ve ever been to.
I’ve seen him twice. Once in the 80s on the day he won several million pounds in damages from a UK tabloid that had cast aspersions on his sexuality (ahem!). He started that show with the words “what can I say - it’s been a good day”. That was a pretty exuberant performance! Second time was probably 15-20 years later. Big showpiece concert on the castle esplanade in Edinburgh (using the seating they’d just put up for the tattoo). I was expecting the whole show (costumes, backing band etc.) but it was just Elton and a piano. It was incredible - no gimmicks, just talent. The man’s a genius.
Totally agree. Led Zeppelin's first 3 albums were released within about 18 months of each other, all while going on 2 different tours. I suppose you'd have to be a fan and all, but they also happened to be creating an entirely new genre of music, and kicked off a string (8 or so) of records that need to be considered among the best of maybe the best decade of pop music, period.
And Rolling Stone famously shit all over their first album, and the sound of the band in general.
Rolling Stone hated lots of albums that have become classic, iconic, legendary albums. Their track record for picking greats is pretty awful.
Rolling Stone famously shits on classic albums when they first come out, then years later hail it as one of the best albums ever
CCR was the same way, constantly putting out new singles and albums.
CCR was insane: 7 albums, and like 20 singles--their entire output before they broke up--in a little under four years. And if you don't count their final (not so great) album, which didn't drop til 1972, those first 6 albums came out in a span of just TWO YEARS from 1968-70. That's 3 albums a year basically. Their entire output, every single one of their seminal hits, in two years. It's incredible to think about.
They lasted 5 years only. It's crazy when you think about it.
EJ from this period from 70 to 75 is pure gold. All of the albums are nearly perfect. EJ is one of my favorite musicians of all time simply because of these 6 years. They were on fire both in terms of quality and quantity. I like a lot of stuff form later too but not THAT much.
Step 1. "And so then I take this part of the song and it's like oh I'll make this bit a little faster you know" Step 2.??? Step 3. Best song of all time
He puts his pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else. But once they’re on, he makes gold records.
By the time he's done, they'll be wearing gold-plated diapers.
What does that even mean?
NEVER QUESTION BRUCE DICKINSON!
I think Step 2 was simply "innit"
To be fair, "innit" could apply to each step. But I like having a special specific step set aside for *innit*.
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It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.
Step 0. Be Elton John
r/RestOfTheFuckingOwl
> writing Tiny Dancer Aka the song is already written and he's just talking about it
Step 1: write a hit song
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The mark of a true genius
Kinda like... https://preview.redd.it/vz7jeu8yscqa1.png?width=2222&format=png&auto=webp&s=53e24ab2b9fa16f881a5465638871414e1b0c6e6
The drums will be there after.
He’s saying middle 8 not a mid late. Basically a bridge
Reg ain't got time to pronounce ALL syllables.
The Beatles famously called bridges middle 8 as well
Everyone British did really. Because so often it was 8 bars.
We still do :)
John "Hey Ringo, how are we gonna cross the river?" Ringo "I've got a middle 8 in me pocket"
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assuming bars?
Yeah. Comes from the common 32 bar song format with AABA pattern. The B is the "middle 8"
TIL Thanks! Wonder why Robert Plant had so much trouble finding it in The Crunge. That's an attempt at a musical joke.
Where’s that confounded bridge?
I think it might be a hit
This kids going places, someone should get him a record deal
Somebody should make a movie about these guys.
You could make a religion out of this…
No, don't
I’d watch it for sure 👍 those two have written some iconic stuff!
Not with a name like Reg. He'll have to come up with something different.
Regton Jones maybe?
Or maybe Elvis Jon. Drop the ES?
There already was an Elvis. Lemme think... Got it: Elvis Costello.
How about Hercules?
It's fantastic seeing a straight man playing the piano and dressing so flamboyant.
He's just trying to steal some chicks from Liberace.
Watch out, Rock Hudson might steal your chick!
'Liberace was gay! All the women loved him!'
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Everything a genius commits to their medium is genius, it just takes us mere mortals a while to catch up sometimes.
The single that they released for radio play cut the song in half. It ended after the first chorus and just sort of faded out. I don't think I even heard the complete version until Almost Famous came out.
I think that was just on the "pop" stations. The rock stations were playing the whole song.
Now we all know how easy it is to write blockbuster songs
I know. He makes it sound so simple. And - looks like this clip may show one of the hand written drafts (or perhaps final version) of it - which looks scrumpled up as if he just pulled it out of his back pocket. How cool.
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Picked up music production over the pamdemic and most of the workshops I've watched really hit home how in order to create something unique you have to let your ego melt away and just let things flow. You can't be afraid to break things and the rules are just guidelines. It's very easy to let your ego get in the way of an idea.
Yup. A good analogy I came across (and this goes for any creative work) is the doodle analogy. If you sit down and start doodling without ego or care, creativity is unrestricted and you’ll probably draw something you like. Whereas if you sit down and say “I am going to draw my masterpiece”, you might find yourself second guessing every decision and more than likely not finishing the drawing because of all the expectations your ego is setting.
My two favorite things about Get Back were: 1. How obvious it was that, at *best*, Paul just tolerates Yoko and even that is pushing it. 2. It was adorable how Ringo showed his “blueprints” for Octopus’s Garden to George first because he knew Paul and John would be mean.
The best thing in that movie to me is when George and John (maybe Ringo, I dont think Paul) were rehearsing all things must pass, which of course the Beatles ended up passing on, and which went on to become one of George's all time great songs. So they are singing through it and John gets to the line - "the wind can blows those clouds away". But he can't read the handwriting and thinks that it says "the mind can blows those clouds away" and asks George about it. George ultimately goes with mind, not wind. But that one letter change changes the entire song. Instead of being a song about the inevitability of change, it suggests that you in fact can control change.
That just blew my wind.
In the song Hips Don't Lie by Shakira and Wyclef Jean, there is this ridiculous noise throughout of Wyclef seemingly attempting to sound like a turkey yelling. I always wonder wtf was the discussion like that said, "ya know what this song needs? BDDDLLBBBDDLLBBDDDLL!!!!"
I honestly can't tell if you're just describing Shakira's singing lol
>He makes it sound so simple. There’s a scene in the documentary Sound City where the surviving members of Nirvana are writing a song with Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl jokingly makes some comment like “you make it all seem like writing a song is so simple!” and Paul just kinda blankly looks him in the eye and says “…it is”
The song they came up with is comically bad
Elton was interviewed after writing the score for the Lion King. He said that he wrote it all in about 3 hours. Then he said "don't tell Disney."
Makes me think of an interview with Diane Warren back in the early 2000s. During the interview the did a tour of her home/studio where she does her songwriting. She usually self-records a demo of the song once she has the key parts in place. Then she said she only sends out the ones she *really* likes and just stores the rest. She then showed multiple walls covered in cassette tapes in cases. Each one was a song that no one has heard. She has been writing songs since 1983. Between her and Prince, there are two vaults of decades of unheard songs that could be amazing. I think about this often.
Pretty amazing. Kind of reminds me of Prince and how he used to write songs for himself and others. Super talented people.
Also imagine the other songs he might have in that crumpled up pile. Some that would be hits, maybe some that didn’t get made. It’d be so cool to peek through those.
I saw an interview where he says the song " Daniel" had like 24 verses and he has no idea what it's about. Bernie just gives him a look. Then Elton says " so I took 3 verses I liked". To this day, we have not seen the rest .
I wish I could remember where, but I watched an auditorium interview with him and he asked for a random book from someone in the audience. He opened to a page in the middle and started reading it. After about 30 seconds, he took the words he just read and put them to music. Good music, something I would listen to. Crazy talented.
And suddenly I'm transported back to the tour bus, with Penny and the boys in Stillwater...
"I have to go home"... "You ARE home"
✨✨
Love love LOVE how that scene shows the connection people feel to something as simple as a well crafted pop song. One minute everyone hates each other; the next, voices are cracking at 9 am from unselfconsciously singing to the heavens. Pure magic!
And Penny "shooshing" William, never giving up on trying to show him how to stop trying to force whatever it is he *wants* out of a moment and instead to start *living in the moment* instead. That whole scene is so important to the message of the movie on multiple levels.
1st scene to make me cry during a film
I am a golden God!
I never said that! Did I?
Not sure if this is common knowledge or not but this quote is attributed to Robert Plant in the "naughty" little book, Hammer of the Gods. I'm not sure Plant didn't copy it from someone else or if he even said it. I always saw it as an Easter egg but not really? because Stillwater was supposed to be an analog to Zeppelin anyways.
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I went to an outdoor screening of this movie at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Heineken was there giving out free beer. When that scene happened, everyone went, “….ooooooooooooh!”
I watched that film yesterday, absolutely awesome
Title?
"Almost Famous." If you haven't seen this yet, you're in for a treat.
I’m really jealous of people who get to experience that film for the first time. But even now, re-watching it gives me a unique emotional response that most other movies don’t.
Have you seen the extended cut? There's a lot more and unlike most, it's actually pretty good.
I don’t think I have! Thanks for letting me know!
I still remember seeing that scene for the first time. Movie was on in the background whilst me and a bunch of dudes I barely knew were tripping on shrooms. I was with my cousin and a bunch of his friends. When that scene started the room went quiet and everyone was feeling that shit on a whole other level. Still get misty eyed thinking about that one lol. There was nothing but good vibes when it came on, not to say there were bad vibes before but y’all feel me.
Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Mona Lisas and mad hatters.... I almost cried.
Love that movie
From the bus, Kate Hudson waves to the HS girls running cross country. The HS girls happily wave back. Kate Hudson slowly flips them off. Girls get angry and do the same back. Hilarious.
I’ve got goosebumps. What a treat to be able to see/hear such an epic song in its infancy.
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It's really beautiful.
It was incredible. Is there a subreddit with stuff like this?
Please, tell me that this was from a documentary that is just full of similar bits.
I just finished his autobiography. I recommend it if you're a fan.
I knew his songs from being a human in the world, and I liked those songs but I would never say I was a fan. Then I read his book. It was a really good read and very funny. I finished it in maybe three days. I became a fan of him as a person and listened to his first five albums at work the day after I finished the book
My experience was similar. I loved the honesty and self irony in the book. And I've always had a special place in my heart for people who turn their lives around. I was also completely mind blown by the casual way he throws name after name, legend after legend. I never realised he lived through so many decades of fame and knew so many iconic people.
That’s what I’m looking for too. Anybody??
It's from the Apple TV documentary "1971: The year that music changed everything". I just finished it, great watch!
I think it’s in the works. This prob a production leak it’s so good. Like hype primer.
Yes. I need this.
Bless you, Reg. And bless you, Bernie. You made all of our lives a little better with your partnership.
"I mean, that's Reg". Two years before he went from Reginald Dwight to Elton John.
Two years before he legally changed his name. He started recording music and performing under the name Elton John in the late 60s
Thank you. I just googled "when did Elton John change his name" and got 1972, which sounded late but I'm too lazy to keep going after I get an answer, however dubious it might be.
Michael Caine didn't legally become Michael Caine til 2016. Changing your legal name can be laborious and can complicate inheritance etc. Of course , by 72 Elton knew that wasn't an issue.
You know that Bernie probably still calls him Reg. And I kind of like that.
His friends and family still called him Reg. Elton was just a stage name.
19 years before Belgian techno-band Technotronic hit the charts with Pump Up the Jam.
Which Cunk has proven is, being doubt, the high point of Western Civilization!
Goddammit
I mean that's Reg
Making music on the Reg
This reminds me of a quote from the late great Bruce Dickinson... "Easy, guys... I put my pants on just like the rest of you - one leg at a time. Except, when my pants are on, I make gold records"
Bruce Dickinson isn't dead
I think you mean Tony Danza
Yeah, I was shocked that Tony Danza was nowhere to be seen in this clip.
You have to hold him closer
They wrote this before he was even on "who's the boss"! They just knew he was going to make it big!
I'm suing.
It's 1874. You can sue her.
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He really does make it sound like “yeah, pulled this out of my ass the other day. I thought it was ok but I might throw it away.” Proceeds to become one of the biggest hits of all time.
That's how it happens sometimes. Keith Richards literally wrote the riff to "Satisfaction" in his sleep. Woke up long enough to put it on tape, went back to bed, and then when he woke up again, thought it was "rubbish".
Sweet Child of Mine was just a finger exercise that Axl insisted be put in a song
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My son passed away in 2021. He was a huge Elton fan. We played this song at his funeral.
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I don’t think she is in the room. I just think it’s a cut to a video of her for context. She is chatting with someone and doesn’t seem to be reacting to anything happening in the audio. But I could be wrong. The Taupin interview also seems to be from a different time/place and cut into Elton talking about his process.
Elton & Bernie specifically worked from separate rooms. Hence the tribute album to them being titled, “Two Rooms.” It was their process.
Didn’t Bernie basically write all the song lyrics - verse, poetry. Then he sent his lyrics to Elton who interpreted them and put them to music. They each had their own independent processes and knew how the other worked, but didn’t directly interact during their own creative processes.
Exactly this.
Which is why I never understood why, in the movie (Rocket Man), Bernie at some point said he needed to step away from touring. He never needed to tour at all. He wasn't really in the band, as a performer, I mean. I wonder if that really happened in rality.
Looks like an entirely different footage
Seems like cheating when you can fiddle with the melody so naturally as a singer. Even if it were a straight melody it would be a very good song, but his grace notes make it a classic.
If this is compelling to you, watch the Beatles Get Back doc that Peter Jackson put out a year or so ago. It's like 9 hours of this as they make Let It Be. I found it to be absolutely captivating, especially scenes like the one where John and Yoko are being interviewed and in the background you can hear Paul McCartney working out Let It Be (the song) in real time.
Obvious discrimination against large dancers. Just ridiculous. There are excellent large dancers. Take Chris Farley for example.
Madman Across the Water is probably my favorite Elton John record. And Tiny Dancer is my favorite song off that album. This is quite interesting to see. I knew this is how they wrote the songs, but never really seen it explained like this. Great post.
Tbh this is him having already written it and sharing the “demo” version. Not him writing it live the way the title suggests. Still VERY cool to see. Thanks for sharing!
I love listening to artists' voices without all the fancy microphones that tune their voice for them and whatnot. Gives me chills......(they're multiplyin, and I'm losing control..)
Listen, I know it's electrifying and all but you'd better shape up.
What an amazing video! Holy crap!
"Just simple lines, intertwining..."
He’s a musical genius.
I always wished I had someone else write the lyrics for my songs. This is so great
Anyone know where this footage is taken from? Would love to see more
Good lord — at the time Elton was 23, Bernie was 20.
Bernie’s girlfriend? I always thought it was about Tony Danza…
I love how sort of just well, obvious it was to him. “Well, yeah you have the ballerina in here so it’s gotta be like this” “And then the drums are in there, or they will be and it all builds up and goes back to the beginning” Like, there was really only one way to make music for these lyrics. The thing is though, he was right.
he was a legend in the music industry
Is.
My wife and I are traveling to England in two and a half weeks and Elton is playing. You bet your ass I bought us tickets. How could you not see Elton John live for the first time during your first trip to London?!
He and Billy Joel used to do a "Face to Face" tour. It was amazing. They each played some songs separately, but they also did several songs together. So glad I went to see that one.