Elton John 2000–present
 John and Taupin now enlisted Gus Dudgeon to produce a follow-up with Paul Buckmaster as arranger. Elton John was released in the spring of 1970 on DJM Records/Pye Records in the UK and Uni Records in the USA, and established the formula for subsequent albums; gospel-chorded rockers and poignant ballads. The first single from the album, Border Song, only made the US Top 100 peaking at #92. After the second single Your Song made the US Top Ten, the album followed suit. John's first American concert took place at The Troubadour in Los Angeles (his introduction was provided by Neil Diamond), in August, backed by ex-Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray. Kicking over his piano bench Jerry Lee Lewis-style and performing handstands on the keyboards, John left the critics raving, and drew praise from fellow artists such as Quincy Jones and Bob Dylan.
In the spring of 1970, John was recruited to provide piano and backing vocals on Back Home, the song recorded by the England football squad which was about to depart to Mexico for the World Cup finals.
Elton John was followed quickly with the concept album Tumbleweed Connection in October 1970, which reached the Top Ten on the Billboard 200. A frenetic pace of releasing two albums a year was now established.
The live album 17-11-70 (11-17-70 in the US) showcased Elton's talent as a rock pianist and father of piano rock. Taped at a live show aired from A&R Studios on WABC-FM in New York City, and introduced by disc jockey Dave Herman, it featured extended versions of John/Taupin's early compositions that illustrate the gospel and boogie-woogie influences on John's piano playing. It also featured much interaction between John, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson. During the magnum opus 18:20 version of Burn Down the Mission, the band interpolates Arthur Big Boy Crudup's My Baby Left Me and a full rendition of The Beatles' Get Back before a rampaging conclusion. Ironically, sales of the live album were reportedly heavily hit in the U.S. when an east coast bootlegger released the performance several weeks before the official album, including all sixty minutes of the aircast, not just the forty minutes selected by Dick James Music.
John and Taupin then wrote the soundtrack to the obscure film Friends and then the album Madman Across the Water, the latter reaching the Top Ten and producing the hit Levon, while the soundtrack album produced the hit Friends.
Elton John's sixth album, Madman Across the WaterIn 1972, the final piece of what would become known as the Elton John Band fell into place, with the addition of Davey Johnstone (on guitar and backing vocals). Murray, Olsson, and Johnstone came together with John and Taupin's writing, John's flamboyant performance style, and producer Gus Dudgeon to create a hit-making chemistry for the next five Elton John albums. Known for their instrumental playing, the members of the band were also strong backing vocalists who worked out and recorded many of their vocal harmonies themselves, usually in Elton's absence.
The band released Honky Chateau, which became Elton's first American number 1 album, spending five weeks at the top of the charts and spawning the hit singles Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) and Honky Cat.
The 1973 pop album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973, and produced the hits Crocodile Rock and Daniel; the former became his first U.S. number one hit. (Ironically this, like his other famous 1970s solo hits, would be popular in his native land but never top the UK Singles Chart; this achievement would have to wait two decades.) Both the album and Crocodile Rock were the first album and single, respectively on the consolidated MCA Records label in the USA, replacing MCA's other labels including Uni.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a double album considered by many to be Elton John's best album, followed later in 1973. It gained instant critical acclaim and topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic. It also temporarily established Elton John as a glam rock star. It contained the Number 1 hit Bennie and the Jets, along with the popular and praised Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Candle in the Wind, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and Grey Seal (originally recorded and released in 1970 as the B-side to the UK-only single, Rock and Roll Madonna). There is also a VHS and DVD as part of the Classic Albums series, discussing the making, recording, and popularity of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road through concert and home video footage including interviews.
John then formed his own MCA-distributed label Rocket Records and signed acts to it — notably Neil Sedaka (Bad Blood, on which he sang background vocals) and Kiki Dee — in which he took personal interest. Instead of releasing his own records on Rocket, he opted for $8 million offered by MCA. When the contract was signed in 1974, MCA reportedly took out a $25 million insurance policy on John's life.
In 1974 a collaboration with John Lennon took place, resulting in Elton John covering The Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Lennon's One Day at a Time, and in return Elton John and band being featured on Lennon's Whatever Gets You Thru The Night. In what would be Lennon's last live performance, the pair performed these two number 1 hits along with the Beatles classic I Saw Her Standing There at Madison Square Garden. Lennon made the rare stage appearance to keep the promise he made that he would appear on stage with Elton if Whatever Gets You Thru The Night became a number 1 single.
Elton John's cryptic personality was revealed with the autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.Caribou was released in 1974, and although it reached number 1, it was widely considered a lesser quality album. Reportedly recorded in a scant two weeks between live appearances, it featured The Bitch Is Back and John's versatility in orchestral songs with Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. At the end of the year, the compilation album Elton John's Greatest Hits was released and reached number 1.
Pete Townshend of The Who asked John to play a character called the Pinball Wizard in the film of the rock opera Tommy, and to perform the song of the same name. Drawing on power chords, John's version was recorded and used for the movie release in 1975 and the single came out in 1976 (1975 in the US). The song charted at number 7 in England. Bally subsequently released a Captain Fantastic pinball machine featuring an illustration of Elton John in his movie guise.
In the 1975 autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John revealed his previously ambiguous personality, with Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that is otherwise rare in John's music. Someone Saved My Life Tonight was the hit single from this album and captured an early turning point in John's life.
The album's release signalled the end of the Elton John Band, as an unhappy and overworked John dismissed Olsson and Murray, two people who had contributed much of the band's signature sound and who had helped build his live following since the beginning. Johnstone and Ray Cooper were retained, Quaye and Roger Pope returned, and the new bassist was Kenny Passarelli; this rhythm section provided a heavier-sounding backbeat. James Newton-Howard joined to arrange in the studio and to play keyboards. John introduced the lineup before a crowd of 75,000 in London's Wembley Stadium.
Rock-oriented Rock of the Westies entered the US albums chart at number 1 like Captain Fantastic, a previously unattained feat. However, the material was almost universally regarded as not on a par with previous releases. The musical and vocal chemistry Olsson and Murray brought to Elton's previous releases was seen as lacking by some, both on the album and in the concerts that supported it.
Commercially, Elton owed much of his success during the mid-1970s to his concert performances. He filled arenas and stadiums worldwide, and was arguably the hottest act in the rock world. John was an unlikely rock idol to begin with, as he was short of stature at 5'7 (1.70 m), chubby, and gradually losing his hair. But he made up for it with impassioned performances and over-the-top fashion sense. Also known for his glasses (he started wearing them as a youth to copy his idol Buddy Holly), his flamboyant stage wardrobe now included ostrich feathers, $5,000 spectacles that spelled his name in lights, and dressing up like the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart among others at his concerts made them a success and created interest for his music.
To celebrate five years of unparalleled success since he first appeared at the venue, in 1975 John played a two-night, four-show stand at The Troubadour. With seating limited to under 500 per show, the chance to purchase tickets was determined by a postcard lottery, with each winner allowed two tickets. Everyone who attended the performances received a hardbound yearbook of the band's history. That year he also contributed some exemplary piano playing to Kevin Ayers' Sweet Deceiver album.
In 1976, the live album Here and There in May, then the downbeat Blue Moves in October, which contained the memorable but even gloomier hit Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. His biggest success in 1976 was the Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a peppy duet with Kiki Dee that topped both the American and British charts. Finally, in an interview with Rolling Stone that year entitled Elton's Frank Talk, a stressed John stated that he was bisexual.
Besides being the most commercially successful period, 1970 - 1976 is also held in the most regard critically. Of the six Elton John albums to make Rolling Stone's 2003 The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, all are from this period, with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked highest at number 91; similarly, the three Elton John albums given five stars by All Music Guide are all from this period too (Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Ch?teau, and Captain Fantastic).
During the same period, John made a self-effacing guest appearance on the popular Morecambe and Wise show on the BBC. The two comics spent the episode pointing him in the direction of everywhere except the stage in order to prevent him singing.
Hiatus
Elton's career took a hit after 1976. In November 1977 John announced he was retiring from performing; Taupin began collaborating with others. John secluded himself in any of his three mansions, appearing publicly only to attend the matches of Watford, an English football team of whom he was a lifelong devotee, and that he later bought. Some speculated that John's retreat from stardom was prompted by adverse reactions to the Rolling Stone article.
Now only producing one album a year, John issued A Single Man in 1978, employing a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album featured no Top 20 singles. In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, John became the first Western pop star to tour the Soviet Union (as well as one of the first in Israel), then mounted a two-man comeback tour of the U.S. in small halls. John returned to the singles chart with Mama Can't Buy You Love (number 9, 1979), a song from an EP recorded in 1977 with Philadelphia soul producer Thom
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