Tag Archives: Burn Down The Mission

11-17-70 (Elton John) – Album Review

Posted on by
The Front Cover

The Front Cover

This live album is incredible. Not because the performance sets a standard to judge all future live records in the history of music by, but because what you listen to here is so divorced from the concept of Elton most people have that it is all frankly startling.

11-17-70 was recorded before a small audience. It has roughly 45 minutes of music, 20 which are taken up by a long “Burn Down The Mission” jam that has interpolations of “My Baby Left Me” and “Get Back” thrown in for good measure.

Elton plays backed by Dee and Nigel only (that is, bass and drums). The energy they display in general, and the stamina Elton has in particular is admirable. His piano skills are highlighted so markedly that any fan of the diminutive British pianist can be but hypnotized. And there was something which I found quite funny: Elton even sounds a bit nervous when he addresses the public! Continue reading →

Tumbleweed Connection (Elton John) – Album Review

Posted on by
The Original Cover

The Original Cover

Released the same year as the superb “Madman Across The Water”, “Tumbleweed Connection” stands as one of Elton’s best-loved albums. No singles were drawn from it, and as a result it is never represented when it comes to “Best Of” packages. This makes listening to it all the more refreshing and novel, especially as more than a handful of compositions are as good (or better) than the albums both sides of it.

This time, there is a concept unifying the songs – they all revolve around the Far West. Bernie always loved the topic, and he concocts together stories of gunslingers, confederates, American natives and furtive love adequately enough. As I said before, it took Bernie some time to get places. But Elton was up to the challenge from day one, and he always managed to give his lyrics the right accompaniment. Leaving aside the lyrically accuracy or lack thereof, “Where To Now, St. Peter”, “Amoreena” and “Country Comfort” are A-side material, and so is “My Father’s Gun”, the song that would be featured 30 years down the line as the key tune to Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown”. Continue reading →