Elton John Tumbleweed Connection

719

5 stars

The Wonderful artwork for Tumbleweed Connection. The record company, knowing full well they had something special in their hands, gave the album maximum exposure and did not skimp on the product. The album came in a gatefold sleeve with twelve well-designed pages giving you lyrics and other details. The wraparound cover photo was taken at Sheffield Park Railway Station in Sussex on the Bluebell Railway. Photography by Ian Digby Ovens. Elton John is seated whilst Bernie Taupin is standing to the left on the back cover.

Audio CD (paid link)

Surprisingly, there were no singles taken from this collection which started off Elton John’s wondrous journey into superstardom that was to spiral out of control. But for now, the next four studio albums, Madman Across The Water 1971, Honky Chateau 1972, Don’t shoot me I’m only the Piano Player 1973, and the double Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 1973, were all landmark albums in the world of rock. There were, of course, many more to follow.

Back in 1970, “Tumbleweed Connection” was the first time a road band as such had been used in the studio, making it more the Elton John Band rather than just Elton on his own. Nigel Olsson, at the time still a member of British heavy rockers Uriah Heep, had been offered the drum stool and seeing the potential in Elton John, he made the job his own. He was joined by the amazing Dee Murray on bass, and the job that would soon be filled by Davey Johnstone was done by Caleb Quaye of label mates Hookfoot for these sessions. It really was a case of everything being in place for world domination.

**Elton John in the early 70s, his talent just burning a hole in the music scene.**

The album opens up with the blues rock ‘Ballad of a Well-Known Gun,’ the story of a gunslinger reaching the end of the road. From there on out you are taken on a wonderful musical journey through the album’s original ten songs, with a recurring American wild west theme.

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At all times the musicianship and songwriting are faultless, with Elton putting every ounce of emotion into Bernie Taupin’s lyrics. The production by Gus Dudgeon was to set standards for years to come, and Paul Buckmaster’s arrangements of the musical scores, both with band and strings, are nothing short of perfection, whether on epics like ‘Burn Down The Mission’ (an amazing live version, which was laid down with just piano, bass, and drums on the band’s live album 17.11.70, where you can actually hear Elton kick his piano stool away in the excitement), or on the tender ‘Love Song.’ This latter number, the only track on the album not written by the John/Taupin partnership, is a beautiful Lesley Duncan song on which Lesley also sings backing vocals.

*Whatever the public concept of Elton John was, he was always a*
*rocker at heart.*

But it is when Elton sits at the piano alone to regale us with “Talking Old Soldiers” that his talent really stands out. This story of an old warrior looking back on his youth whilst addressing a group of youngsters is a shot straight at the heart.

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But the real treat is left till last. There are two bonus tracks added onto the original release, making the very last track on the album the original recording of the next album’s title track, “Mad Man Across the Water” featuring Mick Ronson on lead guitar. It is a completely guitar based version clocking in at nearly nine minutes, with the piano-bass-drum format used as a rhythm section whilst Ronson lays down some rip-roaring lead axe. He dominates this song in the same way he did on David Bowie’s ‘Moonage Day Dream,’ which he made his own. The price of the album is worth it for this song alone.