It was 50 years ago today that Elton John played the first American concert of his career at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. He was largely unknown in the States at that point even though he’d already released two records, but his self-titled LP was generating a lot of industry buzz and everyone from Leon Russell and Neil Diamond to Quincy Jones, David Crosby, and Graham Nash came to the Troubadour across six nights to check him out.
“It was totally engulfing,” Troubadour owner Doug Weston told Rolling Stone in 1987. “You were spellbound.
“It was totally engulfing,” Troubadour owner Doug Weston told Rolling Stone in 1987. “You were spellbound.
- 8/25/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
The new Elton John movie Rocketman never pretends to be a traditional biopic. It’s a fantasy musical told from the perspective of a burned-out, drug-addled Elton reflecting on his wild life from a rehab facility in the early 1990s. Characters frequently burst into elaborately choreographed song and dance routines, songs are played long before he wrote them, the timeline is off much of the time and facts are disregarded in favor of creating a compelling narrative and capturing the emotional truth of Elton’s life.
“What I care about...
“What I care about...
- 6/1/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
“It was like a ball of fire hit the Troubadour. When he got to ‘Take Me to the Pilot,’ the place levitated,” Linda Ronstadt said of the first night of Elton John’s 1970 residency at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. And as that show is depicted in the Elton John biopic “Rocketman,” the crowd in the audience does the same, soaring off their feet in a moment of musical magic.
Of course, Ronstadt and director Dexter Fletcher are embellishing a little bit – we’re quite sure no one literally defied the laws of gravity when John took the stage on that night on Aug. 25, 1970. Though for people who were there, it no doubt felt that way. Just look at this iconic photo of John sideways at his piano as he quite literally turned heads among those lucky few in the crowd.
Elton John performs at the Troubadour on Aug. 25, 1970. pic.
Of course, Ronstadt and director Dexter Fletcher are embellishing a little bit – we’re quite sure no one literally defied the laws of gravity when John took the stage on that night on Aug. 25, 1970. Though for people who were there, it no doubt felt that way. Just look at this iconic photo of John sideways at his piano as he quite literally turned heads among those lucky few in the crowd.
Elton John performs at the Troubadour on Aug. 25, 1970. pic.
- 5/30/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Elton John was at the absolute pinnacle of his fame when he appeared on the Gilbert O’Sullivan Show in late 1973 to perform his new holiday song “Step Into Christmas.” The clip was placed into the ITV archives after the initial airing and presumed lost forever, but it was recently discovered and is available to watch above.
The original Christmas song was released a couple of months after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road landed on shelves and hit Number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, but it’s had a long afterlife...
The original Christmas song was released a couple of months after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road landed on shelves and hit Number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, but it’s had a long afterlife...
- 12/7/2018
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Davey Johnstone was watching Top of the Pops with his father one night in 1970 when a young singer-songwriter named Elton John came onto the screen. Johnstone was a folkie guitarist into artists like Bert Jansch and John Martyn, but he was still extremely intrigued by this eccentric young piano player. “I remember thinking, ‘Holy shit,'” he says. “‘I love this. This is really cool. We need more of this around!'”
In his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined that mere months later he’d not only play...
In his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined that mere months later he’d not only play...
- 9/7/2018
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
This article originally appeared on EW.com.
Later this month, Elton John will drop a reissue of one of his crowning achievements: the live album 17.11.70, which will be rebranded as 17.11.70+ to include six previously unreleased tracks. It’ll arrive April 22, the tenth annual Record Store Day in the U.K., when over 200 independent record shops all over England come together to celebrate record store culture with exclusive vinyl releases, artist performances, and other special events. Record Store Day has grown popular outside of the U.K. as well and is now the biggest international record-buying event on the music calendar.
Later this month, Elton John will drop a reissue of one of his crowning achievements: the live album 17.11.70, which will be rebranded as 17.11.70+ to include six previously unreleased tracks. It’ll arrive April 22, the tenth annual Record Store Day in the U.K., when over 200 independent record shops all over England come together to celebrate record store culture with exclusive vinyl releases, artist performances, and other special events. Record Store Day has grown popular outside of the U.K. as well and is now the biggest international record-buying event on the music calendar.
- 4/6/2017
- by Dan Heching
- PEOPLE.com
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