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Elton - a life and career in review
BBC Radio 2 documentary - Part 2BBC Radio 2 documentary - Part 1Sixty years on, Elton John is still rocking, and it's as good a time as any to look back at the origins and colorful details of his smashing career while taking a peek forward at a man who still writes and performs vital, original music. BBC's Radio 2 and host Paul Sexton recently summed up Elton's life and career in a revealing, music-filled, three-hour special entitled "The Continuing Adventures of Captain Fantastic - Elton at 60."
We've got the full audio broadcast here at eltonjohn.com, and we'll be spreading it out on the site in twelve segments in the coming weeks playing it under exclusive photos from the Elton archives in a new video presentation. You'll learn all about Elton's very musical upbringing in suburban Pinner, Middlesex, England, his historic introduction to lyricist Bernie Taupin, and his rocket ride to fame and fortune. Sexton contacted Elton from his London home, Bernie from his ranch in Southern California, and also spoke to a who's-who of Elton's former collaborators, counterparts and cronies. Here are highlights of this week's segment:
In the second segment of "The Continuing Adventures of Captain Fantastic - Elton at 60," Paul Sexton first catches up with guitarist Caleb Quaye from the later days of Elton's seminal group Bluesology.
Quaye tells the full story of Elton's historic name change, and Elton himself explains how a seemingly innocent answering of a local advertisement for a songwriter brought him together with a country kid from Lincolnshire who loved to write lyrics by the name of Bernie Taupin.
Bernie takes over from there, speaking about their "servitude" to publisher Dick James and their struggles to succeed until the arrival of Steve Brown, one of the first visionaries to truly believe in their talent and potential as a creative force.
Early Elton/Bernie classics such as "Lady Samantha" and "Skyline Pigeon" from the debut album Empty Sky are played as Bernie continues to talk about what brought this dream team together. From Elton's roots as a devout follower of urban American music, including black soul and Motown, to Bernie's fascination with country and folk, the story of a British duo producing a uniquely American sound comes to life.
Soon enough, Elton needed a band, and we are introduced to his original - and current - drummer, Nigel Olsson. Nigel describes his first meeting with Elton in 1967 and his own upbringing in the band Plastic Penny.
The segment ends with the classic Empty Sky song "Western Ford Gateway," serving as an apropos introduction to arranger Paul Buckmaster, who was recruited by Elton and Bernie to apply his strings and vision to their second album, Elton John, which was widely considered their "debut."
Buckmaster, who had just done string arrangements for David Bowie's 1969 masterpiece "Space Oddity", explains how he immediately developed a kinship with Elton and Bernie based on a mutual love for the composition of the songs and Elton's singing and piano playing. As the second segment of the show concludes, we see the winning formula for a 40-year career of hits as it begins to round into shape.
