are always welcome
The following list is a somewhat subjective collection of Elton John songs that highlight some of the skills of Guy Babylon. During his twenty-one years as a member of Elton's band, Guy worked on over seventy-five studio recordings as keyboardist, drum programmer, orchestral arranger and even sometime backing vocalist.
At times, even the most avid music listener can miss some of the parts that Guy created over the years. The following details and audio clips are meant to serve as a guide to the beauty and complexity of his efforts on these particular tracks. Of course, this is by no means a definitive list. It is hoped that this will serve as encouragement for fans to deepen their appreciation of Guy's talents no matter what songs they listen to from his repertoire.
If you already have these songs in your collection, you are encouraged to put on your headphones, close your eyes, and listen closely to Guy's contributions to Elton's music. Rest assured you would not be the first to do so.
(Please note that Guy's extensive and inspired work on various Elton John 'side-projects' such as the demos for Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida, Billy Elliot: The Musical and Lestat is not included here.)
1) SACRIFICE 
(Sleeping With The Past, 1989)
"That sort of twinkling response line to the vocal? That was one of Guy's things. I remember bringing my son, who was only about six months old at the time, in to the control room...and he seemed to register that when Guy was hitting this thing - the keyboard - that sound was coming out. That very pretty bell sound that was on that song. You could see that he actually connected that when Guy was hitting something it created a sound. I'll always remember that."
(Sleeping With The Past producer Chris Thomas.)
Elton John's first UK solo Number One single showcases one of Guy Babylon's keyboard licks: the shimmering sounds that first appear with four notes at the eight-second mark and solidify the main riff throughout the song. Sleeping With The Past was Guy's first album with Elton, and on this song he certainly stepped out of his role as secondary keyboardist (joining long-time band member Fred Mandel) and began to establish his own style.
2) FAT BOYS AND UGLY GIRLS (The One CD-single, 1992)
This b-side to The One CD-single features Guy playing a synthesized horn line that announces the song (and later matches Elton's vocal when he sings "When a fat boy falls in love with an ugly girl") and then emphasizes the beat during the choruses.
At the end of each verse (Elton's final "skin deep"), Guy does a playful synth line that brings us in to the choruses. Immediately afterwards, listen for Guy on the Theremin: a very high-pitched instrument used in sci-fi movies of the 1950s and 60s and popularized by The Beach Boys on Good Vibrations. It is the ascending line that is placed a bit more in the left speaker than the right.
Guy also places a synthesized string and horn arrangement in during the second section of the choruses, and later on has a lot of fun with it as the song vamps along at the end and then fades out.
3) MAN (Made In England, 1995)
This song from Made In England is Guy's first credited string arrangement on an Elton John recording. The piece begins about one minute in to the track, and is most involved during the final choruses. Elton is co-credited on this arrangement, but the bulk of the work was done by Guy at Elton's request.
Guy, however, did not actually conduct the orchestra on this recording. He wrote the orchestral charts out and left them in the hands of producer Greg Penny, in case they were needed when the string sessions were booked after he had left London (where the album was recorded). Keep in mind that this is the same album that includes orchestral arrangements by the amazing Paul Buckmaster and Sir George Martin. Not bad for his first time out.
Guy also "ghosted" the organ line in Man. Former Squeeze keyboardist Paul Carrack originally recorded the part, and then Guy was asked to help bolster the sound of the organ by recreating the melody, note-for-note. And the final thirty seconds of the track, after Ray Cooper's tambourine has ended, is Guy's keyboard drone...done quite by accident but left in for effect by Greg Penny.
4) RED (Sol En Si, 1995)
This leftover from the 1994 Made In England sessions (which only appears on the French compilation Sol En Si) carries the weight of Guy's work in the form of...well...pretty much everything. From the updated Sound Of Philadelphia string arrangement to the squiggly synth line that runs under the entire song, Guy's presence is felt heavily throughout.
At the beginning of the choruses, Guy plays a chiming effect that emphasize Elton's "Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh..." vocal. And then just before the beginning of the verses, he throws in a delightful little string run that could be overlooked if one were not paying close attention.
This track is reminiscent not only of Philadelphia Freedom, but also Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Guy has virtually stepped in to James Newton Howard's shoes here: just as Elton's 1970s keyboardist created a string arrangement that drove that hit single, it is Guy's string part that very nearly becomes the solo...and his overall work provides the core on which the rest of the song is built.
5) NO VALENTINES (Love Songs, 1996)
The two new songs that Elton included on his Love Songs collection contain a great deal of Guy's work. Many of his keyboards' soft sounds combine to make up the beds of No Valentines and its companion piece, You Can Make History (Young Again).
On this song, you can hear one of Guy's trademarks - a pizzicato string sound, emulating the effect of plucking a violin or other stringed instrument. It first appears in the background about thirty seconds in to the track, and occasionally comes more to the front as the song progresses. The rest of the orchestral arrangement was also done by Guy.
The mini-Moog solo on No Valentines is Babylonian as well; if you listen closely you can hear the notes sort of slide in, rather than just play traditionally. Also, as the solo ends, but not for the first time in this song, Guy includes his version of the choral pad sound that was used with great success by 10CC in their 1975 hit, I'm Not In Love.
6) LIVE LIKE HORSES (The Big Picture, 1997)
"I had an idea for the intro to Live Like Horses. I wanted a sound of sort of like a tennis ball bouncing on piano strings. That was how I described it. That was the sound that was in my head. And Guy actually did a thing where he was hitting the strings on a piano with a mallet, and then recording them. He actually made a keyboard with that sound on it! He sampled each note on the acoustic piano to make a keyboard of this sound of something bouncing on the strings. So, then he could actually play it as an instrument! It was great, 'cos it was exactly the sound that was in my head. I couldn't believe it. Because sometimes you get an idea and you just can't get it to work at all, you know? In fact, so many times since then I've thought to myself, 'I must phone up Guy and ask him for the (programming) disc of that thing so I can use it.' Because I was so knocked out by what he did. And I know it took him a long, long time to do that. He stayed after everyone else had gone home and stayed until God knows what time that night. That's the sort of thing he'd do. The session was finished and we'd all gone home...and I came in the next morning and he'd done this thing." (The Big Picture producer Chris Thomas.)
7) I KNOW WHY I'M IN LOVE (Recover Your Soul CD-single,1997)
Nearly every song recorded during The Big Picture sessions proved to be a keyboard and orchestral tour-de-force for Guy Babylon, and certainly this b-side to the
Guy also created a warm string arrangement that first appears in the bridge (fifty-seven seconds in), and at the end of each chorus he creates an interesting effect that sounds like something bubbling up from under water.
Three minutes and thirty seconds in to I Know Why I'm In Love, Guy takes the keyboard solo - coming up with a sound that blends the traditional Beach Boys' Theremin with a sort of swoopy flute-sounding organ. He then repeats that melody line with an orchestral part, and then lays in some choral pads and Theremin on top of that.
8).DON'T STOP (Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, 1998)
To get a good sense of Guy Babylon's work not only as a keyboardist, but also arranger and producer, listen to this track from Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
Co-produced by Guy and guitarist Davey Johnstone, the rhythmic core of the song is very different from most of Elton's other material, and shares many qualities with Guy's independent work, such as his 1987 instrumental Babylon Bleu and the Addison Steel album Stormy Blue, which Guy recorded in his home studio in 1991.
The introduction has a quasi-Aboriginal feel to it, with a didgeridoo-type sound running underneath once in a while. Most, if not all, of the keyboard work on the intro is done by Guy, including the 1970s string line that references the original Fleetwood Mac recording.
Amongst many of Guy's instruments and effects on Don't Stop is a fun near-miss-car-crash sound that Guy lays in every so often (usually just before Elton sings, "It'll soon be here") and which goes from one speaker to the other in a matter of moments.
9) TOO MANY TEARS (Peachtree Road, 2004)
Guy's work can first be heard twelve seconds in to this song from Peachtree Road: a whistle/whisper effect that dances back and forth from one channel to the other just before Elton's first vocal line (and returns at various places throughout the song).
Soon after, Guy's orchestral arrangement, complete with that pizzicato string sound that we have heard before, begins. This arrangement also takes full advantage of the stereo spectrum and grows in scope during the second verse before getting comfortable alongside the background vocals that settle in soon afterwards.
There are generally two ways to describe the ending of a song: one of which is "cold" - meaning a decisive end, instead of a fade-out. The end of Too Many Tears might best be described as "lukewarm"; it ends with echoes of the last notes that Guy played on his instruments. As if he took his hands off all the keyboards at once...while playing in a rather large canyon.
10) JUST LIKE NOAH'S ARK (The Captain And The Kid,2006)
Although clearly this song from The Captain And The Kid is based on Elton's lively piano part and Davey's feisty guitars, it is Guy's ferocious organ solo that gives it that extra bit of energy at just the right time.
Owing to the organic and "live-band" sound that producers Matt Still and Elton went for on this album, Guy generally added fewer parts to each song than he had done on previous records. But each adds to the song in an essential way...and none more so than on Just Like Noah's Ark.
Guy's organ part actually is there on the choruses as well; most noticeably as Elton sings the lines leading-up to the final hook (ie. "With me and you it's two by two..."). But at the three-and-a-half minute mark of this song, all Babylon breaks loose and he pumps out perhaps his most energetic work ever on an Elton recording. You can practically see him flicking his hands at the keys. Davey's solo comes right in afterwards, as if the guitarist had to grab a hold of a speeding train and hang on for dear life.
