In a 1973 interview, Taupin said that “Tiny Dancer,” which opened Madman Across The Water, was about his first wife, Maxine Feibelman, who was, indeed, a dancer. But the band that reconvened at Trident for three further days in August would include other notable collaborators. The other early recording, the solemn “Goodbye,” became the album’s closing song, its elegant orchestration again the work of Paul Buckmaster, who conducted on all but two of the album’s tracks. While no singles from Madman Across The Water were released in the UK at the time, the song was issued in America, charting just before Christmas and climbing to a No.24 peak in February 1972. Other contributors to “Levon” included drummer Barry Morgan, bassist Brian Odgers and Brian Dee on harmonium. Hear Elton John And Taron Egerton Sing New Song, ‘(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again’.
Elton john album cover madman across the wtaer movie#
‘Elton John Facts: 10 Things We Learned From The ‘Rocketman’ Movie.Best Elton John Songs: 20 Essential Tracks By The Rocket Man.“He was born a pauper/To a pawn on Christmas Day/When The New York Times/Said ‘God Is Dead’ and the war’s begun/Alvin Tostig has a son today.” The headline did, indeed, appear in the Times on several occasions, including in January 1970 (“‘God Is Dead’ Theme Assailed By Pope”) and again in April, in James Finn’s review of the book The Encounter, by Malachi Martin, titled ‘God Is Dead, And Religion Dying.’ One thing in Taupin’s often-elliptical writing that was based in the truth, however, was the line explaining Levon’s lineage. “It was just lines that came out that were interesting.” “It was free-form writing,” Taupin told Rolling Stone in 2013. Taupin just liked the name – the same reason that the character calls his son in the narrative Jesus. For the final time, it had the artist and the faithful group of collaborators headed by producer Gus Dudgeon working at Trident Studios those opening sessions covered the songs “Levon” and “Goodbye,” before a summer return to complete the album.įor all the assumptions about “Levon,” as we came to learn, it wasn’t named after The Band’s Levon Helm, despite Elton and (especially) Bernie’s adoration of their music. Its closing version of “Burn Down The Mission” underlined the point by incorporating elements of “My Baby Left Me” and The Beatles’ ”Get Back.”Īfter the widescreen Americana landscapes of Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across The Water was, to a degree, a return to the simpler piano motifs of Elton’s debut album of 1969, Empty Sky. Similarly, the live album that followed in May, 17-11-70 – the month and day in the title were reversed for the US release – revealed the live credentials of an increasingly theatrical performer. That score may have been a relatively low-key entry to the world of film work for John and Taupin, but it was an important introduction to the demands of another discipline.
Sessions for Madman Across The Water started in February 1971, just as the Friends soundtrack was about to appear. Recording sessions: ‘It was free-form writing’