![]() ![]() They sound like they been playing together for ages. New guitarist, Davey Johnson blended in with the group beautifully as you can hear when Elton hands off the center stage to him during his solo for “Amy” and the Mandolin solo on “Honky Cat.” These were no doubt great new textures for Elton to be able to deliver live on stage for his fans. This is a group he had been working with live for the prior two years more or less. More importantly, it is worth noting again that Elton on this album was playing with his own band for the first time. I did check the versions streaming in CD quality (16-bit, 44.1 kHz) on Qobuz ( click here) and Tidal ( click here) and they sound about the same (as they should!). These are of course minor details ultimately - it is nonetheless a thrill that we now have part of this great concert to enjoy (I hope they officially release the whole show someday!) - but you should know going in here that these are a somewhat raw document of the moment (and that is not a bad thing!). The backing vocals could have been raised more as well. So, for example, there are times when Davey Johnstone’s guitar is overwhelmed by the rest of the band when he probably should have been up a little higher in the mix. I say this because the individual instrument levels aren’t optimized as they might have been if captured on multi-track tape and then properly mixed for best balance. Since the liner notes credit producer Gus Dudgeon for these tracks, my guess is that they were captured on at least 2-channel reel-to-reel for posterity, probably mixed on the fly in stereo and thus leaving no real opportunity to “remix” them afterwards. These stereo soundboard recordings on the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Honky Château sound quite nice for what they are. There is a special energy in these performances being played live on stage without a net for the first time.Īn aside: can you imagine the joy of being in the audience, and hearing the entire then new album perform live before it was released!? While I have discussed the studio sessions in some detail in my review on Analog Planet - which you can read by clicking here - for this review, I’m going to focus in on the live recordings which are exclusive to this 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Honky Château.Ĭaptured just days after they finished recording Honky Château and performed a full three months before the album’s actual release in May of that year, these recordings from the Royal Festival Hall in London document a remarkable moment of how deep the group had gotten into this music. It topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, reached No. According to the wiki: “Elton John and Dua Lipa’s 2021 collaborative song “Cold Heart” samples “Rocket Man” for its chorus, along with snippets of other Elton John songs. “Rocket Man” has gone on to be an integral part of Elton’s career and it even inspired cover versions over the years by no less than Kate Bush and William Shatner. His first up-tempo number to make the US Top 10, the track helped cement Elton’s reputation in America.” “Honky Cat” showcased the extraordinary swagger that was to define all of Elton’s work for the following half-decade. It remains a firm fixture in the setlist of this record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. Honky Château became the first of six consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No 1 albums. “Following the release of Honky Château, by June 1972, “Rocket Man” was in the UK pop charts at No 2. Just for a reminder, in case you didn’t know or forgot how big this album and its hits were - and have been over the years - Elton’s official press release explains: ![]()
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