The Captain & The Kid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Captain & The Kid
Studio album by Elton John
Released	September 18, 2006
Recorded	2006
Genre	Rock
Label	Universal
Producer(s)	Elton John Matt Still
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Being There link Entertainment Weekly A- link The Independent link Music Box link PopMatters (4/10) link Rolling Stone link This Is London link The Times link Twisted Ear link
Elton John chronology
Peachtree Road (2004)	The Captain & The Kid (2006)

The Captain & The Kid is an autobiograpical album by Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin released in September 2006. It chronicles the events in their lives since they started working together nearly 40 years ago, picking up where their first autobiographical album, "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" (1975), left off.

Universal Records announced that there will be no physical single released from this album as the emphasis is on presenting the album as a body of work. The booklet of the album shows pictures of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and, on the lyrics section, two songs are included, "Across the River Thames" and "12", although they do not appear on the music album. "Across the River Thames" was available as a free download to anyone inserting the CD into their computer. This is the first album created by Elton John and Bernie Taupin to have Taupin on the cover with John. First radio single off the album is "The Bridge"

"The Captain & The Kid" reached UK #6, a considerable improvement over the performance of John's predecessing "Peachtree Road" in 2004, which peaked at #21. It also reached #18 in the US, generally matching the success of John's recent albums there. It has already sold 450,000 units worldwide.

John has made clear his dissatisfaction at Interscope's promotion for the album at concerts in early 2007, having threatened to nix his contract with the label. He also stated he would never record another album, but retracted the statement soon afterward.

[edit] Track listing

All songs John/Taupin.

1. "Postcards from Richard Nixon"
2. "Just Like Noah's Ark"
3. "Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)"
4. "Tinderbox"
5. "And the House Fell Down"
6. "Blues Never Fade Away"
7. "The Bridge"
8. "I Must Have Lost it on the Wind"
9. "Old '67"
10. "The Captain and the Kid"

[edit] Band line-up

• Elton John - vocals, piano
• Davey Johnstone (Musical Director) - Guitars, banjos, mandolins, harmonica, background vocals
• Nigel Olsson - Drums, background vocals
• Guy Babylon - Arrangements and keyboards
• Bob Birch - Bass, background vocals
• John Mahon - Percussion, background vocals
• Arthur - Woof-bells

Producer Matt Still noted during an interview that in the second track, "Just Like Noah’s Ark", Elton's black and white spaniel dog, Arthur "barked in the middle of (the recording), because John Mahon was playing a cowbell, and the cowbell freaked him out. So he ran over to John and started barking at him right in the middle of a take. It’s funny, just randomly he happened to hit the beats and he barked in time. So I recorded it and we actually kept him in there."

The sampled "woof-bells" can be heard in place of the cow-bell on the track.

[edit] Chart performance

Billboard 200 [1]
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
Position	18	49	89	116	165	out	out	68
Total sales	36,839	62,867	74,112	82,607	88,203	out	out	104,203

UK Albums Chart [2]
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
Position	6	24	46	69