Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Studio album by Elton John
Released	5 October 1973
Recorded	Château d'Hérouville, Hérouville, France, May 1973
Genre	Rock, glam rock, pop, piano rock
Length	76:12
Label	MCA Records (US/Canada) DJM Records
Producer	Gus Dudgeon
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone (unfavourable) link
Elton John chronology
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Caribou (1974)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released in 1973. It is regarded as his magnum opus. With worldwide sales of at least 31 million copies it is his best selling studio album. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

History

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville, where John had previously recorded Honky Château and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. (It was also the final album Elton and the band recorded at the studio before relocation to Caribou Ranch, Colo., for the next three albums.) The amount of material was such that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released as a double album, his first. This album had originally been planned to be recorded in Jamaica, since The Rolling Stones had recorded Goats Head Soup there. Technical difficulties, coupled with political unrest in the country at the time, forced the band to make an early departure without any productive work done.^[1]

In addition to the three successful singles released from this album ("Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"), many other cuts received substantial airplay at AOR stations when the album was released, including "Harmony" (which had been considered as a fourth U.S. single); the 11-minute epic, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"; and his original Marilyn Monroe tribute, "Candle in the Wind".

Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time placed this at number 91 in 2005. This is what they had to say: "Elton compared this double album to the Beatles' White Album, and why not? He was by this point the most consistent hitmaker since the Fab Four, and soon enough he would be recording with John Lennon. Everything about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was supersonically huge, from the Wagnerian-like combo of "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" to the electric boots and mohair suit of "Bennie and the Jets". "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" was strutting rock and roll, "Candle in the Wind" paid tribute to Marilyn Monroe (and later, Princess Diana), and the title track harnessed the fantastical imagery of glam to a Gershwin-sweet melody."
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time book, copyright 2005

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Side one

1. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" – 11:09
2. "Candle in the Wind" – 3:49
3. "Bennie and the Jets" – 5:23

Side two

1. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – 3:13
2. "This Song Has No Title" – 2:23
3. "Grey Seal" – 4:00
4. "Jamaica Jerk-Off" – 3:38
5. "I've Seen That Movie Too" – 5:58

Side three

1. "Sweet Painted Lady" – 3:54
2. "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)" – 4:23
3. "Dirty Little Girl" – 5:01
4. "All the Girls Love Alice" – 5:09

Side four

1. "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n' Roll)" – 2:42
2. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" – 5:24
3. "Roy Rogers" – 4:08
4. "Social Disease" – 3:43
5. "Harmony" – 2:46

Bonus tracks

1. "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" – 2:51
2. "Jack Rabbit" – 1:49
3. "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" – 4:43
4. "Candle in the Wind" [Acoustic version] – 3:51

B-sides

Released Versions

The original LP and CD issues were on two discs, while the 1995 CD remaster put the album on one disc as it was slightly less than 80 minutes. The 30th anniversary edition followed the original format, splitting the album across two discs to allow the inclusion of the bonus tracks, while a DVD on the making of the album was also included.

The album has also been released by Mobile Fidelity as a single disc 24 karat gold CD.

The album (including all four bonus tracks) was released on SACD (2003) and DVD-Audio (2004). These high resolution releases included the original stereo mixes, as well as 5.1 remixes produced and engineered by Greg Penny.

Personnel

• Musicians
  • Elton John – vocals, acoustic piano, electric piano, organ, Farsifa organ, mellotron, Leslie piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric, Leslie, slide and steel guitars, banjo
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Ray Cooper – tambourine, congas

• Additional Musicians
  • Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson – backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 10, 13, 17)
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement (tracks 4, 8, 9, 10, 15, 17)
  • Leroy Gomez – Saxophone solo on "Social Disease"
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesiser (tracks 1 and 12)
  • Kiki Dee - Backing Vocals on "All the Girls Love Alice"

Production

• Producer: Gus Dudgeon
• Engineer: David Hentschel
• Assistant engineers: Peter Kelsey, Andy Scott
• Tape operator: Barry Sage
• Orchestra contractor: David Katz
• Arranger: Del Newman
• Art direction: David Larkham, Michael Ross
• Artwork: David Larkham, Michael Ross, Ian Beck
• Liner notes: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

1. ↑ Elton John, Bernie Taupin (Lyricist), Davey Johnstone (Guitarist), Nigel Olsson (Drummer). (2001). Classic Albums: Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. [Documentary]. UK: ISIS Productions, Eagle Rock Entertainment. Event occurs at approx. 16 minutes. http://imdb.com/title/tt0829122/. Retrieved 24 December 2007. 
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "AllMusic Billboard albums". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9fyxq95ld0e~T3. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} "AllMusic Billboard singles". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9fyxq95ld0e~T31. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=goodbye%20yellow%20brick%20road&artist=elton%20john&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 

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