458 - Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection - Ron Bennington

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EPISODE SUMMARY:

Certain sounds belong to certain eras. While they might be nearly non-existent today, the kind of Americana ballads that define Elton John’s 1970 concept album Tumbleweed Connection ring out across time like a fading polaroid that helps us to never forget what we owe to the past. Good thing, then, that there are legends like radio icon Ron Bennington still around to bridge that gap between the past and the present and remind us of what once was. After all, Ron grew up listening to albums likes this and knows all too well the influences they still have, a wisdom he gladly imparts through his popular radio programs Unmasked and the Bennington Show on Sirius XM.

SHOW NOTES:

00:15 – Intro
07:00 – Sixteen-year-old girls aren’t going to buy records about the Civil War
10:30 – Becoming a popstar is a conscious choice
15:00 – “We were all movin’ ludes.”
21:45 – The ones that never were
25:00 – Grandpa knows best
31:00 – Becoming a man too soon
35:00 – It’s really fucking hard to be a good person
40:00 – It’s easier to picture Hell
42:45 – Sometimes just getting to do it is enough
46:00 – Dicks looked normal in the 1970s
54:00 – Let your kid rebel at a private school
56:00 – Facts!
57:30 – Constraints help creativity
59:15 – A Pink Floyd concert is an acid trip / Outro

ALBUM STREAM - TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION:

NEW ARTIST INFLUENCED BY ELTON JOHN:

“Show Me Love” by Redwood Honey