#359 - Elton John - Honky Chateau (1972)
MUSIC HISTORY WRITTEN BY HEAD WRITER DJ MORTY COYLE:
Released on May 19th 1972 on Uni Records in the Americas and DJM Records in the U.K. and produced by Gus Dudgeon this is the fifth studio album by the British singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer.
Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Middlesex, England in March of 1947 to musically-inclined parents who had a complicated and tumultuous marriage, he was soon mostly raised by his maternal grandparents.
Fortunately his parents bought and exposed Reg to the contemporary records of the day which resulted in him becoming obsessed with the first wave of Rock and Roll.
That led to him figuring out the melodies he heard on his grandmother’s piano and quickly becoming something of a self-taught prodigy at 4 years old.
By 7 he was playing pieces by ear and composing his own melodies and started formal training, by 11 he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied every Saturday for five years, by 15 he was playing popular songs of the day in a nearby pub (which is about the same time that he started unnecessarily wearing glasses to emulate one of his heroes, Buddy Holly), and by 17 he dropped out of high school and the Academy to pursue playing solo gigs and in his own band with friends called Bluesology.
Bluesology played covers and originals in local pubs and then a nightclub residency in London and soon began backing up many touring American Soul and R&B artists visiting England.
In 1967 after answering an ad in the NME placed by a record company looking for songwriters he was paired with a younger lyricist who also answered the ad named Bernie Taupin.
They immediately formed a partnership employing their uniquely effective separated system of Bernie individually writing lyrics and then handing them off to Reg to quickly put to music.
It was about this time that Reg paid homage to two of his Bluesology bandmates, saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry, by taking their first names to create his new one.
By the next year they were hired by Dick James's DJM Records as staff songwriters and they began churning out formulaic, Easy-Listening, Pop songs for other artists while recording demos.
They were soon advised to write more challenging material for Elton to record himself for the label.
This led to his first single, “Lady Samantha” followed by his debut U.K. album, “Empty Sky” in 1969 (which most Americans were unaware of until its U.S. release in 1975 following his international success).
Amongst the musicians that played on his first album were drummer Nigel Olsson who would go on to become Elton’s touring and recording drummer for decades.
Helmed by producer Gus Dudgeon, who would go on to produce all of Elton’s classic ‘70s records, Elton’s self-titled, second, album the following year proved he was capable of delivering both poignant, Country and Gospel-tinged ballads with lush string arrangements as well as occasionally pounding out his beloved Rock and Roll.
And on it Bernie’s and his songs finally found commercial success easily fitting in amongst the singer/songwriter boom of the early ‘70s.
But unlike those often laidback and mellow artists word spread like wildfire about The Elton John Band’s incredible live show performed as a trio with Nigel on drums and bassist Dee Murray.
That energy was captured on a live album later that year recorded while on tour in America.
In fact Elton initially became more popular and respected in the U.S. aided by the warm reception here for his two follow up records which also brought guitarist Davey Johnstone on board and into the touring band along the way.
However while Elton‘s record company would only allow his band to play on one track together on each previous record, with session players on everything else, by this one he demanded to use the four-piece as his core band.
Beyond their road-hardened tightness together Nigel, Dee, and Davey had a spectacular back-up vocal blend that became another signature sound starting with this album.
So with the ever-present Bernie they relocated to record this at the converted studio built in the storied 18th century Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France which also lent the album its title.
The idea was to capitalize on what America was responding to, breaking Elton’s sensitive singer/songwriter image, while presenting a powerhouse band playing rootsy music without all the elaborate orchestrations of his previous albums.
While they showed up in France with very little material they quickly established a system Elton later referred to as a “Motown factory”.
Bernie would write the lyrics upstairs, his wife would correct the spelling and leave them on the piano downstairs where Elton would pick out those he found intriguing, compose the music, and then bring them to the band who were waiting to whip them into shape and record them.
The songs came quickly and the whole album was recorded in less than two weeks.
It was and often still is considered the most cohesive and accomplished set of Bernie’s and Elton’s songs.
Not only did it carry-on with his ascent in commercial success and critical popularity but it became Elton’s first of seven albums to consecutively go to #1 in the U.S..
He’s won five Grammys, two Oscars, two Golden Globes, a Tony, and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.
He’s got 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, 30 consecutive U.S. Top 40 hits, has the biggest-selling single of all time, has sold over 300 million records, and is the most successful male solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 history.
He’s currently on his farewell tour after steadily being on the road since 1968.