Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy Elton John

• 1Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy05:46
• 2Tower Of Babel04:29
• 3Bitter Fingers04:34
• 4Tell Me When The Whistle Blows04:21
• 5Someone Saved My Life Tonight06:46
• 6(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket04:02
• 7Better Off Dead02:38
• 8Writing03:41
• 9We All Fall In Love Sometimes04:17
• 10Curtains06:23
• 11Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds06:18
• 12One Day At A Time03:50
• 13Philadelphia Freedom05:26
• Total Runtime01:02:31

Info for Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

Another ambitious concept album, another John/Taupin masterpiece, another #1. Along with the smash Someone Saved My Life Tonight and the rest of the 1975 LP, this CD adds three bonus cuts including the #1s Philadelphia Freedom and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds !

'Sitting atop the charts in 1975, Elton John and Bernie Taupin recalled their rise to power in Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, their first explicitly conceptual effort since Tumbleweed Connection. It's no coincidence that it's their best album since then, showcasing each at the peak of his power, as John crafts supple, elastic, versatile pop and Taupin's inscrutable wordplay is evocative, even moving. What's best about the record is that it works best of a piece -- although it entered the charts at number one, this only had one huge hit in 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight,' which sounds even better here, since it tidily fits into the musical and lyrical themes. And although the musical skill on display here is dazzling, as it bounces between country and hard rock within the same song, this is certainly a grower. The album needs time to reveal its treasures, but once it does, it rivals Tumbleweed in terms of sheer consistency and eclipses it in scope, capturing John and Taupin at a pinnacle. They collapsed in hubris and excess not long afterward -- Rock of the Westies, which followed just months later is as scattered as this is focused -- but this remains a testament to the strengths of their creative partnership.' (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Elton John, acoustic and electric pianos, clavinet, mellotron, synthesizer, harpsichord
Davey Johnstone, acoustic, electric and Leslie guitars; mandolin, piano on 'Writing', backing vocals
Dee Murray, bass, backing vocals
Nigel Olsson, drums, backing vocals
Ray Cooper, percussion
Additional musicians:
David Hentschel, ARP synthesizer on tracks 9 and 10
Gene Page, orchestral arrangement on track 4

Recorded June–July 1974, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado
Engineered by Jeff Guercio
Produced by Gus Dudgeon

Digitally remastered

Ranked #158 in Rolling Stone's '500 Greatest Albums Of All Time'

Elton John
The monumental career of international singer/songwriter and performer Elton John has spanned more than five decades. He is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, achieving 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, and he has had 29 consecutive US Top 40 hits. Elton has sold more than 250 million records worldwide, and holds the record for the biggest selling single of all time, ‘Candle in the Wind ’97’, which sold over 33 million copies. Since his career began in 1969, Elton has played over 3,000 concerts worldwide.

In 1970 Elton's self-titled breakthrough album and evergreen hit ‘Your Song’ introduced him to an international stage, and in the period between 1970-76 with producer Gus Dudgeon at the helm, Elton and his song writing partner Bernie Taupin they made an astonishing fourteen albums, including the legendary’ Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,’ and ‘Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy’ - the first album ever to enter the Billboard Chart at Number One.

In the 1980s he had hits with the albums ‘21 At 3’, ‘Jump Up!’ and ‘Too Low For Zero’ - the home of two of Elton's live favourites, ‘I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues’ and ‘I'm Still Standing’.

Five decades since the 1969 release of his first album, ‘Empty Sky’, Elton John is creating some of the finest music of his career. The 2001 album ‘Songs From The West Coast’ gave him another smash hit single with ‘I Want Love’. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music. Other landmark awards include Best British Male Artist Brit Award 1991; induction into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1994; five Grammy Awards 1986-2000; Grammy Legend Award, 2001; Kennedy Center Honor, 2004; 11 Ivor Novello Awards between 1973 and 2000; and in 1998, a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.

2007 saw the release of ‘Rocket Man - The Definitive Hits’, a single CD album which features eighteen classic hit songs. Also in 2007, for the first time ever, Elton's entire back catalogue of nearly 500 tracks (90 singles and 32 albums) became available to download legally. The release of ‘Rocket Man’ marked a huge anniversary for Elton - on March 25th, 2007, he celebrated his 60th birthday while breaking his own record with an unmatched 60th concert at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York. No other entertainer has come close to matching this record.

Elton remains committed to his music and to touring, becoming more rather than less busy as time passes. In 2011 Elton returned to The Colosseum, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas with his all-new show, ‘The Million Dollar Piano’. In 2012 he returned to the recording studio with producer T Bone Burnett and toured North, Central and South America. His 2012 plans include a tour of Europe plus a special appearance at The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace.

This album contains no booklet.