Newsarchiv Oktober 2016

Am 1. November 2016 erscheint diese Vinyl-Box mit sechs ausgesuchten Elton John Alben aus den Jahren 1970 bis 2001. In dieser tollen Box sind folgende Alben:

Die Box wird (anscheinend) nur über burberry.com und einigen ausgewählten Burberry-Shops vertrieben und soll 375 $ kosten und enthält folgendes:

- Ein von Burberry gestaltetes Poster mit einem Bild aus den 90er Jahren mit einem exclusiven Interview von Elton.

FRÖHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN MIT BURBERRY - ein onlineartikel

Musiker Elton John hat sich mit dem britischen Luxuslabel Burberry zusammengetan - aber nicht etwa für eine Modekollektion.

Den Sänger ('Rocket Man') und das britische Modehaus Burberry verbindet seit Langem eine enge Beziehung - da kommt es nicht überraschend, dass sich der Star ausgerechnet an dieses Label gewandt hat, um seine neue CD-Kollektion zu verschönern.

Burberry hat unter der Leitung von Kreativchef Christopher Bailey das Aussehen der limitierten Box entworfen, in der sechs Alben von Elton John zu finden sein werden: 'Elton John', '17.11.70', 'Madman Across The Water', 'Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy', 'Too Low For Zero' und 'Songs From The West'.

Die Boxen sind individuell nummeriert und mit einer goldenen Unterschrift von Elton signiert. Erhältlich ist das Schmuckstück als Teil von Burberrys Weihnachtskampagne ab dem 1. November. Kostenpunkt: Rund 343 Euro.

"Mich verbindet eine lange Geschichte mit Christopher Bailey und ich habe es bereits in der Vergangenheit genossen, mit Burberry zusammenzuarbeiten", erklärte Elton John gegenüber 'WWD'. "Sie fertigen viele meiner Klamotten an und ich mag sie, weil sie eine sehr musikorientierte Firma sind. Sie tun viel, um junge Talente zu fördern, was ich ebenfalls versuche, wie etwa mit meiner Apple Beats 1 Radioshow 'Rocket Hour'."

Schon im vergangenen Jahr stand Elton John für die Weihnachtskampagne von Burberry vor der Kamera. Einfach eine himmlische Paarung!

Elton John wird im Jahr 2017 zwei Konzerte in Österreich spielen. Am 15. Juli im Wörtherseee Stadion in Klagenfurt und am 16. Juli 2017 auf Burg Calm. Das Konzert in Klagenfurt ist ein Sitzplatzkonzert, das auf Burg Calm hingegen ein Stehplatz Konzert.

Die Preise für Klagenfurt liegen zwischen 63,50 und 113,50, die für Burg Calm liegen zwischen 88,50 und 123,50 Euro.

David Furnish, Ehemann von Elton John, feiert heute seinen 54. Geburtstag! Dazu möchten wir ihm an dieser Stelle von Herzen gratulieren! Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag David und lass es Dir heute mal so richtig gut gehen!

Rolling Stone 1973: Eine vernichtende Plattenkritik

Diese etwas seltsame Kritik über "Goodbye Yelloew Brick Raoad" von Stephen Davis veröffentlichte der Rolling Stone im Jahr 1973:

These boys — singer/piano player Elton John, librettist Bernie Taupin and producer Gus Dudgeon sure do relish their fantasy. One evening last summer I found myself in a screening room in Los Angeles with all of the above, plus the guitarist, the bass player and the rest of the white-suited English retinue that follows Elton around. The occasion was a command performance of American Graffitt, George Lucas' dream-sequence film of a night of teenage life in a California town in 1962. From the first scene on, watching the English musicians watch the film was almost as much fun as the film itself; their jaws collectively dropped in astonishment, as if they were invited guests to a surprise glimpse of their own mythology. The Americans were hushed and hissed down as they commented on the action. These boys didn't want to miss a line. In a way it was touching.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a massive double-record exposition of unabashed fantasy, myth, wet dreams and cornball acts, an overproduced array of musical portraits and hard rock & roll that always threatens to founder, too fat to float, artistically doomed by pretension but redeemed commercially by the presence of a couple of brilliant tracks out of a possible 18.

Elton's and Bernie's fantasies are nothing new to the pop aficionado. The earliest records regaled us with successful British soft rock visions of the turbulent American Western myth — "Burn Down the Mission" and others. Elton was a superb pop singer, wrote engaging tunes to Taupin's interesting lyrics, and had a drummer, Nigel Olsson, who could haul ass to work.

This new record is a big fruity pie that simply doesn't bake. But, oh lord, how it tries. Elton plays in front of a thoroughly professional and creative instrumental group. Guitarist Davey Johnstone was a rare find when he joined the band a while ago: The guitar lines of the omnipresent AM hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" ably testify to his power. Producer Dudgeon alternates tasteful and tricky ideas with lank orchestrations that owe more to Richard Perry and Mantovani than to music per se. By and large I can appreciate Bernie's lyrics, though the hatred of women that pervades this cycle of songs isawesome in its rancor — check the words to "Dirty Little Girl," that make the fabled Jagger-Richard demimonde sweethearts seem more like Karen Carpenter.

The format of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is straight ultramodern British music hall revue, numerous and largely unconnected musical tableaux accompanied by plenty of rock synthesized flash and the inspection of the inner feelings of several different versions of the Elton John persona.

So there's an eight-minute instrumental prologue featuring grandiose and tasteless typhoon whooshings, booming ecclesiastic organ, some stinging guitar that would be monumental if properly backlit but seems out of context against a lot of bleating. That segues into "Love Lies Bleeding," a rocker with a soaring, handsome chorus. "Candle in the Wind" is the first heavy lyrical fantasy, the tune is prettily solemn and unbelievably corny, a necrophiliac erection for Marilyn Monroe, despite the disclaimer: "Goodbye Norma Jean/From the young man in the 22nd row/Who sees you as something more than sexual/More than just our Marilyn Monroe." Oh, bullshit.

I like the end of the side, "Bennie and the Jets," a wimpy Sgt. Pepperishnumber (even to the point of dubbed audience noise) about a mythical rock & roll band. Elton's vocal is properly dramatic and funny too. The title tune that starts side two is real wimpy too, dedicated to some poor showbiz shlubbo who the boys say they're not going to have anything to do with in the future.

"This Song Has No Title": and rightly so too; it stinks, from its lyrics that sound like Robert W. Service on Stelazine to the tune that comes over like one of Tom Paxton's fainting spells. "Jamaica Jerk Off" is a dreadful sendup of ethnic reggae that does boast a good chorus. But get back, honky cat. You're good, but on your best day you'd be blown off the stage by Bob Marley and the Wailers, without their amps. So, smile when you sing them songs.

"Grey Seal" is a fine fast number, episodic and brilliantly produced, one of the few large-production numbers here that succeeds all the way through. "I've Seen That Movie Too" is an excellent if terribly bitter tune. This and "Candle in the Wind" are the slow strengths of this set.

"Movie" is the first of five portraits of women that are almost misanthropic in their anger. "Sweet Painted Lady" is a sudsy music hall song dealing with that most hackneyed of images, the whore with the heart of gold, "getting paid for being laid." Elton and Taupin have an enormous repository of nerve just to record this; amazingly they get away with it.

"All the Girls Love Alice": The boys find themselves in Stones territory, writing about a rich 16-year-old Sapphic who dies young. It's hard rock with a tender bridge, and stands with the stunning "Saturday Night" as the best things to be heard here. (I've been trying to figure if "Saturday Night" was written before or after the boys saw Graffiti.) The fourth side runs downhill: "Roy Rogers" deals with middle-class druggery — and isses its mark, the size of the-barn door, though Elton's singing is great. "Social Disease" is just another song about being drunk. "Harmony" ends the album on an ambiguous note, nothing special.

What are we going to do with Elton John? He can sing, play, emote and lead a band, but he can't get organized. This would have made a lovely, if slightly brittle, single P. But the best tunes are obscured by drivel and peculiarly bad feelings. Not all fantasies are so rosy. Ugly ones mar a nice guy's record.

Hier ist die aktuelle Setlist der Konzerte in Las Vegas. Wie erwartet sind keine Songs aus WCN dabei. Das ist die Setlist vom 19. Oktober 2016, wir gehen aber davon aus, dass alle Konzerte gleich sind:

Heute vor 16 Jahren spielte Elton John ein Konzert im Madison Square Garden New York unter dem Motto "One Night Only - The Greatest Hits". Es war die erste von insgesamt zwei Shows. Knapp fünf Wochen später ist eine Auswahl von 15 Songs, zusammen gemischt aus beiden Shows, als CD erschienen. Eine DVD ist im Jahr 2003 erschienen.

In diesem Jahr hatte ich das Glück in einem Interview mit Billy Trudel über dieses Konzert zu reden. Hier sind noch mal seine Eindrücke aus dem Jahr 2000:

eltonjohn-fan.de: Let us talk about the “One Night Only” shows in October 2000. Elton introduced you with the words “singing and dancing like a maniac”. What can you tell us about the “Magic” of these two nights in October 2000?

Billy: Preparing for the One Night Only concert was weeks of hard work making sure everything sounded amazing then as all the artists that were coming in to sing at the concert, we had to change keys and styles to adapt to their voice. So as far as the magic, that is the end result from all the hard work. You're so busy trying to get everything right that you're really don't have time to get caught up in what's happening but seeing it later, made me proud to be a part of it.

eltonjohn-fan.de: In the video we can see, that you have a lot of fun on stage and with the audience. What is it like to sing on stage with stars like Elton John, Brian Adams, Anastacia and all the others?

Billy: Rather you're singing with a Megastar or somewhere intimate in front of a small group of people, you always want to be the best you can be. I love singing and performing it's a part of who I am. I also love being in the studio recording and writing a song, doing something that was just a thought that you sit down and write it on a piece of paper then put what you wrote on that paper to music and creating a melody with emotion and feeling . There's nothing like that, just like standing on a stage in front of thousands of people and feeling their energy, it becomes an addiction, you fall in love with the adrenaline.

eltonjohn-fan.de: In the introduction of “Don´t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” you can guess, that something went wrong in the first show. Can you tell us what went wrong?

Billy: I don't remember what went wrong or if anything went wrong at all. Even if there was a mistake that's part of the art of doing something live. One thing I loved about working with Elton was that he was a true perfectionist, and that made me always want to be better. So if you were out in the audience and saw something happen, then you can see how much of a perfectionist he was and still is. There are not very many artists out there that can sustain a career of 40 plus years and still do it as great as he does.

Wir möchten an dieser Stelle mit der Setlist an dieses tolle Konzert, welches wir alle lieben, erinnern. Die Setlist der DVD weicht ein wenig von der Konzertsetlist ab:

Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Candle in the Wind
Bennie and the Jets
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [with Billy Joel]
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Little Jeannie
Philadelphia Freedom
Tiny Dancer
Can You Feel The Love Tonight
Don't Go Breaking My Heart [with Kiki Dee]
Daniel
Rocket Man
Club at the End of the Street
Blue Eyes
I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
The One
I Don't Wanna Go On With you Like That
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
Sacrifice
Come Together
Your Song [with Ronan Keating]
Sad Songs (Say So Much) [with Bryan Adams]
I'm Still Standing
Crocodile Rock
Saturday Nights Alright (For Fighting) [with Anastacia]
The Bitch is Back
Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me

Bilder

FRÖHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN MIT BURBERRY - ein onlineartikel