40 years of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is now 40 years old. What would later become the now knighted Sir Elton John’s most important and also most successful album was released on September, 1973 and was an instant big seller. It wasn’t like Elton was invading the hit charts for the first time. The former Reginald Kenneth Dwight from the UK, then only 26 years old, had already established himself as a major hitmaker earlier with hits like Your Song, Rocket Man, Friends, Crocodile Rock, Levon, Daniel, Honky Cat and others. But Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was something else. Elton’s music bordered on the classical and lyricist Bernie Taupin’s story telling skills on the sublime.

Regarded as a bittersweet farewell to the fairy tale of the “yellow brick road” to confront reality, the album produced several hit singles and has already sold over 30 million copies. These include the title cut, Bennie And The Jets, Sweet Painted Lady, All The Girls Love Alice and Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting. And there was also the biggest of them all, the wildly popular Candle In The Wind. Elton and Bernie wrote the song with the tragic life of the late actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe in mind. Twenty-four years later, Candle In The Wind would bounce back to the top of the world’s hit charts again after Elton performed it at a funeral in 1997 for another tragic 36-year-old blond celebrity, Princess Diana.

Well, Candle In The Wind and all its brothers and sisters in the album are back in full digitally-remastered glory in a special reissue of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road put together to celebrate its 40th year.  The 40th anniversary edition is made up of two discs and includes a booklet of photos and an interview with Elton. Those who do not know why Goodbye Yellow Brick Road deserves an anniversary celebration should find this most informative. As for those of us who remember, prepare for the deluge of memories.

CD 1 has the complete original album just as we remember and CD 2 has the extra goodies. There are highlights from Elton’s triumphant Live At Hammersmith Odeon concert held on December, 1973. Hear how he pounds that piano. This has the Yellow Brick Road songs and some of his earlier hits like Rocket Man, Daniel, Honky Cat, Crocodile Rock and his very first hit, Your Song. Best of all, it also includes Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Revisited. This is a totally new production where today’s artists perform songs from the classic album.

Elton’s renditions have stood the test of time. His vocals and the arrangements are as crisp and current as any new release today. Still, it is fun to listen to these new stars do their take on Elton’s best. It is quite a star-studded line-up: Bennie And The Jets by Miguel featuring Wale; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Hunter Hayes; Grey Seal by The Band Perry; Sweet Painted Lady by John Grant; All The Girls Love Alice by Emeli Sande; Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘n Roll) by Imelda May; Harmony performed by Zac Brown Band and my big favorites Candle In The Wind by Ed Sheeran and Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting by Fall Out Boy.

Elton has since then gone on to greater fame as an artist and songwriter, producer and also as a philanthropist. The hits still came after Yellow Brick Road. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, The Bitch is Back, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, We All Fall In Love Sometimes, Never Gonna Fall In Love Again, Sad Songs Say So Much as well as film scores, The Lion King, The Road To El Dorado, Gnomeo And Juliet, and stage musicals Aida, Billy Elliot and acknowledged as one of Broadway’s major successes Disney’s The Lion King. But there was really something very special about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that remains true and enduring after 40 years.

Incidentally, just in case you got hungry for more memories of the ’70s after listening to Elton. Here are some more music for remembering 40 years ago. Other hits of the time were Sing, Please Mr. Postman, Top Of The World, I Won’t Last A Day Without You, all by The Carpenters; Neither One of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye and The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me by Gladys Knight & The Pips; My Love and Band On The Run by Paul McCartney & Wings; You Make Me Feel Brand New and You’ll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart by The Stylistics; Annie’s Song and Sunshine On My Shoulder by John Denver; You And Me Against The World by Helen Reddy; I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton John; When Will I See You Again by The Three Degrees; Mandy by Barry Manilow; TSOP by MFSB; Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack; Aubrey by Bread; Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree by Tony Orlando and Dawn; If We Try by Don McLean; You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder; And the list goes on.