How Elton John's music has inspired a lot of people

Introduction 

Sir Elton Hercules John, knighted as the commander of the order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, was born in March 1947. He is one of the most decorated and popular musicians of his time and ever since has remained top of the music awards in both Britain and USA. In his entire successful career, he has achieved a total of thirty-eight gold albums and thirty-one platinum or rather multiplatinum albums, crediting his success. In addition, the Brit has remarkably sold over two hundred and fifty million records all over the world (John, n.d.). His success does not end there, to crown his most celebrated and amazing career, he is the record holder of the biggest selling single of all time in both the UK and Britain. Additionally, since his first tour in 1970 around Britain and North America, Elton has performed over four thousand times in more than eighty different countries all over the world.

In 1969, Elton’s music and career received a lot of criticism due to his suicide attempt. During this period, people in and around Europe, especially in the UK, had strong cultural and Christian beliefs. Consequently, this led to the many critics that Elton attracted. The reason for his suicide attempt was due to the immense pressure Elton faced from his career work and his engagement to Linda Woodrow whom he was to get married to. The artist was reluctant to marry Linda because Elton thought she would have ruined her future musical career partly because of his sexuality. However, news of his sexuality did not hit the public domain until later in his career when he admitted to being gay and ever since became a gay-rights activist. Luckily, on the night of his contentious suicide attempt, he was saved by his former band mate John Baldry Long. The suicide attempt masked his career. Later that year, through the Philips label platform, Elton released his single called the “the Lady Samantha.” As expected, the song sold poorly and raised few eyebrows. To his credit, Elton in a bid to woo his fans did not give up. In the same year shortly after his single, he recorded the ‘Empty Sky’ album in a basement in London for only 1,200 dollars. However, just like his single, the album received little attention and interest (Clifford, 1988).

Fortunate enough, after he broke off the engagement and unsuccessful releases, Elton’s popularity was not realized until 1970 despite him having written and composed songs there before. This fame came when him and his band performed in his debut concert at the Troubadour in Los Angeles USA. This was the turning point in his career due to the unbelievable reviews and acceptance from the fans. Elton became an overnight success and sensation. Ever since the audience became receptive to his music, his career skyrocketed. This success began in the late 1969 and early 1970 with the release of the self-named album, ‘Elton John LP’ (Clifford, M., 1988).

The album incorporated an elaborate lush sound with almost perfect string arrangements done by Paul Buckmaster who was the brain behind the sound and string arrangements. With the release of this album, critics who initially judged him lauded and praised the album and the songs therein. However, some of the critics still thought that the album was overproduced. Nonetheless, Elton’s road to success and popularity had begun, and everything was in motion. In the summer of 1970, the touching and emotional ballad called ‘Your Song’ from his luscious album gained and attracted the most interest from the fan base as well as the music charts in the United States and England. The ballads became a successful hit and ranked as one of the top ten singles in the United States due to the appeal to emotions that the ballad had. This led to the increase of Elton’s fan base all over Europe, more so following the disbandment of ‘The Beatles’ band earlier in April that year. Furthermore, with ‘The Beatles’ (one of Elton’s band biggest competitors) out of the way, the stage was set for Elton’s success and popularity as a pop artist (Norman, 1993).

In addition, the release of ‘Elton John LP’ both in the UK via Pye Records and in the United States via Uni Records meant ultimate double success for the pop-star. The album together with the highly rated ballad provided the basic formula for his subsequent music and albums. Elton’s unique style of incorporating gospel-chorded rock and roll style in conjunction with the well-constructed poignant ballads earned him a unique audience compared to his competitors at the time. The gospel aspect of his songs was very much welcomed in England based on the strong spiritual and cultural values the people at that time had.

Additionally, during his concerts in that year and subsequent years, Elton and his band ‘Bluesology’ always raved-up the fans into screams and cheers as well as receiving praises from fellow artists and celebrities. His pianist’s theatrics of kicking his piano bench Jerry Lewis-style and doing handstands on the keyboard amidst playing left Elton’s critics bedazzled and singing his praises. Fellow artists like Bob Dylan and Quincy Jones were among the artists to appreciate him and his performance. Moreover, Elton complemented his electrifying performance with his dazzling dressing and stage appearance. This shaped the rock and roll pop culture and dressing over the decade (Elton John, n.d.)

Later, in the spring of 1970, the football club of England was to depart and travel off to Mexico to participate in the World Cup finals. A call by his country was made, and Elton John answered it. Due to his prolific piano skills and immaculate vocals, Elton was required to provide backing and piano vocals on a song called ‘Back Home’ which was to be recorded and produced by the England football squad. Also, in the later stages of the same year on 17 th November, John recorded a live performance which subsequently became the ‘11-17-70’ album in the United States (Elton John, n.d.)

The ‘11-17-70’ album showcased Elton’s remarkable rock-piano talent and skill which ultimately led to his legend as the “father of piano rock.” The album was conceived from a recording of his live performance or show aired on WABC-FM from A&R Studios in New York. The album featured most of the early works of both Elton and his partner Taupin which illustrated the origin and inspiration behind Elton’s gospel pianism. During the magnum opus 18:20 version of songs like “Burn Down the Mission,” Elton’s band cleverly merged Arthur’s song “Big Boy,” Crudup’s single “My Baby Left Me” and the full Beatles’ rendition of “Get Back” prior to winding up with an exhilarating note. It was ironic to come to the realization that the taped performance or album hit more sales in the United States when a random bootlegger from the East Coast USA released the performance several weeks earlier than the official release of the album (Elton John, n.d.)

The period 1969-1970 saw the growth of contemporary music like Jazz and Jamaican music like reggae and rocksteady. Their popularity largely grew, and by the 1970s the Jamaican music with the reggae beat became so popular that it began influencing the British pop music like the punk rock. This influence further spread to some of the UK bands like the famous UB40 to appeal to the mainstream fanbase. Furthermore, the 1970’s also saw the reggae influence lead to the origin of the ‘lovers’ rock’ sub-genre in the UK which was later adopted by the US culture (Longhurst, 1995).

Comparing Elton’s music with the above mentioned, both genres gained massive audience and reception based on the people's cultural values. However, Elton’s music was widely accepted in comparison to the reggae which targeted a specific audience or group of individuals. Also, unlike Elton’s band which was composed of pure whites, most of the reggae bands were made of black people thus making the music industry somewhat racial.

Conclusion 

Elton’s career has made him a rock in the history of the music industry, and his music has inspired a lot of people in the current world. Music composers like Nobuo Uematsu acknowledge him as his idol and assert that nobody can write a melody like John can. The year 1970 will continuously be marked in history as the most successful year for Elton John since it is the year that brought overnight fame and success his way. Moreover, it was a year that saw him set records and his music overwhelm the music charts both in the US and England. It is in the same year that Elton recorded his top selling and most popular albums; ‘Elton John LP,' ’11-17-70’, and the ‘Tumbleweed Connection.' This achievement earned him praises at the pace at which he could compose songs and release albums over a short spell, credit to his creativity and fast thinking abilities.

References

Clifford, M., (1988).  The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, Sixth Edition , Harmony Books.

Elton John. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/link-suggestion/wpcd_2008-09_augmented/wp/e/Elton_John.htm

John, Elton. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/john-elton 

Longhurst, B. (1995).  Popular music and society . (Wiley-Blackwell), p. 245.

Norman, P. (1993).  Elton John . New York: Simon & Schuster.