Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Biography

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released in 1973. It is regarded by many as his magnum opus. With worldwide sales of at least 31 million copies it is his best selling studio album. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. History Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded...

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released in 1973. It is regarded by many as his magnum opus. With worldwide sales of at least 31 million copies it is his best selling studio album. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. History Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville, where John had previously recorded Honky Château and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. The amount of material was such that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released as a double album, his first. This album had originally been planned to be recorded in Jamaica, since The Rolling Stones had recorded Goats Head Soup there. Technical difficulties, coupled with political unrest in the country at the time, forced the band to make an early departure without any productive work done. In addition to the three successful singles released from this album (see below), many other cuts received substantial airplay at AOR stations when the album was released, including "Harmony"; the 11-minute epic, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"; and his Marilyn Monroe tribute, "Candle in the Wind". Track listing All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin Side one "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" – 11:09 "Candle in the Wind" – 3:49 "Bennie and the Jets" – 5:23 Side two "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – 3:13 "This Song Has No Title" – 2:23 "Grey Seal" – 4:00 "Jamaica Jerk-Off" – 3:38 "I've Seen That Movie Too" – 5:58 Side three "Sweet Painted Lady" – 3:54 "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)" – 4:23 "Dirty Little Girl" – 5:01 "All the Girls Love Alice" – 5:09 Side four "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)" – 2:42 "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" – 4:53 "Roy Rogers" – 4:08 "Social Disease" – 3:43 "Harmony" – 2:46 [edit] Bonus tracks (2003 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" – 2:51 "Jack Rabbit" – 1:49 "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" – 4:43 "Candle in the Wind" [Acoustic version] – 3:51 The original LP and CD issues were on two discs, while the 1995 CD remaster put the album on one disc as it was slightly less than 80 minutes. The 30th anniversary edition followed the original format, splitting the album across two discs to allow the inclusion of the bonus tracks, while a DVD on the making of the album was also included. The album has also been released by Mobile Fidelity as a single disc 24 karat gold CD. The album was also released (2004) on a DVD-Audio in higher resolution. B-sides Song Format "Jack Rabbit" Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting 7" (US/UK) "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 7" (US/UK) "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 7" (US/UK) Personnel "Funeral for a Friend" Elton John – piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar Nigel Olsson – drums David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer "Love Lies Bleeding" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer "Candle in the Wind" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals "Bennie and the Jets" Elton John – vocals, piano, organ Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars Nigel Olsson – drums "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – Leslie guitar, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals Del Newman – orchestral arrangement "This Song Has No Title" Elton John – vocals, Farfisa organ, electric piano, mellotron, piano "Grey Seal" Elton John – vocals, piano, mellotron, electric piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar Nigel Olsson – drums, congas "Jamaica Jerk-Off" Elton John – vocals, organs Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitars Nigel Olsson – drums Prince Rhino – vocal Interjections Reggae Dwight (Elton John) and Toots Taupin (Bernie Taupin) - composers "I've Seen That Movie Too" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars Nigel Olsson – drums Del Newman – orchestral arrangement "Sweet Painted Lady" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar Nigel Olsson – drums, tambourine Del Newman – orchestral arrangement "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals Del Newman – orchestral arrangement "Dirty Little Girl" Elton John – vocals, Leslie piano, mellotron Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar Nigel Olsson – drums "All the Girls Love Alice" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar Nigel Olsson – drums David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer Ray Cooper – tambourine Kiki Dee – background vocals "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)" Elton John – vocals, piano, Farfisa organ Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – electric, slide guitars, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar Nigel Olsson – drums "Roy Rogers" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – acoustic, steel guitars Nigel Olsson – drums Del Newman – orchestral arrangement "Social Disease" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, Banjo Nigel Olsson – drums Leroy Gomez – saxophone "Harmony" Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals Del Newman – orchestral arrangement Production Producer: Gus Dudgeon Engineer: David Hentschel Assistant engineers: Peter Kelsey, Andy Scott Tape operator: Barry Sage Orchestra contractor: David Katz Arranger: Del Newman Art direction: David Larkham, Michael Ross Artwork: David Larkham, Michael Ross, Ian Beck Liner notes: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler [edit] Charts [edit] Album Year Chart Position 1973 UK Album Chart 1 1973 Billboard Pop Albums 1 1974 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart 1 1987 The Billboard 200 114 [edit] Singles Year Single Chart Position 1973 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" UK Singles Chart 6 1973 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Billboard Adult Contemporary 7 1973 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Pop singles 2 1973 "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" UK Singles Chart 7 1974 "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" Pop singles 12 1974 "Bennie and The Jets" Billboard Hot 100 1 1974 "Candle In The Wind" UK Singles Chart 11 1987 "Candle In The Wind" Billboard Hot 100 6 [edit] Certifications Organization Level Date BPI – UK Gold October 1, 1973 RIAA – USA Gold October 12, 1973 BPI – UK Platinum February 1, 1975 RIAA – USA Platinum March 23, 1993[9] RIAA – USA Double Platinum March 23, 1993 RIAA – USA Triple Platinum March 23, 1993 RIAA – USA 4x Platinum March 23, 1993 RIAA – USA 5x Platinum March 23, 1993[10] RIAA – USA 6x Platinum September 11, 1995 RIAA – USA 7x Platinum August 26, 1998[12] Read more on Last.fm. 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