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Tumbleweed Connection 2

Elton John: Tumbleweed Connection

David Seemiller



In early August of 1996, my friends and I went on a road-trip to see 5 Phish concerts. I had to beg my mother to let me go, after all, I was only sixteen, and was going to be on the road for over a week. Also, Phish shows are known for their drug use, but after much pleading I convinced her that I was responsible enough to go. The trip was riddled with disasters that would take too long to explain in full, but never the less, some good did come of it. The second show was the most memorable part of the entire trip (besides the two days I lost my car and had to sleep in the street). My friends and I had just sat through 4 hours of traffic to get into Darien Lake and sat down to watch Phish’s first set. Phish took the stage and played "Amoreena" by Elton John. I had heard other Elton John songs before, such as "Candle in the Wind," but I didn’t know his music was so diverse. As soon as my trip was over I went out and bought Tumbleweed Connection, the album "Amoreena" was on. It immediately became my favorite album, and the only one I think I could tolerate should I have to take it to a desert island.

Tumbleweed Connection was released in 1970 just months after Elton John’s self-titled breakthrough album. Elton John was an entirely pop album, but for Tumbleweed Connection Elton John decided to go with a more rock n’ roll angle. (Erlewine) The country flavor helps the album stick together with a wild west/civil war theme ongoing through most of the songs. Bernie Taupin’s lyrics reflect this, with song titles such as "Country Comfort," and "Talking Old Soldiers." Bernie Taupin recalls:

Everybody thinks that I was influenced by Americana and by seeing America first hand, but we wrote and recorded the album before we’d even been to the states. It was totally influenced by The Band’s album, ‘Music From the Big Pink’, and Robbie Robertson’s songs. I’ve always loved Americana, and I loved American Westerns. I’ve always said that ‘El Paso’ was the song that made me want to write songs, it was the perfect meshing of melody and storyline, and I thought that here was something that married rhythms and the written word perfectly. (Tobler)



"Desperado is quite consciously a ‘concept album’. Each song relates to the others." (Lichtenstein 84) I am a big fan of concept albums such as Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage and more recently Phish’s Story of the Ghost. Tumbleweed Connection is a concept album of a loose sense. It doesn’t tell a story, but all the songs are held together by a country theme. This is what sets Tumbleweed Connection apart from The Wall and Joe’s Garage. Unlike either of them it keeps the style constant throughout. It does have upbeat songs, and slow songs, but they all still contain the country theme. It holds together a lot better than any of the other albums. Joe’s Garage tells a good story, but each song is so totally different and unrelated that you’d forget there is a story being told if I wasn’t for that reoccurring guitar riff throughout. The Wall is connected in the way the songs are composed, and the instrumentation involved, but the songs are still very different, and unless you see the movie, it is hard to tell how anything relates. Phish’s Story of the Ghost attempts to accomplish the same feat as Tumbleweed Connection, but instead of a country theme, they try a spooky theme for their album. They almost accomplish it, but they are not as consistent and many of the songs seem contrived and poorly thought out. It’s hard to keep someone feeling eerie with a song that contains a Celtic jig, and has lyrics "Guyute was the ugly pig."

What first attracted me to Tumbleweed Connection is its ability to keep the western theme without becoming dry and boring. Each song is completely different, and capable of holding up on its own. "Certainly the songs seem like they were filmed on location, or maybe it’s just that the settings feel almost like characters themselves." (Swartley, 56) Any song on the album can be listened to and enjoyed in its own right, but presented in Tumbleweed Connection it becomes part of something much greater. The placement of the songs on the album helps it all stick together and makes it very easy to listen to. Tumbleweed Connection keeps the action throughout. The songs are evenly distributed so there aren’t too many ballads in a row. The whole album has balance, as each song just flows into the next.

The opening track, "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun," begins with a guitar riff that could have come straight out of "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". As soon as Elton rings out the first lyrics, " I pulled out my stagecoach times and I read the latest news," the listener immediately becomes the character in the song. The lyrics go right along with the music, which doesn’t happen very often. Elton John has stated about Tumbleweed Connection: "Lyrically and melodically, that’s probably one of our most perfect albums. I don’t think there’s any song on there that doesn’t melodically fit the lyric." (Tobler)

The most recognizable track on the album, mainly due to its being covered on Rod Stewart’s Gasoline Alley, is "Country Comfort." It describes a town in the old west. "The images in the song are those of a pleasant, unromanticized American landscape described in the motley vernacular of old time rural culture."(Winner, 61) Although it is the most known song on the album, it is my least favorite, because it seems like an attempt to get at least one single out of the album. It has the most deliberate pop hook on the album, and even thought the topic goes with the theme of the album, it borders on being a pop song. "My Fathers Gun" tells the story of a young confederate out to get revenge on the Yankees for the death of his father. The vocals are nicely complimented with a chorus, and a subdued guitar just barely audible through the wall of sound created by the voicings.

The sixth track on the album, "Where to now St. Peter," is the most ominous song on the album, about a man deciding if he’s going to heaven or hell. It begins slowly with a piano intro (that admittedly sounds a little too similar to "Amoreena.") The guitar enters during the first line of the song, with some nice effects like a wah-wah on it. The vocals on the song are incredible. Some of the notes that Elton hits seem impossible, but he pulls them off spectacularly.

The summation of the album comes with the final track, "Burn Down the Mission." Beginning slowly, with a twinkling piano alone with the gospel-like vocals. It’s not until after the first verse that the guitar enters filling in the rhythm. The chorus brings in the drums, bringing the piece up to tempo. The action doesn’t end there, immediately after the chorus, Elton John’s piano begins a bombastic piano jam that is soon followed by the rest of the band, which now includes a horn section. This subsides into a mellow return to the verse, where the performance starts all over again, ending in a clutter of pandemonium that sounds like it could fall apart at any second. This song is an excellent display of Elton John’s technical prowess, as well as a showcase of all the other musicians that appear on the album.

Elton John’s music has always been extremely complex, and all the musicians he has used have achieved some level of virtuosity on their instruments. Many of the musicians on Tumbleweed Connection were brought in from Elton John’s record label, DJM, and a few of them eventually became part of Elton John’s band. Ian Duck, Caleb Quaye, and Roger Pope, all of whom played on Tumbleweed Connection, were members of the band Hookfoot, also on the DJM label. Dee Murray, bass, and Nigel Olsen, drums, were in the Spencer Davis Band before quitting and joining Elton John’s band in 1970. They performed on all of Elton John’s albums up to 1975 before they were fired. (Nespoli)

The production of Elton John’s albums has always been top notch, which is one of the reasons Elton John has been so successful. The Producer of Tumbleweed Connection was Gus Dudgeon. For Elton John’s first album, Empty Sky, Steve Brown produced, but he stepped down to allow someone more experienced to take over. Originally George Martin was offered the job, but he refused after he was told he could not write the orchestral arraignments himself. Gus Dudgeon was already an accomplished producer before working with Elton John. He had just finished work with David Bowie on Space Oddity the previous year. Tumbleweed Connection was Gus Dudgeon’s second album with Elton John. (Maclauchlan)

Steve Brown also brought Steve Buckmaster to write the orchestral arraingments that have been a trademark of Elton John’s earlier work. Although the arraingments on Tumbleweed Connection are a little less noticeable than on his other earlier albums, many of Elton John’s big hits have unforgettable string and horn sections. The horns on "Honky Cat" are what give the song some attitude, and the string arrangements for "Madman Across the Water" are what give it the agitated drive that move the song along. He wrote the music for a movie, Friends in the early seventies, which Elton John also performed on, and has recently scored the music for 12 Monkeys. (Maclauchlan)

It is this combination of talent that has brought Elton John to superstardom, and although Elton John doesn’t write any of his own lyrics, he is responsible for all the music. Many musicians, such as Garth Brooks and Rod Stewart write very few of their own songs if any, which is quite sad, especially because most of the public thinks that these songs are theirs. Most country singers don’t write any of their own music either. Elton John has put together an album that, although may not be country in stricter terms, is a more creative album than any country artist has put out, with the exception of a few such as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.

Elton John’s music speaks for itself, because lyrics are nothing without music to bring them to life. The sheer amount of music that Elton John has written is a testament to his abilities as a musician, which are without question some of the most highly regarded by his peers. But even more than that is the amount of good music he has written. He does have some periods where his albums were just terrible, "Prisoner of Love," and "Leather Jackets" to name a few, but the majority of the time, the music was top notch. To this day Elton John still writes all of his own music, while other greats such as Aerosmith are tapped out of ideas and now have people write hit songs for them. A year or so ago I went to a free concert of the Steve Miller Band. He has a rapper as part of his show now, I suppose to bring in the younger crowd. I left the show halfway through. Elton John’s most recent tour was just he and his piano, playing both classics, and his new songs. I think it speaks greatly of Elton John’s work that he is able to stay creative, and not have to through over 30 years of music.

Works Cited

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Elton John." All-Media Guide. (March 21, 1999).

Greil, Marcus, ed. Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island. 1st ed. New York: De Capo Press Inc. 1996.

Lichtenstein, Grace. "Desperado." Marcus 84.

Maclauchlan, Paul. "A Musical History of Elton John." Cornflakes & Classics. March 2, 1999. (4 March 1999).

Nespoli, Lisa Ann. "Nigel Olsson Bio." The Nigel Olsson Fan Club. March 3, 1999. (4 March 1999).

Swartley, Ariel. "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" Marcus 55.

Tobler, John. Tumbleweed Connection. Enclosure. 1995.

Winner, Langdon. "Trout Mask Replica." Marcus 61.

Postato da: madmanbb a 22:33 | link | commenti
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TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection



Rating: 5 Stars

Musicians:
Bernie Taupin – Lyrics
Elton John – Keyboards & Vocals
Paul Buckmaster – Arranger
Gus Dudgeon – Producer
Robin Geoffrey Cable – Engineer
Nigel Olsson – Drums and Backing Vocals
Lesley Duncan – Backing Vocals and Composer of ‘Love Song’
Caleb Quaye – Lead and Acoustic Guitars
Dee Murray – Bass and Backing Vocals
Dave Glover – Bass Guitar
Ian Duck – Harmonica
Roger Pope – Drums and Percussion


Tracks Listing:
1. Ballad Of A Well-Known Gun
2. Come Down In Time
3. Country Comfort
4. Son Of Your Father
5. My Father’s Gun
6. Where To Now St. Peter?
7. Love Song
8. Amoreena
9. Talking Old Soldiers
10. Burn Down The Mission
11. Into The Old Man’s Shoes
12. Madman Across The Water (Original Version)


After years of session work and songwriting for other people, Reginald Dwight changed his name to Elton John and formed a songwriting partnership with a certain Bernie Taupin (Elton wrote the music to Taupin’s lyrics). After the release of two studio albums, they hit pay dirt with the release of this, their third album (1971), and their first hit single ‘Your Song’, taken from the previous self titled album.

Surprisingly there were no singles taken from this collection, taking Elton John on a wonderous journey into superstardom that was to spiral out of control. But for now the next 4 studio albums ‘Madman Across The Water’, ‘Honky Chateau’, ‘Don’t shoot me I’m only the Piano Player’, and the ‘Double Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ were all landmark albums in the world of rock. Unfortunately by the time of Elton’s 9th Studio album ‘Captain Fantastic’, and the ‘Dirt Brown Cowboys’, it had all gone terribly wrong with massive egos taking over, all band members being fired and the partnership with Bernie Taupin terminated. The live shows were still great, but Elton’s album output throughout the eighties and nineties was tedious at best, consisting mainly of Sub-Chicago plod-rock, before a welcome return to form last year with ‘Songs from the West Coast’, which, not surprisingly, co-incided with him reuniting with Bernie Taupin and his old band mates, Nigel Olsson and Davy Johnstone.

But, back in 1970 with ‘Tumbleweed Connection’, this was the first time a road band as such had been used in the studio, making it more the Elton John band rather than just Elton on his own. Nigel Olson had been offered the drum stool whilst in Brit Heavy Rockers Uriah Heep but, seeing the potential, made the job his own. He was joined by the amazing Dee Murray on bass, and the job that would soon be filled by Davey Johnstone was done by Caleb Quaye of label mates Hookfoot for these sessions.

It really was a case of everything was in position for world domination.

The album opens up with the blues rock of ‘Ballad of a well-known Gun’, the story of a gunslinger reaching the end of the road. From there on out you are taken on a wonderful musical journey through the album’s original ten songs, with a recurring wild west of America theme.

At all times the musicianship and songwriting is faultless, with Elton putting every ounce of emotion into Bernie’s lyrics. The production by Gus Dudgeon was to set standards for years to come, and Paul Buckmaster’s arrangements of the musical scores, both with band and strings, is nothing short of perfection, whether on epics like ‘Burn Down The Mission’ (an amazing live version, which was laid down with just piano, bass, and drums on the band’s live album 17.11.70, where you can actually hear Elton kick his piano stool away in the excitement), or on the tender ‘Love Song’. This only song on the album, not written by John/Taupin, is a beautiful Lesley Duncan song, which Lesley also sings on this version. But it is when Elton sits at the piano alone to regale us with ‘Talking Old Soldiers’ that his talent really stands out. This story of an old warrior looking back on his youth whilst addressing a group of youngsters, is a shot straight at the heart.

“I know what they are saying, son
There goes old mad Joe again
Well, I maybe mad at that, I’ve seem enough
To make a man go out his brains”

The remastered edition of Tumbleweed connection for C.D has two bonus tracks ‘Old Man’s Shoes’, the b-side to ‘Your Song’, which fits in perfectly with the rest of these songs. But the real treat is left till last, the original recording of the next albums title track ‘Mad Man Across The Water’, featuring Mick Ronson on lead guitar (Ronson was just about to hit the big time himself as lead guitarist and musical director for David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars band). It is a completely guitar based version clocking in at nearly nine minutes with the piano-bass-drum format used as a rhythm section, whilst Ronson lays down some rip-roaring lead axe. He dominates this song in the same way as he did on David Bowie’s ‘Moonage Day Dream’, which he made his own. The price of the C.D is worth it for this song alone.

Add to this the artwork included in the sixteen page booklet, ‘Tumbleweed Connection’ is a real gem.

Mott The Dog

Postato da: madmanbb a 22:06 | link | commenti (1)
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