Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

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Free Music Notes for Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Free Music Review: Neck & neck with ROAD as Elton's finest overall work
Hit: 5 Stars

The title appropriately signifies the two individual personas of Elton & Bernie, with Elton being the true showman (Captain Fantastic) & Bernie the more retiring, simplified person (Brown Dirt Cowboy). While 1973's GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD required a lot of the duo's energy & creativity, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC had to have been more of a labor of love with Elton & Bernie creating art first & commerce second. No one had to be more surprised than them when the album became the very first one ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard album charts.

The countryish opening title track introduces our two characters early in their careers when they were just beginning their partnership, writing music more for financial security than making history.

The bouncy "Tower Of Babel" could be the duo first witnessing the cutthroat atmosphere of the music industry with its prominent mood of patting itself on the back & considering themselves higher up than the talent it seeks to promote.

"Bitter Fingers" is a combination of both the previous songs with Elton & Bernie starting to make music for themselves, but finding out the bigwigs want the money to keep rolling in first. This is certainly one of Elton's greatest rockers, and one of his most overlooked.

The Philly soul of "Tell Me When The Whistle Blows" is maybe the first sign of Elton starting to cave under the pressure of being both an artist & a star, and while it may be Bernie's lyrics he is singing, Elton could easily be singing more about himself.

That insecurity manifests itself on the album's finest acheivement "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". Written about an early suicide attempt by Elton, it's easily the album's most accessible track, and was the only single released, becoming a top 5 hit in its full 7-minute glory. While the closing synthesized string arrangement was more of a last-ditch inclusion instead of true strings, it doesn't make the song any less moving. Get out your tissues for this one!

And that's just the first half of the album! "[Gotta Get A] Meal Ticket" is another, more vicious rocker about the ruthlessness of the music industry. This could have made it as a single, but its less-than-flattering attitude towards the business had to have put the kibosh on that notion.

"Better Off Dead" revisits Elton's mental demons which were becoming even more fierce at the time of this recording. "Writing" appears to have Elton & Bernie foreseeing the two of them collaborating decades into the future. 30 years later, they're still at it, so let's hope that premonition comes through.

"We All Fall In Love Sometimes" & "Curtains" were separated on the LP and CD, but recorded both in one fell swoop. Taken together, it's a fabulous epic statement with the second part even more stunning with an extended orchestral & choral coda inspired by The Eagles' legendary closing to their DESPERADO album.

1975 would prove to be Elton's year for the taking, with his single-only releases proving to be more successful than the music on CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. Early in the year, Elton hit #1 with his cover of the Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". He & John Lennon had struck up a friendship around this time, and when he visited Elton in the studio, Bernie Taupin had commented that "Lucy", which the Beatles never put out as a single, should have been released. Elton took him up on the offer with John contributing guitar. It may be criminal to say that Elton outdoes the Beatles on his version, but he certainly does a fine job at it.

Elton also covered John's "One Day [At A Time]" from his MIND GAMES album, and while it's a not-bad rendition, it's definitely not something Elton & Bernie could come up with on their own, too traditional. A few months after "Lucy" hit #1, Elton returned to the top spot with "Philadelphia Freedom", a song written about his friend Billie Jean King's tennis team. Once again, Elton & Bernie never fail to make it more than just a simple tribute, giving it its own singular identity. Its near-flawless replication of the Philly soul sound even sent the song to the R&B charts, and won Elton the opportunity to perform it on SOUL TRAIN, becoming one of the first White performers to guest on that show.

Even while Elton John & Bernie Taupin were starting to fall prey to the intense pressures of stardom & adulation (Bernie had his own problems with addictions just like Elton), their magic touch was still keen enough early on to create a natural wonder like CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY. The worst of their troubles had yet to begin (the follow-up to this album was the first sign that Elton & Bernie maybe needed time away from each other), but for now, the duo had little to complain about with all the success in their midst.

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