Elton John - Honky Chateau
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Elton JohnEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1996-05-14
Music Label: Island
Soundtracks:
- Honky Cat
- Mellow
- I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself
- Susie (Dramas)
- Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
- Salvation
- Slave
- Amy
- Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
- Hercules
- Slave (Alternate Version)
Free Music Notes for Honky Chateau
Free Music Review: A Cat Named Elton Hercules John
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this classic CD from Amazon recently (at a very attractive price). I bought the vinyl version more than 30 years ago, soon after it first came out. A few of the songs survived the vinyl era on my self-recorded cassette tapes. Since I got the CD, I've listened to "Honky Cat" countless times in the car, and copied it onto my laptop so I can listen to it inside too.
Everyone knows the hit songs "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man". I remembered fondly the beautiful "tribute" to New York City, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" (it was actually a DB discussion of this song that brought the album back to mind), "Salvation", and the closing number (inspired by a rhino if you believe the CD notes), "Hercules" (Elton's stage middle name). What surprised me were the other great songs I didn't remember so well--"Mellow" and "Susie (Dramas)", the latter of which has a chorus so great that they have to sing it three times--"She sure knows how to use me/pretty little black-eyed Susie/playing hooky with my heart all the time/Livin with her funky family/in a derelict old alley/down by the river where we share a little lovin' in the moonshine." I'm gonna sing at least one of these at Karaoke some night.
The album also brought back to mind the seamless songwriting collaboration of Elton and his lyricist Bernie Taupin, who did not play or sing with the band. I'm told that Taupin wrote the lyrics (poems) and Elton wrote the tunes around them. On "Honky Chateau", an album that was primarily recorded in France, the producer filled out the sound with an exciting electric violin, used very effectively on "Mellow" and "Amy". Elton's piano composition and playing is fabulous as always. Listening again to "Honky Chateau" makes me understand why Elton John became a pop music phenomenon.
Honky Chateau Poster
By 1972, Elton John was already a rising star in America, although most casual listeners still identified him as part of the singer/songwriter explosion, thanks to the success of "Your Song" and "Levon." Honky Ch?teau changed all that, beginning with the success of "Honky Cat," a rousing New Orleans-ish R&B powerhouse that kicks off this terrific collection of songs. This was the album that first revealed John as a pure-pop craftsman, and he's all over the musical map on this set, moving from country-ish rock to blues-based rockers. But the best things here still might be two gorgeous ballads: "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters" (displaying the young vocalist at his best) and the hit single "Rocket Man" (which had many rock fans debating which was the better space odyssey of the day--this or Bowie's). And lyricist Bernie Taupin was revealing a new, slightly darker side here via tunes like "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself." --Bill HoldshipPop Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Essential soft rock
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