Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was where Elton John's personality began to gather more attention than his music, as it topped the American charts for eight straight weeks. In many ways, the double album was a recap of all the styles and sounds that made John a star. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is all over the map, beginning with the prog rock epic "Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)" and immediately careening into the balladry of "Candle in the Wind." For the rest of the album, John leaps between popcraft ("Bennie and the Jets"), ballads ("Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"), hard rock ("Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"), novelties ("Jamaica Jerk-Off"), Bernie Taupin's literary pretensions ("The Ballad of Danny Bailey"), and everything in between. Though its diversity is impressive, the album doesn't hold together very well. Even so, its individual moments are spectacular and the glitzy, crowd-pleasing showmanship that fuels the album pretty much defines what made Elton John a superstar in the early '70s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andy Scott Assistant Engineer Barry Sage Tape Operator Bernie Taupin Lyricist Davey Johnstone Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Vocals (Background), Synthesizer, Guitar, Guitar (Leslie), Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals David Costa ? David Hentschel Keyboards, Audio Engineer, Synthesizer, Engineer David Katz Violin, Orchestra Contractor David Larkham Artwork, Illustrations, Art Direction Dee Murray Vocals (Background), Bass (Electric), Bass Del Newman Orchestra, Arranger Elton John Piano (Electric), Mellotron, Vocals, Keyboards, Farfisa Organ, Organ, Piano Gus Dudgeon Producer, Audio Production, Liner Notes John Tobler Liner Notes Kiki Dee Vocals (Background) Leroy Gomez Saxophone Michael Ross Illustrations, Artwork, Art Direction Nigel Olsson Tambourine, Conga, Vocals (Background), Tamboura, Drums Peter Kelsey Assistant Engineer Prince Rhino Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part Ray Cooper Tambourine, Percussion