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The London show is said to be a retrospective through the years, beginning with “Skyline Pigeon”. The band kicks in for the end of “Border Song” and gives percussionist Ray Cooper three minutes to play a duck call solo in the middle of “Honky Cat”. “Love Song” is a surprise, particularly as it is performed, as on the album, as a duet with writer Lesley Duncan. “Crocodile Rock” is just plain playful, as usual.
He sounds a little hoarse on the Madison Square Garden side—understandable, as he’d been on the road for two months already—but he has the first half of “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” to rest up. “Rocket Man” and “Bennie And The Jets” inspire lots of cheering, and while “Take Me To The Pilot” doesn’t have the power of its initial live version, it’s still loaded with energy.
Given the repetition from the hits album and its presenting only a handful of tunes, Here And There was easy to overlook. That changed with the remaster rollout of the mid-‘90s, which more than doubled the program, devoting a full CD to each of the shows. The London show includes even more gems from the past, including further selections from Tumbleweed Connection and even “Bad Side Of The Moon”. Along with more hits and the Muscle Shoals Horns for “You’re So Static”, it turns out the New York show was the same one where John Lennon made his surprise (and final) stage appearance, and those three songs are now included in the proper context. Yes, “Take Me To The Pilot” and “Your Song” now appear twice each, but is that such a bad thing?
Elton John Here And There (1976)—3
1995 CD reissue: same as 1976, plus 16 extra tracks
The reissue on CD turned this album, from an obvious filler release and contractual obligation, into essential listening. Elton and his band were at their peak, and Dudgeon makes everything sound great.
ReplyDeleteOn the first side, the original LP had a big surprise in the stunning rework of “Love Song”. It was released as only a radio single, for some reason. It would have been a huge hit. The other mind-boggler from “here” is the amazing extension of “Bad Side of the Moon”, which trumps the “11-17-70”. “Burn Down the Mission” doesn’t quite reach that level, but the workouts on that “Saturday Night..” are still great. “Honky Cat” is rather showbizzy and corny. Of course, that was unavoidable from Elton, especially during this period!
The “There” side makes it easy to imagine glam Elton pulling out all of the stops. Since he was promoting “Caribou”, we get a run through of the annoying “You’re So Static” (“Grimsby” was also in the set. I would have preferred it if that had been included). However, there are smart choices from “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road”, the bluesy version of “Take Me to the Pilot”, and of course, John Lennon. “I Saw Her Standing There” had been released as a single in 1975. This remix is tons better. Elton’s piano is now loud and clear. I can imagine the cigarette lighters and swaying all coming out for "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and the slightly schmaltzy version of “Your Song”. A friend of mine was at either this show or the MSG show on the following night. He said that hearing an entire stadium sing “Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!” at the top of their lungs was quite something. That does come through.
Although they would play a few more shows over the following month, this album represents both a peak and a swan song for Elton and the band. We can now hear how great they could be. Not just for Elton fanatics.