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4 years 9 months ago
- Posts: 709
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How many of you Elton John fanatics here at RJ remember his 1969 debut album, Empty Sky? Featured songs include "Western Ford Gateway," "Hymn 2000" and "Val-Hala."
The album bombed in his native U.K., and wasn't even released in the U.S. until January 1975, by which point his superstar status had began to achieve its peak, what with having two proper new albums out that year both debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in June, and Rock of the Westies just four months after).
Even on this debut, his singer/songwriter prowess and musical styles are evident. Nigel Olsson would later be Elton's best known drummer. But the medley "Gulliver / Hay-Chewed / Reprise" doesn't really work well to finish out the album; the second part of this tune is a jazz instrumental for which its title may have been a send-up of the Beatles' 1968 epic "Hey Jude."
~Ben
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