Just as certain 1975 followed 1974, so it was when these years moved from one to the other Elton John would continue to reign as the most famous rock star in the world.
For the previous three years, through a mix of power pop and piano ballads lifted from a series of generally likeable, almost interchangeable albums (the 1973 double-set ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road‘ the notable exception being a work of remarkable consistency), Elton John had come to dominate the charts – his ostentatious stage attire and already lavish lifestyle elevating him to a status way beyond that of any other artist.
With record sales at the time that could only be matched by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, whose individual members remained relatively unknown to the wider public, John was instantly recognisable – the enormity of his fame leading one critic to dub him the ‘Liberace of rock.’
Indeed, by the midpoint of the 1970s the only issue presenting Elton and songwriting partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, any cause for concern was whether they could maintain the standard set with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.’
On ‘Caribou‘ (1974) they failed, despite it containing ‘The Bitch is Back,’ the best sounding Rolling Stones song of 1974 (and this a year when the Stones put an album out).
But this, the eighth studio LP released by Elton John, still went on to sell by the wagon load – giving rise to a notion that no matter the quality of what Elton and Bernie put out, gargantuan sales were guaranteed.
If the point needed reinforcing it was there, almost beyond belief, when advanced sales of the forthcoming ‘CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY‘ (May 1975) ensured a US gold disc before a single note was heard (one can only wonder the thoughts of Neil Young and Randy Newman, who had seen recent releases acclaimed by the critics but make no commercial dent).
Nevertheless, giving the customer what they wanted was something Elton had become supremely adept at (little wonder he had described himself the ‘Sainsbury’s’ of rock and roll‘), another high selling/low risk collection about to roll off the conveyor belt and top charts across the world.
When it appeared, ‘Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy‘ sounded like an Elton John album by virtue of its country/soft rock/piano-based mix of melodies, but lyrically Taupin was working to a fixed theme – that of evoking their early days as a songwriting partnership, covering the twelve-month period from when they met up to release of Elton’s 1969 debut album ‘Empty Sky.’
Serving a specific narrative was not a new departure for Taupin who had explored his fascination with the old west on ‘Tumbleweed Connection‘ (1970). Also, worth bearing in mind is that even by 1975 the ‘concept album’ was becoming old hat – not that it stopped The Kinks releasing two that year, Ray Davies removing himself from the story in ‘Soap Opera‘ but going centre-stage on the reflective ‘Schoolboys in Disgrace.’
If judged as a contest it all ends about even. Ray edges it on the back of individual songs, Elton and Bernie having a more coherent story-line – this despite Taupin using some oblique imagery that frankly makes no sense, even when set against the known backdrop of the piece.
On a number of occasions through the ten tracks (‘Tower of Babel‘, ‘Tell Me When The Whistle Blows,’ a few lines in the title song), it appears Taupin is consciously trying to be as lyrically obscure as he was on ‘Empty Sky‘ six years before.
But even if this listener, all these years later, still fails to fathom some of the allusions, much more importantly Elton appears attuned to every reference, however widely drawn, putting his heart and soul into each line. Thus, come forth the most impressive vocal performances of his entire career – the delivery of album showstopper ‘We All Fall In Love Sometimes,’ truly moving.
On the opening title piece Elton is established as ‘Captain Fantastic‘ (‘hardly a hero, just someone his mother might know‘) with Bernie ‘the Brown Dirt Cowboy‘ (‘turned brown in the saddle‘), the geographical differences of their backgrounds described as ‘city slick captain’ and ‘still green and growing,’ Elton from the outer reaches of Northwest London, Bernie native to a rural English county.
Although he had previously addressed the country boy out-of-his-depth to good effect on the ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road‘ title song, this serves as an effective scene-setter. Over a mandolin-infused country rock melody, of the sort Stephen Stills was pedaling, the more fanciful lines are offset as the song draws to a conclusion by ‘hand in hand went the music and rhyme, the Captain and the Kid, stepping in the ring,’ this a fine summation from which to approach all that follows.
‘Bitter Fingers‘ and ‘(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket‘ express the troubled lot of the struggling duo as they strive to find an outlet for their songs, each tune using variations on the ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting‘ template. While it is hard to be exactly sure what aspect of the story Taupin is getting at in ‘Tell Me When the Whistle Blows,’ the Gene Page string arrangement works well, even if taking it perilously close to ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ a track that was currently giving Elton huge success in the singles charts.
The only single lifted from ‘Captain Fantastic‘ was side one closer ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight.’ An account of the suicide Elton attempted to commit on feeling trapped within a strained (hetro-sexual) relationship, yet rather than end his life he ends the affair – finding resolve to continue through friends such as singer Long John Baldry who Elton had served as a keyboard player.
At almost seven minutes it is an exhaustive, appropriately sombre account of the situation – and although the music moves at funereal pace, the words shift between haunted and cynical:
‘And I would have walked head on into the deep end of the river/Clinging to your stocks and bonds/Paying your H.P. demands forever.’
Despite its length (John refused to entertain an edited version for release as a single), it became a massive hit and with the notion dispelled that 45s needed to be three minutes long to gain airplay, it can be assumed Queen took note when deciding what to lift from ‘A Night at the Opera‘ later in the year…………….
Pitched somewhere between Gilbert O’Sullivan and Gilbert and Sullivan, ‘Better Off Dead‘ has a nice line (several in fact) in gritty realism (‘through the grease-streaked windows of an all-night cafe, we watched the arrested get taken away,‘ Taupin so much more palatable when conjuring clearly defined images.
As side two then moves onto ‘Writing‘ there is a sense he has decided to be more straightforward with his recollections (it was later disclosed the songs were sequenced in the order they were written). Depicting the circumstances surrounding their early efforts, (‘We could stretch our legs if we’d half a mind/But don’t disturb us if you hear us trying to instigate the structure of another line or two’), the optimism of the lyric reflected in a melody not that far removed from ‘Domino‘ by Van Morrison.
In terms of lasting resonance ‘We All Fall in Love Sometimes‘ overrides everything around it, the deeply affecting lyric making this a magnificent piece, irrespective of judged on a standalone basis or within the conceptual thread.
Atop of solemn piano chords, Taupin paints small but vivid pictures, ‘Wise men say it looks like rain today, it crackled on the speakers and trickled down the sleepy subway trains,’ before going on to describe their earliest compositions with commendable honesty:
‘Naive notions that were childish, simple tunes that tried to hide it.’
Elton pulls out all the stops with an assured vocal, the line ‘our Empty Sky was filled with laughter,’ only adding to the poignancy. Always omitted from ‘Greatest Hits‘ collections in favour of one so-so single or another, the very best of Elton John can be found in those four minutes.
‘We All Fall in Love Sometimes,’ segues into the closing ‘Curtains.‘ Above a trilling harpsichord, another evocation of the ‘Empty Sky‘ album, Elton the narrator expresses more of Bernie’s memories, ‘beneath these branches I once wrote such childish words for you.’
At times too self-conscious of being a grand finale, the last line ‘and just like us you must have had a once upon a time,’ comes with a twist, this looking-back-over-the shoulder exercise now projected onto the listener.
Wherein lies the crux of ‘Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy‘ – namely, deciding if it is merely Elton and Bernie nurturing their own legend? Or is this a story that merits an album worth of songs?
For a record so conspicuously successful critical reaction was distinctly mixed, Rolling Stone and the New Musical Express both expressed misgivings, the NME referring to John and Taupin as having ‘an inflated sense of their own importance.’ But contemporary appraisals have seen it viewed in much more favourable light, ‘Captain Fantastic‘ listed at 158 in a recent poll of the ‘500 Greatest Albums Ever Made,’ the second highest Elton John entry after ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road‘ (91).
In many ways ‘Captain Fantastic‘ can be seen as closing the first chapter in the Elton John story, a feeling of addressing the past before heading on into the future.
Upon release the first incarnation of the Elton John Band – Davey Johnstone (guitars), Dee Murray (bass), Nigel Olsson (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion) – who display fine form throughout, were revamped into a larger, looser unit, Murray and Olsson fired after five years’ service.
The critical backlash that began with ‘Caribou‘ carried over, somewhat unfairly, into ‘Rock of the Westies‘ (Oct 1975), but the 1976 double-set ‘Blue Moves‘ deserved much of the flak that came its way. Elton then waited almost two years before recording again – and worked with a different lyricist when he did.
But in the height of a 1975 summer Elton John and his ‘Captain Fantastic‘ record were everywhere, many warming to the pleasant-sounding songs contained on his latest LP – some occupied with it until something more substantial, ‘Tonight’s The Night,’ ‘Born to Run‘ or ‘The Who By Numbers‘ came along.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and the BROWN DIRT COWBOY (Released May 19 1975):
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy/Tower of Babel/Bitter Fingers/Tell Me When the Whistle Blows/Someone Saved My Life Tonight/(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket/Better Off Dead/Writing/We All Fall in Love Sometimes/Curtains;
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
