Customer Reviews

Here & There

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4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When "Here And There" was originally released in 1976, it was obviously a rush job released to help Elton get out of his contract with Dick James Music. There were only 10 performances on a two sided lp spanning two great shows, possibly the best of Elton's career.

Fortunately, in 1995, a team of producers rectified the album by turning it into a two cd collection including all the songs that were on the original version as well as adding many more. If the album had been released this way in 1976, it would no doubt have been dubbed a classic.

Disc One is from his 1974 performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London. This set has Elton, along with his band of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Dee Murray (bass), Nigel Olsson (drums) and Ray Cooper (percussion), revisiting several lesser known gems, including a dazzling "Skyline Pigeon", "Border Song", "Country Comfort", "Love Song", "Take Me To The Pilot" and "Bad Side Of The Moon". You also get a lot of the standard live fare, including "Your Song", "Candle In The Wind", "Crocodile Rock", "Honky Cat", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and a blistering "Burn Down The Mission".

Disc Two contains his Thanksgiving of '74 performance at Madison Sqaure Garden. This cd is more hits heavy, which isn't a bad thing, especially when these hits include excellent performances of "Rocket Man", "Bennie And The Jets", "Daniel", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (Elton's best song ever), "Your Song" (in a version better than the one on disc one) and "The Bitch Is Back". And here too does Elton dust off some forgotten gems. Elton performs a thrilling version of the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" epic "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". And the version they include of "Take Me To The Pilot" is much better than the one on the first disc. But the real highlight is when Elton is joined by a certain Liverpudlian from a certain 1960s' band to perform three songs with Elton: "Whatever Gets You Through The Night", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There". (For those of you who haven't guessed who it is, it's John Lennon).

The bottom line, "Here In There" has been made into one of the finest live albums of all time, even if took nineteen years to actually release it rightfully. This is a must have.

This CD is absolutely essential for any true Elton John fan. In fact, this may be the greatest live record that Elton has ever released. Listeners get two different perspectives: The rather stuffy, reserved concert in London that took place in front of a British Princess v.s. the rowdy, incomparable American Madison Square Garden crowd. Both CD's offer some of Elton's rare songs (Skyline Pigeon, Border Song, Burn Down the Mission, You're So Static, etc.) None of these, though, compare with the electricity present when John Lennon takes the stage for what would be his final live performance. Lennon's appearance is reason enough to buy the CD but there are plenty of other reasons too. This album paints a picture of Elton on his way to the top, the rising of a rock legend.

The original version of Here and There, issued in 1976, was very brief, with just a few songs from each of the two concerts featured, and I regarded it as an unimpressive album, apparently put together only to fulfil Elton's DJM Records contract . This remastered and expanded edition is a tremendous improvement, with a full 16 additional songs, and much clearer sound than the original LP. As such it gives a much more realistic impression of Elton and his classic 5-piece band live at the peak of their mid-70s success, and because of the length of the performances listening to it is much more of an `experience' than the original LP. There is a good selection of songs, including many hits but also some interesting and less well known Elton album tracks, and there are alternate versions of Your song and Take me to the pilot. You also get the 3 historically very important performances by Elton with John Lennon at Madison Square Garden. An essential album for committed Elton aficionados.

It was Thanksgiving 1974 and I was only 15 and, lucky for me, I happened to be attending my very first concert at Madison Square Garden. Little did I know that the show would one day become an album, nor that I was about to witness the once-in-my-lifetime thrill of seeing John Lennon perform live. I assure anyone who listens to this CD that if you think you can hear the excitement when Lennon takes stage for his three songs, it doesn't even come close to the incredible energy in the Garden that night. The roar was deafening & the floor beneath my feet literally shook. I've been to many, many concerts since then, but nothing compares in terms of the sheer audience exhilaration that erupted when Lennon took stage. This CD is worth it, if only to try to capture a glimpse of that extraordinary and rare performance.

Some of his finest songs stretching from his early days to the mid 70's. Has been generously expanded. This gives an accurate interpretation of the Elton John Band live act at the peak of their powers. Highly recommended over later CDs (Live in Australia, etc). And yes, they did play "Funeral For A Friend" live without background tapes!

Originally a single disc album with ten songs, "Here and There" was a contractual obligation album that Elton disavowed. But in 1996, as part of the ambitious "Classic Years" remastering project, "Here and There" was given a deluxe redo, expanding the album to a pair of CD's, over two hours of music and the classic New York appearance on John Lennon with Elton for three songs. This is also now a terrific document of the extravagance and sheer exuberance of Elton's mid-seventies concerts.





The "Here" segment was a benefit Elton performed in 1974 at the request of Princess Margaret, and is the more reserved of the two shows. It is also an interesting show in that Elton dipped into his oldies and played the likes of "Skyline Pigeon" and "Love Song." The British respond with typical stiff-upper-lippedness...until "Crocodile Rock" comes along. They jump from their chairs at the last minute, for "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting." But for the most part, Elton leans hard on the piano based early tunes like "Border Song" and "Candle In The Wind."





The reserve is totally blown off for the "There" concert, Thanksgiving in Madison Square Garden 1974. The crowd is already roaring by the time the opening graveyard wind whistling of "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" breaks into its meaty main verses, and hardly wanes from there. While John's voice is a little raw from the constant touring (you can hear his voice crack on "Rocket Man"), he's obviously having a blast. You also get a couple songs here that have long since been trimmed from the live shows, like "Grey Seal" and "You're So Static."





Even with all that energy, when Elton introduces Lennon, you can almost feel the Garden shaking. Little did these folks know that they were witnessing history; Lennon never played in public again. As history records, Lennon accepted a dare from Elton that "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" would not hit number one on the pop charts. Likely because of Elton's popularity and his piano playing on the single, the record did top the charts, and Lennon made good on the deal. The reward for us now is that Elton and Lennon's version of "Whatever...," Lucy In The Sky In Diamonds" and a loose, raucous version of "I Saw Her Standing There" are preserved for posterity.





The remastering is exquisite, and when you figure the sonic improvements along with the extra tracks AND the inclusion of the Lennon songs, "Here and There" is the best of Elton's live albums. For all the live albums that glutted the seventies, "Here and There" can now be counted among the best.

What is so amazing about this album is that it was almost not released to begin with. Elton felt like he'd flooded the air waves and wanted to give the fans a break and take one himself after extensive touring and recording. He was planning a new studio album, but, wanted to wait to release it. Elton was under contract to Dick James Music at the time and they wanted to cash in on Elton's momentum and the demand from the fans for a new album. Against Elton's wishes, Dick James Music cashed in and released the LP despite Elton's objections. Elton protested the release of Here and There (the original release on vinyl was only a single album) and not only did he not endorse it, he asked the fans not to buy the album. Because of this, the LP did not do that well. However, I was in Portland, OR at the time and the local FM station played several of the cuts from the LP. I fell absolutely head over heels in love with the live version of "Love Song" featured on the original LP. This cut alone is reason enough to purchase the CD. Additionally, I have the only vinyl release of the three cuts Elton did with John Lennon, featured here on CD for the first time. I have cherished these for years and have played them for friends who had no idea that John Lennon and Elton John had even performed live together. Both Mr. Lennon and Mr. John are in rare form. After purchasing the LP, EP (of Lennon and John together) and later the CD, I realize that Dick James Music was BRILLIANT to release the original version and later to re-release this extended CD version. What a stroke of GENIUS that was overlooked for many years. The ironic thing is that Davey Johnstone had to show John Lennon the Chord Progression for "Lucy In The Sky (With Diamonds)" and "I Saw Her Standing There" because it had been so long since John had played either that he'd forgotten. What is sad is that this would be John Lennon's last live performance captured for the world to enjoy. OVERALL: This album, due to the controversy when it was originally released was OVERLOOKED. This is one of the finest Live Albums ever produced!

Here & There was originally released in 1976 as a single album. The album was comprised of one side of songs from a London show and the other side of songs from a Madison Square Garden show. The reissue greatly expands the original album to include two disks. Elton John and his band are in peak condition, so there are some rousing performances. All of his classics are here including "Your Song", "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" and others as well as lesser known gems like "Bad Side Of The Moon", "Grey Seal" and "Skyline Pigeon". The real reason to buy this album though is for the three songs that Mr. John's good friend John Lennon appears on. When Mr. John helped out Mr. Lennon on the song "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night", he made him a bet that if the song went to number one, Mr. Lennon would have to join him on stage. Since Mr. Lennon had never had a solo number one song, he took the bet. Of course the song hit number one, so Mr. Lennon complied and joined Mr. John on stage for a rendition of that song, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and a song he dedicated to an old girlfriend (Paul McCartney), "I Saw Her Standing There". The historical value of Mr. Lennon's appearance is that it was the last live performance he ever made.

I originally purchased this as an album. I was seriously disappointed. The sound was not very good, especially in New York, and the album seemed incredibly short. The CD version definitely corrected the second problem and made some strides in addressing the first. The sound was significantly better in England for the principal reason that the English concert was rather reserved compared to the rowdy, raucous, American crowd. I also think that Elton responded accordingly, and gave a much more spirited performance in New York.

This double CD is a flavor of an Elton concert when he was at his peak of popularity. Elton considered "Here and There" a failure because it didn't reach the sales of his previous albums. Looking back, the album "Here and There" was the dividing line between the Elton John that could not fail and the Elton John that lost his creative edge in the late 70's and early 80's.

However this album commemorates a cross-section of Elton's work that extended from about 1970 to 1974, the year these songs were recorded. What marvelous songs these are, including an excellent version of "Skyline Pigeon," the most memorable song from Elton's "Empty Sky" album. Two other very memorable songs are "Whatever Gets You through the Night" and "I Saw Her Standing There," duets sung with John Lennon, John's last concert appearance.

"Bennie and the Jets" has much more audience support than the original version recorded for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," which was Elton's original intent and so is somewhat improved for that reason.

Overall this two CD set is a very good live album. It is not perfect, but then again there are few live albums that are. I'm not a huge fan of live albums, but I find this one is easy to listen to when I'm in the right mood. Certainly a must-have for any serious Elton John fan, you might want to pass it by if you are not.

Note that this album is available in a later re-mastered version, as well as other versions. You may wish to survey the available versions for price prior to choosing the version that best meets your needs.

Enjoy!

This album released in 1976 filled Elton's contract with Dick James Music, the company that discovered him and made him a star: the company that he had long since outgrown.

The original package was a collection of songs spanning two dates: the first a 1974 concert in Royal Albert Hall in London with Princess Margaret present, the second a raucous Thanksgiving Day concert in the same year at Madison Square Garden in New York. The original collection of 10 songs or so was hardly worth the buy (though the album went to number six on the Billboard charts). This new remastered version, with over a dozen new songs, is well worth the buy. Moreover, the recording sounds great...

In the Roayal Albert Hall concert, Elton presents a snapshot of his career. Starting off alone, he performs a beautiful version of "Skyline Pigeon." Dee Murray and Nigel Olson come on to perform "Border Song" and a jamming "Take Me to the Pilot." Other standouts here are "Bad Side of the Moon", the tender "Love Song" (very different from the version that appears on "Tumbleweed") sung with the songwriter Leslie Duncan, and the foot-stomping "Burn Down the Mission". By the time Elton hits the classics "Honky Cat" and "Crocodile Rock", the crowd has shed its formal, golf-clap guise and morphed into just another rock crowd.

Elton's New York concert starts off raucous from the get go. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" was Elton's usual intro in those days, and the song starts the concert off in high gear. The crowd sings along in "Bennie and the Jets." There is another version of "Take Me to the Pilot" which is substantially different from the London concert. Elton closes with an emotional version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and the rousing "Bitch is Back"

The New York concert is historically notable for being John Lennon's last ever performance on stage. Lennon had developed stage fright. When Elton helped Lennon record his "Walls and Bridges" album, Lennon made a bet with Elton: if Lennon's next single went to number one, he'd play on stage with Elton. "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" became a surprise #1 hit for Lennon, and here Lennon and Elton sing it as the crowd goes wild. It was also the night Lennon and Yoko got back together again, but that's another story...

These are both historic concerts and show off Elton at the peak of his poularity.