Customer Reviews

Legendary Covers as Sung by Elton John

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In the late sixties and early seventies, when Elton John recorded these tracks, there was a market in Britain for budget albums filled with faithful covers of the latest hits. Back then, records were often regarded as an expensive luxury so such albums provided an affordable way of acquiring a sizeable collection of hit songs without buying the original singles. As records became more affordable and the market for compilations of current hits by original artists (especially the series, Now that's what I call music, which started in the UK in 1983 and killed off whatever still remained of the market at the time) expanded, these releases gradually faded into history. The artists who performed these covers never received any credit on the albums but they got paid for their efforts and it also gave them experience of working in a recording studio. Until Elton John made the big time with his first hit (Your song) in 1971, he found that recording covers for these budget albums was useful way of earning some money.

This compilation gathers together many of Elton's covers of contemporary UK hits from 1969 and 1970 that originally appeared on those budget albums. Elton's performances on these songs cannot be faulted, given that he was working to a limited budget and he was not allowed to re-interpret any of the songs. Elton uses his natural voice (no bad imitations here) but the covers are faithful to the hit version being covered.

Among the songs he covered were covered I'm a natural sinner (Fair Weather), Spirit in the sky (Norman Greenbaum), Travelling band, Up around the bend (both originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival), I can't tell the bottom from the top (Hollies), Good morning freedom (Blue Mink), She sold me magic (Lou Christie), Come and get it (Badfinger), Love of the common people (Nicky Thomas), Signed sealed delivered (Stevie Wonder), It's all in the game (Four Tops), Yellow river (Christie), Cotton fields (Beach boys), In the summertime (Mungo Jerry), Young gifted and black (Bob and Marcia) and Lady D'Arbanville (Cat Stevens), all of which are included here, together with United we stand (Brotherhood of man) and My baby loves loving (White plains), which are omitted from this compilation. At least three of the hits that Elton covered (Love of the common people, It's all in the game, Cotton fields) were themselves covers, but the versions I've mentioned were the ones that charted in the UK at the time.

Note that these covers have been released in various permutations - some re-issues included the songs omitted from this collection but omit different tracks. It wouldn't be difficult to fit all the tracks on one album, but it seems that the record labels are unwilling to do that.

This album is something of a curiosity, which is of as much interest to fans of the British pop charts of 1969 and 1970 as it is to Elton's fans wishing to hear these covers. Of course these covers aren't as good as the originals, nor are they as good as the covers that Elton occasionally recorded after he became famous (such as Lucy in the sky with diamonds), but they are far better than I expected them to be.

Although this cannot be described as essential, it provides a fascinating insight into a piece of pop music history that some (perhaps including Elton) might prefer to be forgotten.

This is a recording of Sir Elton from his earliest days. These songs pre-date Your Song. They are interesting interpretations of songs that were popular at the time they were recorded. It was not unusual for new artists to perform the hits of other performers. It was what their audiences often wanted and presented consumers with something recognizable from a new talent. Now that Elton has matured as a performer and composer, there is no 'need' for him to cover the songs of others. These covers for the most part ARE NOT faithful to the originals. Elton has sung these songs like the Reg Dwight of 1970 would have (and obviously did). For this purpose, the CD should be looked upon as a time-piece, not a NEW album that is somehow 30+ years old.

I love Elton John and was really looking forward to his new album. There was not one song on it that I liked. I put it away and will never listen to it again.