J: Elton John

10-14-09 J: Elton John

I do keep a collection of the classic ‘70’s era Elton John on CD (and SACD):

CD EMPTY SKY POLYDOR US 832017.2

1969 9 TRKS debut album

CD ELTON JOHN ROCKET US B0003607-36

1970 13 TRKS (3 x bonus tracks) ('04 issue) SACD

CD TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION ROCKET US B0003611-26

1970 12 TRKS (1 x bonus track) ('04 issue) SACD

CD 11/17/1970 re ROCKET US 528165.2

1971 7 TRKS Live (1 x bonus track) ('95 issue)

CD MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER ROCKET US B0003610-36

1971 9 TRKS ('04 issue) SACD

CD HONKY CHATEAU ROCKET US B0003609-36

1972 11 TRKS (1 x bonus track) ('04 issue) SACD

CD DON'T SHOOT ME, I'M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9106

1973 14 TRKS (4 x bonus tracks) ('01 issue) (kami sleeve)

CDx2 GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD (Deluxe ed.) ROCKET US B0001478-40

1973 21 TRKS ('03 issue) SACD + DVD

CD CARIBOU re ROCKET US 528158.2

1974 14 TRKS (4 x bonus tracks) ('95 issue)

CD ROCK OF THE WESTIES re ROCKET US 532432.2

1975 11 TRKS (2 x bonus tracks) ('96 issue)

CD CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY ROCKET US B0003606-36

1975 13 TRKS (3 x bonus tracks) ('04 issue) SACD

CD BLUE MOVES MCA US MCAD 6011

1976 14 TRKS

CDx2 HERE AND THERE re ROCKET US 528164.2

1976 25 TRKS ('95 issue) (15 x bonus tracks)

CD DUETS MCA US MCAD-10926

1993 16 TRKS Leonard Cohen, Nik Kershaw etc.

CD MUSE, THE (O.S.T.) ROCKET US 546517.2

1999 20 TRKS 'DDD' Albert Brooks film

CDx2 RED PIANO, THE REDLINE US 50239

2008 15 TRKS + 2xDVD's (153m)

My post-classic era of E.J. CD’s each have a reason: “Duets” for his duet with Leonard Cohen; “The Muse” (O.S.T.) as I am a great fan of the work of Albert Brooks; “The Red Piano” because we saw the “Red Piano” show in Las Vegas, and rather enjoyed it (and I found an inexpensive used copy for $9 (2 x CD’s, 2 x DVD’s for only $9!)

I confess to being a bit baffled about why not all of the classic era albums were done as SACD’s. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be SACD’s for “Don’t Shoot Me…”, “Caribou” or “Rock Of The Westies”. I wonder why? Those albums all sound good enough, I’m certain. I wouldn’t expect an SACD of “11/17/70”, what with it being a live recording from 1970 – but I must say, the regular re-mastered CD of this sounds fantastic, a great performance.

“GYBR” has been a bit over-played somewhat over the years, a la “Abbey Road” or “Dark Side Of The Moon” – but I still think it’s a great E.J. album. The deluxe 2SACD + DVD set was pretty hard to resist! When I bought it, I had no idea what an SACD was – but it played in my regular Sony CD player and sounded great!