Caribou (album)

Caribou
Studio album by Elton John
Publication (s)	June 28, 1974
admission	January 1974
Label (s)	MCA Records (US / Canada) DJM Records (UK)
Genre (s)	skirt
running time	45:15
production	Gus Dudgeon
Studio (s)	Caribou Ranch , Nederland, Colorado, USA
chronology Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Caribou Elton John's Greatest Hits (1974)
Single releases May 20, 1974 Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 3rd September 1974 The bitch is back

Caribou (German: American Reindeer) is the eighth studio album by the British singer and composer Elton John .

During his last US tour, John heard about a ranch and music studio in the mountains of Colorado, in a breathtaking location and 3000 meters altitude. He visited the site by helicopter and booked enthusiastically for his next recordings. The music ranch gave his album the name: Caribou.

background

After the release of his previous project "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", John was on a concert tour for seven months. Before the next tour to Japan, New Zealand and Australia was to start in early 1974, there was only a small window of ten days for the recording of his new long-playing record. John was therefore in a bad mood, scratchy and irritable. He was just getting down on whomever in front of his copywriter Bernie Taupin when Taupin's wife Maxine entered the room. She understood the situation straight away, nodded knowingly and mumbled to her husband, "Oh-oh. The bitch is back “(German: The bitch is back). Taupin replied in his own way, it became the title of the next hit.

Nobody had thought that the unfamiliar American recording technology in the studio required a training period. So two valuable days of recording were lost, which put a bitter damper on the originally good mood of John. The songs intended for recording, which they brought back into the Colorado wilderness, turned out to be nothing more than hastily assembled song fragments. After John's departure for the next tour, producer Gus Dudgeon had to spend significantly more time on post-production compared to previous projects.

To promote his new album, John started his North American Tour in the fall of 1974 .

review

The artistic evaluation of “Caribou” was not a good star, not only because of the time pressure during the recording. Even John didn't like one of his songs, “Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me”. He recorded it in a multitude of variations and would have preferred to leave Engelbert Humperdinck or Lulu to “run the ball” instead of using it himself. It was clear to everyone around John that the album was cobbled together. However, the British producer Gus Dudgeon disliked the American accent the most.

The songs on this album weren't among John's best back then, even though “The Bitch Is Back” and “Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me” are still popular today and staged the glittering showman Elton John. Apart from a few pearls like "Dixie Lily", which casts its softly drawn look at the shipping with the steamboat, there are too many ridiculous fillers like "Solar Prestige a Gammon" and "Pinky" and therefore disappoints "Caribou" in total.

The record cover, which was otherwise very sophisticated for John, turned out to be banal and unimaginative in “Caribou”. Nobody was surprised that the rock critics agreed that the new LP did not meet John's usual standard. Only the fans didn't care about the reviews. In Great Britain and North America “Caribou” went straight to number 1 on the album charts.

Track list

Elton John composed the music for all titles , and Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics unless otherwise indicated.

LP and CD

1. " The Bitch Is Back " - 3:44
2. "Pinky" - 3:54
3. "Grimsby" - 3:47
4. "Dixie Lily" - 2:54
5. "Solar Prestige a Gammon" - 2:52
6. "Your're So Static" - 4:52
7. "I've Seen the Saucers" - 4:48
8. "Stinker" - 5:20
9. " Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me " - 5:36
10. "Ticking" - 7:33

Bonus titles on re-releases (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket)

11. "Pinball Wizard" (Pete Townsend) - 5:09
12. "Sick City" - 5:23
13. "Cold Highway" - 3:25
14. "Step into Christmas" - 5:23

B sides

title	A side
"Sick City"	Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (US / UK)
"Cold Highway"	The Bitch Is Back (US / UK)

occupation

• Elton John - vocals, piano
• Davey Johnstone - acoustic guitar , electric guitar, mandolin, steel guitar , backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 7)
• Dee Murray - bass guitar, backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 7)
• Nigel Olsson - drums, backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 7)
• Ray Cooper - percussion

More musicians

• Bruce Johnson - backing vocals (track 9)
• Carls Wilson - backing vocals (track 9)
• Clydie King - backing vocals
• Sherlie Matthews - backing vocals
• Jessie Mae Smith - backing vocals
• Dusty Springfield - backing vocals
• Toni Tennille - backing vocals
• Billy Hinsche - backing vocals
• Brass - Tower of Power Horn Section
• David Hentschel - ARP synthesizer
• Lenny Pickett - clarinet, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Chester Thomas - organ

production

• Gus Dudgeon - producer
• Clive Franks - sound engineer
• David Hentschel - sound engineer
• Peter Kelsey - Assistant Sound Engineer
• Daryl Dragon - orchestration
• Davey Johnstone - orchestration
• Del Newman - orchestration
• John Tobler - album cover text

Charts

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	30th (4 weeks)	4th
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (18 weeks)	18th
United States (Billboard)	1 (54 weeks)	54

single

Year	single	Chart	position
1974	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"	USA Billboard Hot 100	2
1974	"The Bitch Is Back"	USA Billboard Hot 100	4th
1974	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"	UK Singles Chart	16
1974	"The Bitch Is Back"	UK Singles Chart	15th

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
United States (RIAA)	2 × platinum	2,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	1 × gold 2 × platinum	2,100,000

Main article: Elton John / Music Sales Awards

Individual evidence

1. ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. Harmony Books, New York 1992, ISBN 0-517-58762-9 , p. 258
2. ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. 1991, p. 259
3. ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. 1991, p. 258
4. ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. 1991, p. 272
5. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/caribou-mw0000190393
6. ^ Philip Norman: Elton John. 1991, p. 272
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart positions: DE CH UK US
8. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/caribou-mw0000190393/awards
9. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/caribou-mw0000190393/awards
10. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/elton%20john/
11. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/elton%20john/