Madman Across the Water
| Madman Across the Water | |||||
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| Studio album by Elton John | |||||
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Publication |
5th November 1971 |
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admission |
27th of February; 9-14 August 1971 |
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| Label (s) | Uni, DJM Records | ||||
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Symphonic rock, rock, pop |
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running time |
45:17 |
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Studio (s) |
Trident Studios, London, UK |
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Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by British singer and composer Elton John .
The contractual relationships between John and his music publisher made it necessary for him to record a new album. Since he was on tour almost all the time, he didn't have the time to compose new titles. He had already used up most of the available stock of finished songs for the last album Tumbleweed Connection . Only the title song Madman Across the Water was still available to him from then. Bernie Taupin therefore wrote texts about America as he saw it then, and John composed melodies under time pressure. The album was recorded in the studio in just ten days.
background
As with all of John's songs at the time, the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. In addition to John, the musicians Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson first met with Ray Cooper. For the following album, Honky Chateau , they were the main musicians and also the recognized best line-up of the Elton John Band of the seventies.
It was to be John's last album to be recorded at Trident Studios in London. For the next three albums they preferred the studio Château d'Hérouville. Caleb Quaye and Roger Pope would not play with John again until the second album of 1975, Rock of the Westies . After Murray and Olsson had left the Elton John Band, at John's instigation, they got another engagement.
The publication of Madman Across the Water was all but ignored in John's homeland. The long-playing record only reached number 41 in the British album charts and was only there for two weeks. Up until then it was the album with the least chart success of his career.
In North America, the album performed much better, reaching number 8 on the US Billboard top pop albums and number 10 on the 1972 year-end list. It received RIAA gold status in February 1972 and achieved gold status in the United States alone it has sales proceeds of $ 1 million. In 1998 it achieved multiple platinum status in the US with sales of over 2 million units.
The theme song Madman Across the Water was intended to be used on the Tumbleweed Connection album , but was re-recorded for this album instead. An older version of the song from the Tumbleweed recordings with Mick Ronson on guitar is included on the newly mastered CD Tumbleweed Connection from 1995 and the 2-CD deluxe edition from 2008. Other artists such as Alice Cooper, Willie Nelson or Bruce Hornsby later published their own interpretations of this title.
For the first time on this LP, John only played the piano and no other keyboards. It was also John's first album to feature Davey Johnstone on guitar, a role he would play for decades.
The title Holiday Inn was originally written for Adam Diaz. A verse of the original song was either left out in the original recording or cut out in the subsequent adaptation. Among collectors, however, there are unofficial live recordings of the original version from concerts during this period.
The cover of the album Madman Across the Water was embroidered by Janis Larkham for two weeks. She was the wife of the LP's art director, David Larkham. She used the back of an old Levi's denim jacket and gave the original to John. Of course, there were never album covers with elaborate embroidery on sale, only plain printed covers. For this they had a beautifully designed booklet with the song lyrics. Janis himself was named as "Yanis" for this work.
reception
Back then, the critics were not very enthusiastic about John's new LP. Despite the melodies, some of which were considered beautiful ( Tiny Dancer was even compared to Your Song ), the lyrics were considered too vague and the sense in them was hard to grasp. In Rolling Stone Magazine you could read about Levon that you would probably never find out what it was about.
The album also did not contain any melodies that were promising for commercially successful singles. On the one hand, this and the generally critical attitude towards Madman Across the Water led John to consider ending his career.
The theme song itself, which shows a clear Leon Russell influence, led to speculation whether it was about Richard Nixon as "Madman". Although Taupin denied this, he was very amused by this interpretation. Tiny Dancer and Levon were the popular songs on the LP. However, John later said that he felt most connected to the theme song.
Track list
Elton John composed the music for all titles , and Bernie Taupin wrote all texts , unless otherwise indicated.
LP and CD
page 1
- Tiny Dancer - 6:15
- Levon - 5:22
- Razor Face - 4:44
- Madman Across the Water - 5:56
Page 2
- Indian Sunset - 6:45
- Holiday Inn - 4:17 am
- Rotten Peaches - 4:56
- All the Nasties - 5:08
- Goodbye - 1:48
Razor Face and Rotten Peaches' title positions were swapped for the cassette issue .
The SACD version includes a longer version of Razor Face . With a much more elaborate instrumental ending, the title lasts 6:42 minutes. This long version can only be played in a 5.1 surround mix.
Bonus titles on re-releases
No bonus tracks were found on later releases of the album, as was regularly the case with other CDs by John. A well-known song from that time, Rock Me when He's Gone , can be found on Rare Masters . It was written for and recorded by Long John Baldry , a good friend of John's.
occupation
- Elton John - vocals, piano
- Davey Johnstone - acoustic guitar (song 1, 4 and 7), mandolin (song 6), sitar (song 6)
- Dee Murray - bass guitar (song 8)
- Nigel Olsson - drums (song 8)
- Ray Cooper - Percussion (Song 4), Tambourine (Song 7 and 8)
- Roger Pope - drums (songs 1, 3 and 6)
- David Glover - bass guitar (song 1, 3 and 6)
- Caleb Quaye - electric guitar (song 1–3), acoustic guitar (song 6)
- BJ Cole - Steel-Guitar (Song 1)
- Lesley Duncan, Sue & Sunny, Barry St. John, Liza Strike, Roger Cook, Tony Burrows, Terry Steele, Dee Murray , Nigel Olsson - accompaniment (song 1, 6 and 7)
- Paul Buckmaster - orchestration (song 1, 2, 4–6, 8 and 9)
- Barry Morgan - drums (song 2)
- Brian Odgers - bass guitar (song 2)
- Brian Dee - Harmonium (Song 2)
- Rick Wakeman - Organ (Song 3, 4 and 7)
- Jack Emblow - accordion (song 3)
- Terry Cox - drums (songs 4, 5 and 7)
- Herbie Flowers - bass guitar (song 4, 5 and 7)
- Chris Spedding - Electric Guitar (Song 4), Slide Guitar (Song 7)
- Diana Lewis - ARP Synthesizer (Song 4 and 7)
- Chris Laurence - Doublebass (Song 5)
- Cantores em Ecclesia Choir - accompaniment parts (song 5 and 8)
production
- Producer: Gus Dudgeon
- Sound engineer: Robin Geoffrey Cable
- Remastering: Tony Cousins
- Editing: Gus Skinas
- Digital transfer: Ricky Graham
- Surround Sound: Greg Penny
- Assistance: Crispin Murray
- Choir conductor: Robert Kirby
- Orchestration : Paul Buckmaster
- Art Direction: David Larkham
- Design: David Larkham
- Artistic design: Gill, Yanis
- Illustrations: David Larkham
- Photographs: Bob Gruen , David Larkham
- Cover photo: David Larkham
- Album cover text: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler
Charts
album
| year | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | British music charts | 41 |
| 1972 | US Billboard 200 | 8th |
single
| Year | single | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | "Levon" | USA Billboard Hot 100 | 24 |
| 1972 | "Tiny Dancer" | USA Billboard Hot 100 | 41 |
Sales figures and awards
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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 United States (RIAA)
|
 2 × platinum
|
2,000,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
 silver
|
60,000 |
| All in all |
1 × silver 2 × platinum |
2,060,000 |
Main article: Elton John / Music Sales Awards
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://eltonjohnallsongslist.blogspot.de/2007/11/about-recording-madman-across-water.html
- ↑ http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/02/elton-john-madman-across-the-water/
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/madman-across-the-water-19720120
- ↑ http://eltonjohnallsongslist.blogspot.de/2007/11/about-recording-madman-across-water.html
- ↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=25013
- ^ Elton John> Artists> Official Charts . Official UK Charts Company . Retrieved February 24, 2015.
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/archive/charts/1972/hot-100
- ↑ Elton John / Discography # Chart placements
- ↑ Elton John / Discography # Chart placements