As an example of Elton John’s understanding of what’s good, look no further than his account of ‘The Weight’ by The Band, provided when appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years in 2019. He said: “John Peel played the Music from Big Pink on his show, and I was a religious follower of John Peel in those days. He played all the great new music, and Bernie and I freaked out when we heard it. We’d never heard anything like this before. It was Americana done in a very soulful, funky, kind of laid back way.” (Farout)
Remembering the transformative effect ‘The Weight’ had on him, John continued: “(The) next day we went up to Music Land in London and bought the import, and it changed my life again, like Elvis Presley changed my life originally. This music changed my life because of the way the songs were written, the lyrics, the musicianship, was a huge influence on things like Tumbleweed Connection and Madman.”
Before his historic headline set at Glastonbury Festival 2023 – his final-ever show – John again demonstrated his understanding of music and culture. Speaking to Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds, the ‘Rocketman’ singer discussed the “romanticism” of collecting vinyl records, saying: “The thing now is because of the resurgence, it’s easier to get a record on vinyl than it is on CD, because most people don’t have CDs anymore. It’s such a romantic way of collecting music; it’s never lost its romanticism for me.”
These are the kind of personable and well-informed takes Elton John has provided over the years. In 2020, when speaking to The Guardian, he gave one of his best to date as part of a broader piece reflecting on the life and significance of the late T. Rex leader, Marc Bolan. Famously, Bolan was one of the definitive glam-rock heroes of the 1970s, the separate side of the coin to his friend David Bowie, having fans rapt with his songwriting and hypersexuality. Tragically though, in 1977, he passed away in a car accident aged 29.
Reflecting on the power of Bolan, producer Tony Visconti who worked with the T. Rex man during his prime, said: “What I saw in Marc Bolan had nothing to do with strings, or very high standards of artistry; what I saw in him was raw talent. I saw genius. I saw a potential rock star in Marc – right from the minute, the hour I met him.”
As for Elton John, speaking to The Guardian, he described Bolan as “the perfect pop star” before outlining how he influenced him when he was becoming Elton John, saying that his care-free attitude had “a great effect on me”.
“He was the perfect pop star,” John expressed. “His songs were great, his records rocked, he had attitude, he had performing skills, he looked fabulous, he dressed the part. At a time when I was still becoming Elton John, he was a great role model. I thought: ‘This guy doesn’t give a fuck, he’s just being who he is and he’s loving every single minute of it.’ And that had a great effect on me.”
