A music podcast where we discuss our favorite albums, song by song. New episodes every other Tuesday.

154: Elton John - Honky Chateau (1972)

“I couldn’t strut around like Mick Jagger, or smash my instrument up like Jimi Hendrix or Pete Townshend: bitter subsequent experience has taught me that if you get carried away and try and smash up a piano by pushing it offstage, you end up looking less like a lawless rock god and more like a furniture removal man having a bad day.”

–Elton John

We all know that Elton John is a top-tier singles artist, but he is also a top-tier albums artist. His run of nine albums from Empty Sky in 1969 through Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in 1975 may very well be unmatched in modern music history. It was really hard to pick one to talk about on Discord & Rhyme, but we settled on Honky Chateau because it’s the perfect encapsulation of what Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin were best at (and worst at). Full of incredible musicianship, amazing singing, stellar arrangements, and awkward lyrics, this is an album that’s almost guaranteed to win over anyone who is still skeptical of Elton John. 

Miscellany

• If you know another artist/band with that many great albums all in a row, we definitely want to know about it.

• We did not reach a consensus on how to pronounce either Taupin or Johnstone.

• Superstar engineer Ken Scott has come up several times on this podcast. He worked at Abbey Road engineering Beatles albums, then helped George Harrison with All Things Must Pass, then produced Crime of the Century for Supertramp. He was one of the very best in the business.

• Bernie Taupin has lived in the United States since the late 1970s and probably has a better handle on the culture by now.

• We compared Elton John to Paul McCartney a lot. They don’t sound especially similar to each other, but they are equals in terms of talent and skill.  

• Gospel music has been a huge influence on rock right from the beginning, but it really started to show up in British popular music around the late 1960s. 

• Regarding Elton John and his stint with Gentle Giant: he didn’t play with Gentle Giant itself, but he did have a brief stint in 1967 as the touring keyboardist for the band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, an immediate precursor to Gentle Giant that had all three Shulman brothers in it. This was mentioned back in our Gentle Giant episode, but amusingly does not come up on Elton John’s Wikipedia page.

• Regarding Elton John and King Crimson: he was booked by a studio executive in 1970 to sing vocals on In the Wake of Poseidon after Greg Lake left the band, but Robert Fripp vetoed this after listening to Empty Sky and deciding he didn’t like it. This also does not appear on Elton John’s Wikipedia page. 

Other links 

• Captain Fantastic: Elton John’s Stellar Trip Through the ‘70s by Tom Doyle (Amazon affiliate link)

• Me by Elton John (Amazon affiliate link)

• “Elton John shares advice he gave to Chappell Roan on coping with fame” (NME)

• The Music Of Songs by Jimmy O’Donnell (Bandcamp)

• If You Try Sometimes … by Benjamin Marlin (Amazon affiliate link)

• Scooter introduces Elton John on The Muppet Show (YouTube)

• “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous (YouTube)

• Elton John covers “Question” (YouTube)

• William Shatner “sings” “Rocket Man” (YouTube)

• Chris Elliott recreates Shatner’s “Rocket Man” on Letterman (YouTube)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Honky Chateau playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Amanda Rodgers (host)

• Ben Marlin (moderator)

• Rich Bunnell

• John McFerrin 

Honky Chateau tracklist

1. Honky Cat

2. Mellow

3. I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself

4. Susie (Dramas)

5. Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)

6. Salvation

7. Slave

8. Amy

9. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters

10. Hercules 

Other clips used 

Elton John:

• Can You Feel the Love Tonight

• Tiny Dancer

• Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

• The Bitch Is Back

• Someone Saved My Life Tonight

• Question

• Your Song

• Take Me To the Pilot

• Cold Heart (with Dua Lipa)

• Hold Me Closer (with Britney Spears)

• Slave (Fast Version)

• Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)

• Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

• Blessed

• Burn Down the Mission

• Medley (Yell Help – Wednesday Night – Ugly)

• It's a Sin (Global Reach Mix) 

Others:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks - Crocodile Rock

• Allen Toussaint - Goin' Down

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - The Wrath of Hell Is Burning in My Bosom (from The Magic Flute)

• The Moody Blues - Floating

• The Flaming Lips - Five Stop Mother Superior Rain

• William Shatner - Rocket Man

• Stewie Griffin - Rocket Man (from Family Guy)

• Ewan McGregor - Your Song (from Moulin Rouge!)

• Hugo Montenegro - Rocket Man

Band/album personnel 

• Elton John – vocals, acoustic piano (1–6, 8–10), Fender Rhodes (1), Hammond organ (2, 4), harmonium (6)

• David Hentschel – ARP synthesizer (5, 10) (erroneously credited as "David Henschel" on sleeve)

• Davey Johnstone – banjo (1, 7); electric, acoustic and slide guitars (2–10); backing vocals (3, 5, 6, 8, 10), steel guitar (7), mandolin (9)

• Dee Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals (3, 5, 6, 8, 10)

• Nigel Olsson – drums (1–8, 10), tambourine (2, 4), backing vocals (3, 5, 6, 8, 10), congas (7)

• Ray Cooper – congas (8)

• Jean-Louis Chautemps – saxophone (1)

• Alain Hatot – saxophone (1)

• Jacques Bolognesi – trombone (1)

• Ivan Jullien – trumpet (1)

• Jean-Luc Ponty – electric violin (2, 8)

• "Legs" Larry Smith – tap dance (3)

• Gus Dudgeon – production, brass arrangements (1), additional backing vocals (10), whistle (10)

• Madeline Bell – backing vocals (6)

• Tony Hazzard – backing vocals (6), additional backing vocals (10)

• Liza Strike – backing vocals (6)

• Larry Steel – backing vocals (6)

• Ken Scott – engineering 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Elton John - Amy (this episode only) 

Thank you for listening to Discord & Rhyme! You can buy Honky Chateau and other albums by Elton John at your local record store, or directly from Elton John at eltonjohn.com, which also features an extensive eyewear selection. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

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