Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
Album Score: 13
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Elton John was one of the first musicians I
started buying albums from. I really liked some of his later albums, but
I originally had a difficult time getting into Tumbleweed Connection.
After all, it's a sort of stodgy concept album about the Old West and
(probably most importantly) doesn't have any of his well-known hits on
it nor is there anything that I can think of that was overlooked as a
hit. Well, it took a number of years, but I eventually warmed up to it.
Despite Elton John's youthful exuberance, this is a phenomenally mature
album, and maybe I had to mature a bit before I finally began to like
it. But I like it now! In fact, it's a little bit more than that... I
love it!! It's clear that Elton John was at the absolute pinnacle of his
songwriting skills, and this album contains some of his best work. As I
already said, Tumbleweed Connection doesn't contain any of his
best-known songs. That's because these are more earthly and modest
songs... Not like those flashy, glammy tunes that would eventually turn
him into a superstar in only a few short years.
The album cover, the black-and-white photograph, is a remarkably
accurate illustration of how this album feels. It's a little old
fashioned ... set in its ways ... but it's rich, intriguing and
larger-than-life. A black-and-white photograph can do that to a scene.
(If you don't feel that way, then you might have to get Roger Ebert to
scream at you a bit.) This is a sort of rich though somewhat dark and
moody album --- emotion-wise, this album is a lot like Elton John.
Musically, it's similar, too, except there are fewer ballads, an
there's a more distinct Americana flavor. “Country Comfort” is a
straight-out country-western song ... Other times, we hear Caleb Quaye, a
dazzling guitarist, give us some awesome blues licks. Whenever the mood
called for it, Paul Buckmaster would break out some really refined
orchestral arrangements. His orchestrations aren't quite as much of a
force as they were on Elton John, which I suppose could be the
reason his work here sounds so much more finely textured while never
once feeling as though he overdid it. Oh and the melodies! Every single
one of these things have a catchy melody! Again, don't expect anything
too flashy like “Rocket Man,” but these are incredibly rich melodies,
which are delivered with intense sincerity by Elton John. The remarkable
thing about his voice is its ability to completely soar. Yeah, you probably know that about him already.
The best song on the album is that remarkable ending track, “Burn
Down the Mission.” It starts out with some Old-West-flavored piano
playing, and then Elton starts to sing a sweet melody with his his
beautiful vocal chops. It's not long before we get to the chorus before
the emotions pick up gorgeously, and he delivers one of his beautiful
soaring vocal performances and (excuse me for sounding pompous) but it's
almost as though he was taking us on a personal journey through the Old
West. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the chorus that it's really
just his voice that's doing all the work. The instrumentation is
very bare... Just the piano and drums, really. (Later on, Buckmaster's
string arrangements come in.) I didn't even mention that heavy rocking
refrain that pops up occasionally ... it reminds me of a similar thing
on Paul McCartney's “Live and Let Die” except this is more exciting.
Really, it's quite an amazing song. It's no wonder that his fans like to
romanticize it!
The opening track “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun” is a desperately
cool opener that features some of Quaye's most fascinating bluesy licks.
Elton John's melody reminds me of The Band's eponymous 1969 album, but
the hooks certainly have Elton's signature all over it. “Come Down to
Time” sounds the most like his previous album, and his melody along with
the string arrangements are utterly breathtaking, as you'd expect! “Son
of Your Father” is probably the most rockin' track of the whole
album... and you've simply got to get a load of that
expertly-mixed, gruff harmonica they put in there. “Where to Now, St.
Peter?” has perhaps the most awe-inspired opening of the whole album... A
very gorgeous piano plays a mesmerizing chord sequence while Elton
John's vocal melody soon comes in and follows suit. It morphs into a
rocker... how he manages that is a remarkable piece of development!
Pretty much all of these songs are masterpieces... The only one I had
the slightest problem with was “Love Song.” It's a finely written song,
but it's not nearly as arresting as the other songs would. I was always
disappointed with that song, but I just recently learned that it's a
cover song from a little-known English singer-songwriter. Well... there
you go.
I want to close this review by saying that this is one of the
most remarkably modest albums ever unleashed onto mankind. If you're
just a casual fan of Elton John's, you might be surprised at how
old-fashioned and refined this sounds. As I already mentioned, if you're
looking for the hits, you're looking in the wrong place. But you should
still give this a serious listen. This is an album that's to be
treasured.
TRACKS
Ballad of a Well-Known Gun A
The first thing we hear in this track is a pretty mean electric
guitar, blues riff. I suppose anyone just getting this album after
falling head-over-heels with Elton John would have wondered what
the heck he did with all those violins? He went all bluesy all of the
sudden! (Naturally, anyone who heard Empty Sky might not have
been so surprised, but it wasn't released in America until 1975, and I
don't even think it was very popular in Britain.) Well, of course, at
this point in his career Elton John could basically do whatever he heck
he wanted. And that's some pretty mean blues guitar, too! It's so good
that I was actually inspired to look up the name ....... Caleb Quaye. He
stuck with Elton John for many of the years. The lyrics are pretty
awesome, too. They're about an outlaw who was finally caught.
Come Down to Time A
This is much closer to the songs that appeared in the previous
album. It's dark, moody and uses strings. But it's better than most of
those songs because it's incredibly pretty! There's almost a full
orchestra behind this, which is a little more elaborate than Elton John,
but it's still incredibly tasteful. The arranger of these songs, Paul
Buckmaster, really outdid himself with that one... Elton John's melody,
of course, is catchier than all hell. This is just purely good
songwriting, and he had excellent collaborators.
Country Comfort A
Wow, I used to really hate anything that resembled
country music. No, I still don't like country music much at all, but
Elton John sure writes a good tune! The verses and chorus in this upbeat
ballad sound just like the sorts of things that you'd hear on the
radio... I mean, this sounds of *real country music*... Not the sort of
awesome wannabe stuff that The Kinks did in Muswell Hillbillies.
Genuine slide guitar, country-fried fiddles, and he does the best he can
to sing like an old cowboy and doing a good job. Yeah... so in the end I
liked country music for a moment.
Son of Your Father A
I'm sort of looking for excuses to downgrade this track a little
bit. Usually strong albums waver-in-quality pretty terribly after the
third track, but this is as strong as ever. It's more of a thunderous
song with pounding piano, and some guy playing a gruffy harmonica
quietly in the background. Elton John gives one of his louder,
passionate vocal performance, which always seems to be affecting. Moreover, the melody is hooky as hell. Man, this guy was on fire!
My Father's Gun A-
The only reason this song gets a slightly decreased score is
just because the length is a little too long... although whenever he
picks up the dramatics in the chorus, it's really very nearly magical!
The instrumentation is possibly the coolest thing about this track. It
starts out with some quiet bluesy noodling and Elton starts singing a
dark melody that sounds awfully world-worn. As he sings more
passionately, the back-up instrumentation, which includes some really
awesome back-up singer and a brass-heavy backing, give it incredible
power. Wow!!
Where to Now, St. Peter? A
I really adore how this song starts... That earthly piano for
some reason gives me country-ish imagery. I also adore how Quaye
introduces those wobbly guitar licks in the mix. That was ambitious, for
sure, and it really worked. The verses are really wonderful to listen
to... John has a youthful voice, though sounds like he's wiser beyond
his years. The chorus is brilliant, and he's murdering me with all these great melodic hooks. I can't understand how someone could write such a great concentration of pop music!
Love Song B
Meh. This album seems to have gotten all dry all of the sudden!
This is a ballad and, by the looks of it, a love song. But ballads are
supposed to be the guy's biggest strengths, and this is dry and boring
... it sounds like some mid-quality John Denver or James Taylor song.
Yeah, both of those guys are fine, but they're small little people
compared to Elton John! And you know what? Elton John didn't write it,
so there you go. It's a pretty good song, though. It's a tasteful,
twinkly sort of acoustic ballad. It's the worst thing on the album, but
it was at an extreme disadvantage.
Amoreena A-
This is much more upbeat, and the melody is thankfully more
Elton-John-ish with one of his incredibly soaring vocal performances.
The piano is at the forefront (how it should be, of course), and there's
some more pure, earthly instrumental sounds including more of those
light blues licks and a pure electric organ sound. There's a really
funny sort of wobbly stab that I'm assuming that Quaye put in there.
Weird! This was close to another A, but for some reason the melody
doesn't quite speak to me like the others did.
Talking Old Soldiers A-
Just Elton John singing a very moody song with his piano! The
melody doesn't have particularly memorable hooks in it, but the melody
is great enough to keep me hooked to it. What's really notable here is
Elton John's incredibly tormented vocal performance, which has the
tendency to leave me dead in my tracks. There's nothing like these
singer-songwriters who actually has an idea of how to be *good* at this
emotional stuff.
Burn Down the Mission A+
WHAT A WAY TO END THIS ALBUM! HOLY CRAP! ... In case you haven't
noticed, there hasn't been one really well-known hit throughout this
album. But really, nothing on here had that commercial appeal. Elton
John just wanted to write good music whether or not it would play well
on the radio. I mention that because “Burn Down the Mission” probably
could have been a massive hit ... but for some reason it didn't quite
catch on like some of his other ones. But this is a pure Elton John
classic... and when I say that, you *know* it has to be good. The melody
is great, of course. It has good verses, but the chorus completely
cooks. In the middle of it, he goes off on a massive rockin' spree,
which is worked in perfectly. The end of the song is even more wildly
energetic... This sort of reminds me of some of his more
progressive-oriented songs from Empty Sky except it's pieced together more convincingly, and it has a better melody. Awesome!
BONUS TRACKS:
Into the Old Man's Shoes A
What a gem! It fits the songs that appeared on the album
perfectly... It's amazing that he had enough great material at the time
that he could afford to leave such classics out... It reminds me of
“Ballad of a Well-Known Gun” quite starkly, which could be the reason I
guess. Once again, the melody is catchy, of course, and probably one of
his better melodies. Quaye comes in and dazzles us with some of his
muted guitar riffs. The song feels towering and sentimental at the same
time. Yes, it's PURE ELTON JOHN.
Madman Across the Water A
This is an early version of the song that would eventually go on
the album it's named after! It's quite a bit barer than that version,
but I lot of listeners probably like this rawer sound. It also features
some electric guitar from MICK RONSON on it. Yeah, one of the all-time
great guitarists who collaborated with David Bowie in his glam era.
That's the guy. This is a little longer than the final version, but I
don't mind that at all. In fact, I love it!
© Michael Lawrence
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