Elton John
17-11-70

THE REVIEW

This is the right album to (try to) change the minds of Elton's chronic detractors, those who can't get rid of the actual image of a dear old aunt that he's assumed for decades now; the same ones who can't help but generalize about the considerable production of mediocre music published in the eighties and nineties (and enough... because, for the last twenty years or so, good, sometimes excellent, and on a couple of occasions, stunning works have been released in his name).

The album is live but... inside a recording studio, the New York studio of his American record label. There is an audience, probably no more than a hundred people... you can clearly hear them when applause breaks out, enthusiastic but scattered. The environment is therefore ideal because the sound can be perfectly controlled, while on the other hand, there are enough people to let loose and push on the accelerator... This results in a genuinely explosive and electrifying performance, nothing that the subsequent live works released in his career could come close to.

Elton here is twenty-three and a half, at the beginning of his journey, remarkably at the height of his strength and ambition. He is about to conclude this magical year of his, in which he has managed to fully and definitively emerge from anonymity, working tremendously hard (three albums published: the self-titled, "Tumbleweed Connection" and the soundtrack of "Friends"). His voice is incredible, high and penetrating and stable and full, powerful even in falsetto, capable of withstanding any strain. His pianism is precise, torrential, an irresistible blend of rhythm & blues, Beatles, jazz, and vague youthful classical references. The repertoire, drawn from the four discs recorded up to that point plus an unreleased track that will appear on the fifth album and a Rolling Stones cover, is already more than substantial.

The young Elton is dynamite, a blossomed flower, indeed a wide-open powder keg, supporting this primordial trio formation perfectly, with only a rhythm section of bass and drums (and some backing vocals here and there) backing him. The "concert" is enjoyed all in one go, the man spares no effort, and his accompanists support him adequately. Curiosities:

_The concert lasted an hour and a quarter, and thirteen songs were performed. Of these, only six ended up on the LP released at the beginning of 1971, later becoming seven in a mid-nineties CD reissue.

_Elton injured a finger during the torrential and thunderous performance of "Burn Down the Mission", at the end of the show the Steinway's keyboard was smeared with blood everywhere.

_Americans, always exotic, can't manage to read dates by putting the day before the month, so for them, this album is 11-17-70. Poor souls.