“Quite experimental”: Elton John on the most challenging album to play
Rock and roll is never intended to test the audience every time a song plays. Even though progressive rock opened up the doors for people to start experimenting with something much weirder whenever they began writing, nothing is ever going to replace someone kicking back with a great guitar riff and seeing how far it can take them. Those aren’t always the easiest riffs to write, though, and Elton John remembered that one specific album practically defeated him before he finished making it.
Then again, John was never one to back down from a challenge music-wise. He had studied under some of the best and had been given classical training before he joined his first band, Bluesology, and even on some of his first works, you can hear him drawing from artists as diverse as Little Richard and Beethoven whenever making some of his future classics like ‘Your Song’ and ‘Take Me To The Pilot’.
Compared to every other pop star of his time, though, John was happy having a slow burn throughout his career. His first few records may have done modest numbers, but after hitting the ground running on records like Madman Across the Water or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road started to come together, he was making the kind of epics that most artists would only dream of getting throughout their career, usually taking the basis of rock and roll and turning in melodies Broadway would have been proud to have written.
Once someone hits the ceiling with a double album like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the only logical next step is to do the same thing over again. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy were already selling in droves, but by the time Blue Moves came out, fans had their first look at a more thoughtful version of John.
While every one of John’s songs up to that point had brilliant verses from Bernie Taupin, this was the first time that the pianist began to spread out his influences. There were still pop-friendly hooks, but a lot of the knockout glam aesthetic was replaced with something far more sombre, which makes sense considering that the most accessible song was ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’.
Even with years of experience under his belt, John remembered this being the moment when things began to get a little complicated, saying, “I’m very proud of it, but the music was complex and hard to play, quite experimental and jazz-influenced. And its mood was very sombre and reflective: Bernie pouring his heart out about his divorce and me writing music to match.”
Although a double album of pure melancholy wasn’t going to go over as well as something like ‘Tiny Dancer’, this is still one of the best moments of John’s legendary run of albums. There are some points where one starts to feel like a voyeur, but the fact that both John and Taupin were so open about their state of mind during the production is what separates them from the usual pin-up stars making the rounds at the time.
Because great art doesn’t come from someone trying to write some traditional pop fluff and passing it off as a single. That kind of success comes from someone trying to find some human connection through song, and Blue Moves is still one of the finest examples of the legendary songwriting duo sounding human.
