The singer Elton John called “one of the most incredible people”
There aren’t many people that could claim to know the ins and outs of the rock and roll industry like Elton John did.
As much as people have seen the horrors of the music world in every single music biopic, it’s a miracle that John managed to come out virtually unscathed after burning himself out on every single excess that he could think of back in the day. But the fact that he survived came from him taking the advice that he heard from some of his most famous friends behind the scenes.
Because if there’s one thing that John was able to pick out, it was those that were working one notch above everyone else. He was already a massive music nerd when looking at his record collecting when he was a kid, but the fact that he could pick out talent and even be a mentor for people like Eminem showed that he at least cared for people that had something special behind all of their tunes.
But given the amount of effort that he put into every one of his tunes, it was only a matter of time before the greatest musicians that he had ever heard came calling. His contemporaries were already the biggest singer-songwriters in the world, but if Bob Dylan gave John and Bernie Taupin the shock of their lives by complimenting their tunes, getting the chance to work with John Lennon was ripped directly out of a rock and roll fantasy.
Even if someone managed to get the seal of approval from one of The Beatles, Lennon was always going to be the toughest to crack. He had already done away with the idea of being a famous musician ever since the days of Plastic Ono Band, and even if he could put together a halfway decent pop song in his solo career, he did take a liking to what John was doing enough to feature him on one of his records.
And despite all of the stories that have been told about Lennon’s nasty side, John could only remember the moments when they were having fun in the studio, saying, “He’s one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met. And one of the most vibrant, kindest, funny. I never experienced the nasty side of John Lennon ever. You know that. John could turn and had the ability to turn nasty. And I think all artists do that. But I never did that with me. In fact, we had so much laughter between the two of us. In the two years that we hung out and made music and he came and sang on my record.”
It’s not like John was exactly an angel whenever he stepped away from the piano, either. There’s already the famous story of him chewing out Dylan when he was shit at playing charades, but the fact that he had a temper tantrum before being given a birthday message from Stevie Wonder was as good an indication as any that he was a little bit temperamental behind the scenes.
If you’re talking about Lennon’s brilliance as a musician, though, it didn’t come from him playing everything note-perfect. He was just as fallible as any of us, but what he did with what little skills he had is a masterclass in what you can do with the right song. ‘Imagine’ isn’t the most complicated song in the world, and yet the reason why it’s still regarded as one of the great hymns of rock and roll is because it’s done in a way where everyone can wish for a more peaceful world.
John has certainly worked with more experienced musicians throughout his career, but Lennon’s musical aura was about more than being a great guitar player or a show-stopping singer. People simply loved having him around to talk about the greater problems with the world, and even after he’s gone, there’s a reason why his calls for peace are still what people go back to in times of crisis.
