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Elton John: 21 at 33

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: MCA Records
Released: 1980.05.13
Time:
 42:51
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Elton John, Clive Franks
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.eltonjohn.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Chasing the Crown (E.John/B.Taupin) - 5:38
[2] Little Jeannie (E.John/G.Osborne) - 5:21
[3] Sartorial Eloquence (E.John/T.Robinson) - 4:42
[4] Two Rooms at the End of the World (E.John/B.Taupin) - 5:39
[6] White Lady White Powder (E.John/B.Taupin) - 4:35
[7] Dear God (E.John/G.Osborne) - 3:45
[8] Never Gonna Fall in Love Again (E.John/T.Robinson) - 4:07
[9] Take Me Back (E.John/T.Osborne) - 3:52
[10] Give Me the Love (E.John/J.Tzuke) - 5:23

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Elton John - Lead And Backing Vocals, Piano, Yamaha Electric Piano, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Overdubbed Piano, Producer

Jim Horn - Piccolo, Alto And Tenor Saxophone, Brass Arrangement
James Newton Howard - Piano, Electronic Keyboards, Fender Rhodes, Yamaha Cs-80
David Paich - Organ
Steve Lukather - Electric Guitar
Reggie Mcbride - Bass Guitar
Dee Murray - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Nigel Olsson - Drums
Lenny Castro - Congas
Alvin Taylor - Drums
Larry Williams - Tenor Saxophone
Steve Wrather - Electric Guitar
Richie Zito - Acoustic And Electric Guitars

Jerry Hey - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Brass Arrangement
Byron Berline - Fiddle
Richie Cannata - Alto Saxophone
Victor Feldman - Tambourine
Chuck Findley - Trumpet, Trombone
Clive Franks - Tambourine, Cowbell, Producer
Larry Hall - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Bill Reichenbach Jr. - Trombone

Curt Becher - Vocals
Joe Chemay - Vocals
Jon Joyce - Vocals
Peter Noone - Vocals
Toni Tennille - Vocals
Bill Champlin - Backing Vocals
Glenn Frey - Backing Vocals
Venette Gloud - Backing Vocals
Max Gronenthal - Backing Vocals
Don Henley - Backing Vocals
Gary Osborne - Backing Vocals
Timothy B. Schmit - Backing Vocals
Stephanie Spruill - Backing Vocals
Carmen Twillie - Backing Vocals

David Foster - String Arrangements
Bruce Johnston - Choir Arrangement

David Burgess - Engineer
Steve Desper - Engineer
Patrick Jaunead - Engineer
David Leonard - Engineer
Peggy McCreary - Engineer
Stephen McManus - Engineer
Steve McManus - Engineer
Bernie Grundman - Mastering
Gary Moore - Digital Remastering
Jane Hitchin - Tape Research
Zoe Roberts - Tape Research
Joe Black - Project Coordinator
Adrian Collee - Studio Coordinator
Norman Moore - Art Direction, Artwork, Concept, Cover Design, Design, Original Sleeve Design
George Osaki - Art Direction
Jim Shea - Photography
John Tobler - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Elton John entered the second decade of his pop music career releasing his 21st long-player during the 33rd year of his life, hence the album's title. It also marked the tentative return of former writing partner Bernie Taupin after a four-year sabbatical. Although the reunion yielded a trio of tunes, "Chasing the Crown," "Two Rooms at the End of the World," and "White Lady White Powder," unfortunately they all suffer from the same nauseating disco vibe that made John's previous effort, 1979's Victim of Love, so thoroughly dismissible. However, the following year's 21 at 33 is far from a complete washout. Building on the strength of his relationship with Gary Osborne - with whom John had created A Single Man (1978) - the pair wrote the standouts "Dear God" and "Take Me Back" as well as the hit single "Little Jeannie." "Sartorial Eloquence" harks back to the classic "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," thanks to the all-star backing vocals from Eagles Glenn Frey and Don Henley as well as Toni Tennille, Bruce Johnston, and Peter Noone (from Herman's Hermits). Interestingly, John briefly reassembled his 1970s core band of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Dee Murray (bass), and Nigel Olsson (drums), although their contributions sound more like an afterthought when compared to those of studio stalwarts Richie Zito (guitar), Steve Lukather (guitar), Lenny Castro (percussion), and an all-star horn section of Chuck Findley (trumpet), Jim Horn (sax), and Jerry Hey (trumpet). The scattered nature and lack of cohesion on 21 at 33 would translate onto John's next few albums such as The Fox (1981) and Jump Up! (1982). Not until the full-fledged reunion with Taupin and backing quartet on Too Low for Zero (1983) would John begin to reestablish himself as a central pop music figure.

Lindsay Planer - All Music Guide



We're now into the fifth year of the Elton John crisis, and frankly some of us here on the Elton watch are getting worried. Ever since 1975, when the anti-John backlash set in and the piano pumper's finest album, Rock of the Westies, only went umpteen-platinum instead of his usual quadribillion, Elton has sounded confused, bitter, exhausted.

Efforts to reenter John into the mainstream of things failed: Blue Moves (1976) seemed like a smart idea at the time — a double-LP sulk at the height of such psychonarcissisms as est. A Single Man (1978)? Well, you know how rattled Elton was by that punk-rock business. It took a couple of years to get his head straight. And even we, the best fans and advisers a guy could have, had to admit that the Thom Bell Sessions and Victim of Love (both 1979) were miscalculations — nice disco exploitation moves made way too late.

Which is why so much is riding on 21 at 33. (Memo: Ask John what the hell he means by that title. When it was first announced, I thought he was going to go Elvis Costello one better and put twenty-one tunes on the record, but there are only nine.) On the surface, Elton seems happier. He's toured, he's made up with Bernie Taupin and he's writing with Tom Robinson. Everything looks good, right?

The album's first side is okay. "Little Jeannie" is a sweet midtempo ballad, with a lot of the old "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" wistfulness. "Sartorial Eloquence," written with Robinson, doesn't have much of a melody, but we can spare a song to establish the fact that our man's got a good vocabulary. Smart PR, you know. The two numbers with Bernie, "Chasing the Crown" and "Two Rooms at the End of the World," are the neatest, most cogent rockers that Taupin and John have done in a long time. I particularly like it when Elton becomes the conscience of Anglo-American relations in "Chasing the Crown": "I saw the tea float in Boston." Great stuff.

But the whole thing falls apart on the second side. 21 at 33 becomes a blatant — kind of pathetic, if the truth be known — recitation of all of John's lurking fears. Who in the world let Elton and Bernie put this song about — boy, it's hot in here, isn't it? — cocaine as side two's opener? And to follow that with "Dear God"! None of us doubt John's faith, but I'm afraid that a born-again Elton — coming so soon after the hair transplant and all — is almost too much to comprehend. The ears boggle.

The rest of the record is just slow, dull and blatant. "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" might be about a girl, but you can't fool the kids out there: they know that Elton John is talking about never again being as loose and wild and comfortable with his fame as he once was in the mid-Seventies. (Even if he's practically begging to get back into the Top Ten in the next track. "Take Me Back.") As for the last cut, "Give Me the Love" — well, it was hard to listen to all the way through. Some things you should let a man do in peace.

Maybe if he tours with a band this time. Maybe if we get him another songwriting partner, like that New Wave guy in the Cretones who helped Linda Ronstadt. Maybe if he put some big funny glasses on....

Ken Tucker - July 24, 1980
RollingStone.com



21 at 33 is the fourteenth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released on 13 May 1980. It was recorded at Super Bear Studios, Nice, France, in August 1979, and Rumbo Recorders and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California between January to March 1980.

Two of John's "classic" bandmates, drummer Nigel Olsson and bass player Dee Murray, reunited with him for one song. His backup keyboardist James Newton-Howard returned and performed on almost every track as was the case on Rock of the Westies and Blue Moves. Other musicians included members of The Eagles and Toto as well as Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits.

The title comes from the fact that this was John's 21st album in total at the age of 33. According to the liner notes in the remastered edition of the album, the count includes all standard albums, two "Greatest Hits" compilations, two live albums, as well as the Friends soundtrack, the three-song, 12-inch EP The Thom Bell Sessions and the UK-only "rarities" collection Lady Samantha. The album sold over 900,000 copies in the United States, narrowly missing a Platinum certication.

John has not played any of the material in concert since touring in 1980, with the exception of "Little Jeannie", "White Lady White Powder" and "Sartorial Eloquence". Even "Little Jeannie", which was a huge North American hit (#3 Pop and #1 Adult Contemporary in the United States, and #1 in Canada) is rarely performed, although it was included in the two One Night Only concerts in 2000.

Wikopedia.org
 

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