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Elton John: Empty Sky

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: DJM Records
Released: 1969.06.06
Time:
 54:56
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Steve Brown
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] Empty Sky (E.John/B.Taupin) - 8:28
[2] Val-Hala (E.John/B.Taupin) - 4:12
[3] Western Ford Gateway (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:16
[4] Hymn 2000 (E.John/B.Taupin) - 4:29
[5] Lady What's Tomorrow (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:10
[6] Sails (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:45
[7] The Scaffold (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:18
[8] Skyline Pigeon (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:37
[9] Gulliver/Hay Chewed/Reprise (E.John/B.Taupin) - 6:59
        Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)
[10] Lady Samantha (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:02
[11] All Across the Havens (E.John/B.Taupin) - 2:52
[12] It's Me That You Need (E.John/B.Taupin) - 4:04
[13] Just Like Strange Rain (E.John/B.Taupin) - 3:44

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Elton John - Piano, Organ, Electric Piano, Harpsichord

Caleb Quaye - Electric And Acoustic Guitars, Conga Drums
Tony Murray - Bass Guitar
Roger Pope - Drums, Percussion
Don Fay - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Graham Vickery - Harmonica
Nigel Olsson - Drums on [5]

Steve Brown - Producer
Frank Owen - Engineer
Clive Franks - Tape Operator & Whistling
Gus Dudgeon - Liner Notes
John Tobler - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded in December 1968 – April 1969 at Dick James Music Studios, London.
"Val-Hala" was properly titled "Valhalla" on the 1975 US reissue.
"Hay Chewed" was mistakenly titled "It's Hay-Chewed" on the 1995 CD reissue.



Although he had made a number of re-recordings of popular songs for a budget record label in the late '60s, Empty Sky was the first true solo album Elton John recorded after leaving Bluesology; it also marked the beginning of his long and fruitful collaboration with lyricist Bernie Taupin. Empty Sky is quite indicative of the post-Sgt. Pepper's era. With its ambitious arrangements and lyrics, it's clear that John and Taupin intended the album to be a major statement. Though it shows some signs of John's R&B roots, most of the album alternates between vaguely psychedelic rock and burgeoning pop songcraft, capped off by a bizarre reprise of brief moments of all of the songs on the record. There aren't any forgotten gems on Empty Sky, but it does suggest John's potential.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



For most artists, the first album is the one they essentially spend their entire lives to that point creating.

Then there are the artists that give it a solid try on their initial outing, but find their true voice later. Elton John‘s first album, ‘Empty Sky,’ is a great example of a debut album that only hints at the brilliance to come. It’s not a bad record by any means, but it is a product of its time, and you can hear John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin learning their way and finding their voice as they go.

The man born Reginald Dwight began his collaboration with Taupin in 1967, but the pair had little success in trying to sell songs to other artists via Dick James’ DJM Records. After anointing himself Elton John, he recorded ‘Empty Sky’ in late-1968 and early-1969 for DJM. Although the record hit stores in the U.K. in June 1969, it wasn’t released stateside until 1975, when MCA picked up the record after John had already found major success with his unprecedented run of early-’70s classics.

The real Elton is somewhere on ‘Empty Sky.’ You can hear his masterful way with a hook in the choruses of songs like ‘Western Ford Gateway’ and ‘Sails.’ His piano work throughout is explosive, surpassing even some of the records for which he would later become far more famous. The chunky piano chords that punctuate the intro to the album’s title track and first cut, ‘Empty Sky,’ make you wish the song had somehow found its way into his live set over the years; the Pete Townshendian guitar chords that slice across the top of the song call to mind Davey Johnstone’s work on John’s albums to come.

‘Empty Sky’ also includes at least one song that would become a deep cut classic for fans, the tender ballad ‘Skyline Pigeon.’ John would re-record it in 1972 during the sessions for ‘Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player‘ in a version that abandoned the original’s harpsichord accompaniment for a band and full orchestra. Even today, ‘Skyline Pigeon’ makes an occasional and welcome appearance in John’s live sets.

It’s just weird to hear all those touches we’ve come to know as “vintage Elton” on an album that amounts to bluesy psychedelic pop. Reverse-tracked guitars, bongos, harmonica drenched in reverb, pan flute — it’s like the Rocket Man stumbled into a lost Strawberry Alarm Clock session. Taupin’s lyrics don’t help matters at all. It’s hard to believe the guy who would soon pen the words to ‘Your Song’ could be quite so jazzed about chronicling the Vikings who worshiped Thor on ‘Val-Halla.’

In a strange way, ‘Empty Sky’ sounds like a transition record, except there’s nothing to transition from. It’s more like John and Taupin were working out the kinks in their own collaboration and getting some serious stoner music out of their system before becoming the rock-pop legends they were destined to be.

Matt Springer - June 5, 2014
UltimateClassicRock.com



The title track of Elton John's debut album is about a prisoner lamenting the loss of his freedom. Written by the fledgling partnership of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, the song is quite long, at 8 minutes 28 seconds. Like the rest of the album it was recorded at the Dick James Music Studios in London and was produced by Steve Brown. (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England)

Bernie Taupin talked about this song in a 1989 interview with Music Connection. Said Taupin: "The title track was quite interesting. I actually wouldn't mind re-recording that song because it was done in a two-track studio. We were basically trying to do 'Sympathy For The Devil' with that introduction. So that one track really stands out for me, and, in fact, Elton used to do that song onstage until sometime in the mid-Seventies. I think it would be really interesting to do that song again."

This was recorded at Dick James Music Studios, which was a small studio in London. They got a natural echo by recording Elton's vocal and guitarist Caleb Quayle's solo in the stairwell.

This is one of Elton's favorite songs from his illustrious career. "'Empty Sky' has something magical about it," he said in Rolling Stone. "It came together so brilliantly, and still sounds so good. It's hard for a piano player to write a Rock & Roll song. It sounded like a Stones song."

While Empty Sky was released in 1969 in the UK, it wasn't officially released in the US until 1975 with a different album cover. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

© 2014 Songfacts



Empty Sky is the début album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released on 6 June 1969. It was finally released in the US in January 1975, with a different cover photograph, well after John's fame had been established internationally. Recorded during the winter of 1968 and spring of 1969 in a DJM 8-track studio, Empty Sky is the only album in the early part of his career not produced by Gus Dudgeon, instead helmed by friend and DJM staffer Steve Brown. The album was released in the UK in both stereo and mono with the latter now being a rare collector's item.

John plays harpsichord on several tracks, including "Skyline Pigeon", which John has described as being "the first song Bernie and I ever got excited about that we ever wrote."

John used musicians that were either his or Brown's friends. Guitarist Caleb Quaye and drummer Roger Pope, both members of the band Hookfoot at the time, played on many of the tracks. (Quaye and Pope would rejoin John a few years later as part of his studio and touring band behind Rock of the Westies in 1975 and Blue Moves in 1976.) Tony Murray from The Troggs played bass. Empty Sky is the first appearance with John of then Plastic Penny and Spencer Davis Group member Nigel Olsson, who played drums on "Lady What's Tomorrow?" (Olsson and fellow Spencer Davis bandmate, bassist Dee Murray, would soon join John as his early '70s touring band.) Also listed in the production credits is Clive Franks, who would later produce John's live sound in concert for a tremendous amount of his touring career, as well as occasionally co-produce with John on albums such as A Single Man and 21 at 33. The original sleeve design was done by David Larkham (billed as "Dave"), who would go on to create designs for John and other artists.

Skyline Pigeon is the most popular and best known song on the album, and is the only one which John, albeit infrequently, performs as part of his live shows. The more definitive version of Skyline Pigeon featuring an orchestra and piano backing in place of harspichord was recorded for 1972's Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, and initially appeared as the B-side of Daniel in 1973. Another appearance of the song was in 1974, and a version recorded in London was later featured as the opening track on the Here and There live LP and CD reissue. A version of the title track, "Empty Sky," was also included at various stops on John's 1975 tour.

Although John has since called the album naive, he does have fond memories of making the record. These include walking home from recording at 4 a.m. and lodging at the Salvation Army HQ in Oxford Street, which was run by Steve Brown's father. "I remember when we finished work on the title track - it just floored me. I thought it was the best thing I'd ever heard in my life," John recalled.

Allmusic's retrospective review showed a subdued reaction to the material, concluding "There aren't any forgotten gems on Empty Sky, but it does suggest John's potential."

Elton later recalled that he was "unsure what style I was going to be ... [maybe what] Leonard Cohen sounds like."

Wikipedia.org
 

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