elton john the diving board

ELTON JOHN
THE DIVING BOARD
Elton Dives in Head First...
...will he Sink or Swim?
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I S S U E S I X T Y- S E V E N
writings
East End Lights - Re-launches
pg.1
Elton Expo Highlights: What the Fans Said
Matt Still - Expo Q & A
pg. 2
pg. 4
The Diving Board - Review
pg. 7
Tour Dates
pg. 11
Tell Me What the Papers Say
pg. 12
www.eastendlightsmagazine.com
Hello Again Everyone,
The Elton Expo has come and gone and based upon the responses I’ve received it was the best one ever.
The fans enjoyed the speakers, the EJ band was on hand to meet and greet the attendees and the North
American launch of the book Tin Pan Alley-The Rise of Elton John by Keith Hayward.
We hope to get this event going again every 2 years, as it was at the start. So look forward to another Elton
Expo, probably in Vegas again in 2015.
The one thing I took away from the expo was the joy of being able to put together an event for the real Elton
John fans. You guys are the best, and I know you appreciated the effort put into it. I’d like to thank everyone
who helped us out at the event to keep things running smoothly: Mark Crutchfield, ( I couldn’t have done
it without you bro) David Bodoh, Sharon Kalinoski, Stephan Heimbecher, Steve Schermerhorn, Universal
Music Canada, Eltonjohn.com, Davey Johnstone and the rest of the Magic Johnstones, Tam, Jesse and Charlie.
I also want to thank Kay Johnstone, Kathy Babylon, Fred Anderson, Pepper Jay, Rick Salazar, Lindsey,
Ron Cameliri, the entire Elton John band, Matt, Kim, John, Davey & Nigel and the Ben Babylon band.
And of course I can’t forget my 'accountant' Joan and my son Michael, who kept me grounded. I was
running on pure adrenaline for the entire weekend and they were the ones who made sure I didn’t get too
overwhelmed, thanks guys....
Enjoy,
Kevin Bell
East End Lights
11-4040 Creditview Rd.
P.O. Box 188, Mississauga, Ontario
L5C 3Y8 Canada
Ph: 416-763-8500
[email protected]
John Mahon & Kevin Bell
Photo's
Kevin Bell
Sharon Kalinoski
Stephan Heimbecher
Kathy Babylon
Fred Anderson
Pepper Jay
Amanda Anderson
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ONE IMPORTANT FINAL REQUEST......PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, ANYONE WHO
SHOT ANY VIDEO AT THE ELTON EXPO 2013, PLEASE SEND ME A COPY OF
WHAT YOU TAPED. We didn’t capture it all and I’d like to have a copy of everything,
so please send me your video footage.
In this issue we review Eltons’ latest album The Diving Board and we give you the
Q&A session with Matt Still from the expo. Plus the latest tour dates and news.
Contributors
Mark Crutchfield
Michael Bell
Wayne Martin
Davey Johnstone
East End Lights
Re-launches
at Elton Expo
2013
East End Lights magazine had to go on hiatus for a while due to
publisher Kevin Bell’s health issues.
“I wasn’t motivated to publish the magazine. I was dealing with
a lot of turmoil in my life at the time and also had an operation”.
Kevin had cancer removed from his lymph nodes in early 2012,
but prior to that he was diagnosed with severe depression which
he still battles today.
“I had an event happen in 2010 which pushed me to the edge
and left me shattered. I felt that I had no reason to live, so I tried
to commit suicide………..twice.”
Kevin ended up in the hospital, where he was admitted to the
psychiatric ward for 3 days.
“I refer to this as my weekend at the Waldorf Hysteria.” says
Bell.
But it was through this experience that Kevin was diagnosed
with severe depression and received the help he needed.
“When I was discharged from the hospital I was referred to a
mental health clinic and it was there that I began to understand
my illness and what I was dealing with. Through several group
therapy programs and counselling I learned how and why depression affects me.”
Kevin took several programs at the clinic which included
such topics as; Understanding Your Illness, Learning Self
Esteem & Self Confidence, Changing Your Thinking, Understanding Depressions Triggers, Understanding Your Medication, Managing Your Symptoms, Anxiety and Stress.
“I learned that I have probably been dealing with depression
my entire life and didn’t realize it. The ‘event’ that happened
was the last straw in my mind and it was the catalyst that
brought me to the point where I wanted to harm myself.”
“I also learned that I have a chemical imbalance in my brain,
so I wasn’t firing on all pistons if you will….however with the
right medications and therapy, I’m able to manage my depression. I struggle with it every day and it’s not easy because you
can’t control when you have a depressive thought, but you can
control your actions and your response to them.”
Millions of people suffer with depression, however not all of
them recognize that they have it, or they don’t have the medical
resources needed to help them deal with it. Many are afraid of
the stigma that is associated with mental illness. Many sufferers
can’t talk to their families about depression in fear of being criticized or being told that what they’re feeling is not real. You’re
having a bad day, or just snap out of it, is the usual response.
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But depression is a serious illness and it can affect anyone.
Celebrities such as Halle Berry, Demi Lovato, Catherine Zeta
Jones, Joey Votto, Russell Brand, Hugh Lawrie, Emma Thompson, Winona Ryder, Mathew Good and Fergie have all suffered
from this illness.
“Please understand that you are not alone in this and that there
is help out there, but sometimes our pride gets in the way and
we are afraid to ask. If you are reluctant to ask for help, then I
would suggest subscribing to a magazine titled MOODS. You
can go to www.moodsmag.com and read articles on how to deal
with your depression.” says Bell.
Depression has even affected members of the Elton John band.
“Davey and I have talked about the affects of depression in our
lives. After the death of his son Oliver, Davey had no motivation or interest in performing ever again.” Bob Birch had the
same thoughts after the death of Guy Babylon in 2009.
Bob Birch, also had to deal with constant physical pain he suffered after being hit by a truck in Montreal in 1995. Bob endured
several operations to help him alleviate his pain, but after 17
years of agony, Bob took his own life in 2012.
“Bob’s suicide really hit me hard. I was just starting to feel better about myself and felt that I was managing my illness and
then……..... Bob leaves us. It hurt me so bad. I took his death
very personally.”
“Bob always encouraged me and was concerned about me. He
never showed us the pain he was dealing with. So when he took
his own life, I thought, hey I’ve been there too, why didn’t you
reach out for help? It took me a while to come to grips with
Bob’s death”.
“A couple of months before Bob’s death, I wrote him a very
heartfelt letter telling him how much it meant to me that he
was there for me and how much I appreciated his friendship
and everything he’d done for me. A few weeks after his death,
I was speaking with his wife Michele and she said to me that
Bob trusted and respected me and that he had taken my letter
to heart and that it was in his studio. I was very touched by that.”
Elton Expo 2013 Highlights: WHAT THE FANS SAID…
Friday Oct. 3
Keith Hayward-Author of Tin Pan Alley-The Rise of Elton John
“ Keith gave us a perspective into the life of Elton that we had not known much about. Some of the stories he told gave us tremendous
insight into what was going on in Elton’s life at the time.” MC
“ Keith really did his homework. The level of detail and the interviews he did with Elton’s friends and band members from the time truly
revealed the Rise of Elton John” MB
“ Keith was a great speaker! He was in a room with several Elton fanatics, so he must have been nervous, but he gave us info on Elton
that very few people knew about. He did a great job! KC
“I truly felt that this was the official release of my book in North America. The Elton Expo was a great event to premiere Tin Pan
Alley-The Rise of Elton John.” Keith Hayward
Elton Rohn – EJ Tribute Act
“Elton Rohn put on a good show. His voice and mannerisms were just like Elton’s. He even pulled out some rare songs like Teacher I
Need You, he even looks a little like Elton.” MS
Saturday Oct. 4
Matt Still – Recording Engineer and Producer
“Matt was very entertaining. He made me feel like I was in the studio with him recording with Elton. He gave us a true understanding
of what it was like working with Elton” JC
“Talking to Matt was a lot of fun. He was honest and open about his relationship with Elton and the band.” SS
“Matt was great. He really told it like it is. Terrific guestL.” KC
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The Elton John Band
“I couldn’t believe what was happening before my eyes! The entire Elton John Band together at one time at the Elton Expo. This
had never been accomplished at any expo before. I was in awe” KB
“The EJ band showed us why they are the best. They loved meeting the fans, taking pictures, signing autographs and talking to us,
it was a big thrill for me to get to meet these guys. They were all
so nice.” KA
“They all looked like they were having a blast! It was great to see
them enjoying the expo so much and talking to the real fans. We
appreciated it guys, love y’all.” SP
“Lots of fun with the EJ band. They are a great group of guys.
Keep Rockin.” DJ
“Glad the event went well, I had a blast.” John Mahon
“Good news that the show was a success, you did good man!!!!
God bless you and see you in Toronto.” Matt Bissonette
Performances – The Magic Johnstones
“When Davey and his kids started to perform Grow Some Funk
of Your Own…..I was overwhelmed! I could not believe what was
happening right before my eyes. I got very emotional and started
crying my eyes out. I went over and gave Kay (Davey’s wife) and
Kathy Babylon a big hug to say thank you for giving me this moment.” Kevin Bell
“The Johnstones playing GSFOYO, blew me away. The musical
talent in that family is just ridiculous! Unreal.” MC
“What a great family” DW
The Ben Babylon Band
“Where did that drummer come from? Amazing talent for a 12
year old! Look out Nigel..” DD
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Ben has the gift of his
father. To paraphrase Robert Hillburn; I have seen the future of
rock n roll and it is The Ben Babylon band.” KB
“These kids are remarkable! Ben’s songs are great.” ST
The Elton John Marketplace
“Lots of Elton memorabilia, CD’s, vinyl, jewellery, antiques, magazines, posters, everything an Elton fan needs. The vendors were
great, and everyone helped out a lot, thank you.”
“We raised $1750. For EJAF, plus one of our attendees made a $25,000. Contribution to EJAF in memory of Bob Birch. Thanks to
everyone for their support.” Kevin Bell – East End Lights
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FROM DUETS TO
THE CAPTAIN AND
THE KID, MATT STILL
GIVES HIS INSIGHT
TO WORKING
WITH ELTON
Elton Expo – 2013
Matt Still was one of the guest speakers at the 2013 Elton Expo in Las Vegas. His production talent shines through
on all of Elton’s projects. Matt talked to our attendees at the recent Elton Expo and gave us insights into working
with Elton through the years.
MATT: The first project I worked on with Elton was the Duets album. We were recording in Atlanta, and during those recordings, it was a different artist, different producer, different
band on each recording. Every 3 weeks a new artist and band
would come so Elton and I were the one constant throughout
the whole project and that’s how we developed our relationship
and got to know each other.
Over the next several years, he’s was in the studio doing some
one offs. He did Faust with Randy Newman and some other
small parts. In 1996, he was going to write the Aida demos and
they wanted me to work with him and I was an engineer he was
comfortable with. That’s when I started free-lancing and our
relationship was born at that point.
From That point forward I worked with him on the Aida demos,
the music for El Dorado, some extra songs for the musical The
Lion King, Billy Elliot, Lestat, Peachtree Road, The Captain
and The Kid, Gnomeo and Juliet, Neverland which never got
released, and some other small things he did with BB King,
Anne Wilson and some other stuff.
When it came time for Peachtree Road, Elton wanted to produce
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the record on his own. Pat Leonard was slated to produce it but
Elton chose that this was going to be the first record that he
was the only producer on. He brought me and the band in to
record it with him and work with him.
On The Captain and The Kid, he brought me in as co-producer.
It was a small role on Peachtree Road but he did give a little
more latitude with the creative input and the process.
EEL-EXPO: With the Duets album, the song The Power with
Little Richard, what was that recording session like? You have 2
master piano players there, so what was that experience like?
MATT: The Power was the first song we recorded for the album
and I almost quit the industry that night. (I’m serious!)
I was the assistant engineer on that session, so I had
minimal input in terms of the direction of the session
but it was up to me to make sure everything flowed
smoothly and that everything was going perfectly.
And this is my first day working with Elton so it was kind of a big
deal. I started playing piano at the age of four and played classical
piano through college and studied music production and growing
up my mom bought me Elton John songbooks because she saw
me as the next Elton John.
And I think that’s another reason why Elton and I clicked because
I come from a pianist sensibility. But on that first day, I’d stayed
up all night getting the microphones ready and setting things up
for the band. It was the largest set up I had ever done to record
everyone live at the same time.
However on the day of the session, technically everything went
wrong that could go wrong. We had synchronization problems
with the machines, the headphone amp blew up in the middle of
when they were ready to record. And in the process of changing
out the amp for the headphones, I sliced my finger open, fairly
deeply and a couple of hours later I wound up going to the hospital and getting stitches because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. I had
wrapped in some gapper tape and thought I could go on. Fortunately Greg Penny was the producer on that song. John Inglesby
was the engineer. But after a few hours, it just would not stop
bleeding and I had to get the assistant studio manager to take me
to the hospital.
Greg said ‘you go take care of it, we’ll be fine, we’ll get things
done’. On the way to the hospital, I’m feeling dejected and thinking maybe I’m not cut out for this? I can’t handle the pressure.
I’m not ready for the big time. In Atlanta at the time, most of
the music that was coming out of there was R&B, Hip Hop and
Urban music. Engineering is engineering and it’s not as technical
and not as high pressure when you have synthesizers and you
hit play and you hit record and if there’s a mistake, you hit play
again. Whereas when you have live musicians and you’re doing a
take, and if there’s a technical problem, you’ve lost that take. And
perhaps you’ve lost the golden take.
So I was thinking that day ‘maybe I can get into law school’ or
something. I had to get 7 stitches in my finger. I got back to the
studio and Greg Penny took me to the side and said ‘listen kid,
don’t sweat this. You’re really good at what you do. It’s just one
of those days when everything was going wrong and those days
happen and you’ve made it through it. So stick it out cause you’re
gonna be around for a long time.’
The fact that he was nice enough and took the time to console me
was great. I’ve worked with some producers where I could have
possibly been fired. But that made me refocus my idea of what I
needed to be as an engineer. It was a turning point for my career,
not just meeting Elton, but also focus and see where I could take
my career.
In terms of the band and the playing, it was phenomenal. It was
the first I had seen musicians of that calibre just rock it out.
When the machines were rolling, it was amazing.
EEL-EXPO: On The Captain and the Kid, there were lyrics to
a song called Troll, was that ever put to music?
MATT: Yes, he (Elton) wrote the music, but it was never recorded. There is only a piano and vocal version of him when he
was just writing it and that is in a vault.
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EEL-EXPO: What did you think of the song?
MATT: I thought it was a great song. I saw the point that he was
making saying it didn’t fit with the record. I thought it could have
recorded as a B-side, but Elton felt it was best to leave this one
where its at.
EEL-EXPO: With respect to the B-sides….On Peachtree Road,
there was a song called Black Cat Crossing the Road. Do you
know anything about that?
MATT: Black Cat Crossing the Road…I did not do that song.
Maybe they pulled that out of the vault someplace. That was not
me so unfortunately I can’t give you any insight on that one.
EEL-Mark Crutchfield: By chance do you happen to have the
combination to the vault?
EEL-EXPO: I understand that Peachtree Road and The Captain
and The Kid were to be released in 5.1 surround sound. Do you
know of any others that are going to be in that format?
MATT: I don’t know. They were mixed for 5.1 Sound. Peachtree
Road was released but The Captain and The Kid has not been.
The label chose not too. I think the 5.1 market peaked at the beginning and now it’s dwindling.
It used to be when I would mix a record, you had to deliver stereo
mixes and 5.1 mixes and now it’s back too just stereo. They don’t
ask for 5.1 anymore. You can ask if you can record in 5.1, but
the response is usually, you can record it, but we’re not paying
for it.
EEL-EXPO: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, one
of the best if not the best album Elton ever recorded, produced by
the late great Gus Dudgeon. Now, you’re going to do the sequel.
No Pressure right…..but what was that like and how did you prepare for it?
MATT: When Elton and I were talking about the album and he
was telling me it was going to be the sequel to Captain Fantastic,
I wasn’t exactly sure how to produce it. Should I make it sound
like Captain Fantastic or should I do something completely different so that it doesn’t get compared to it or what? But in the end
you just let the album organically morph into whatever it’s going
to be. Especially when someone like Elton is producer, it’s best to
be as transparent as possible, because he knows what he wants it
to sound like and for me to try and make him sound a certain way
I think would be the improper approach.
For about 2 months prior to the recording of that album, Captain Fantastic is the only thing I listened too. I wouldn’t listen
to the pop radio or talk radio, I only listened to Captain Fantastic. I wanted to get to know that record very intimately where I
knew every note, every percussion hit, every double track that
was done, and I tried to make some of the performances more of
a homage to the original recordings.
For example, on the first song Postcards for Richard Nixon, Bob’s
bass and John Mahon’s percussions are similar to Ray and Dee
on these early recordings. I was very happy with the end result.
It was a unique record, recorded in a unique situation it was actually recorded in a theatre, not in a studio. The only time we ever
spent in a studio was when Elton listened to the final mixes. At
the theatre, every one was in the same room, including me. There
were no walls, there was no glass, it was a big open theatre and
we set up and let the guys jam.
EEL-EXPO: Why did you do it that way?
MATT: We first started to record here in Las Vegas when he
was doing the Red Piano shows and I started looking around for
studios’ in the area and at the time there were no studios’ technically capable of handling an Elton John session. Everything was
already set up onstage at Caesar’s Palace, so I wrapped up my
entire studio and brought everything out here. I set up a mini
off-stage studio and Elton and the band would be onstage & he
would write and record from Caesar’s for the first few years that
he was here in Vegas. We were really happy with the sound there
and when you put some mics in there it really sounds special.
You don’t get recording studio’s with that much space so I took
advantage of the opportunity to record there. Elton loved the way
the recordings were sounding and he said, ‘let’s find something in
Atlanta just like this.’ And Center Stage is a smaller theatre with a
similar shape as at Caesar’s.
EEL-EXPO: I have a question about the title song, The Captain
and The Kid. Rather than being in the original key of G, which
Captain Fantastic is in the key of F, the final note is a D, which is
the first note of the original song, which is when it’s in the key of
G. So it comes full circle. Was that done on purpose?
MATT: I think it was more of a voice thing. We didn’t analyze
it that much. That’s the key that Elton chose to do it in. He wanted to have a variation of the original melody in there and that’s
where he chose to take it.
EEL-EXPO: One of the songs on Songs From The West Coast is
The Emperor’s New Clothes. It sounds like it could have been on
El Dorado. Was it held off El Dorado?
MATT: No, I don’t think it was a song from El Dorado. When
you have an artist that’s writing songs, a lot of times when you’re
moving from project to project, you can hear similarities. You
might hear something that might belong on something else. For
example when I listened to The Diving Board, I felt there were
songs that could have been in Lestat. With Elton writing a lot of
songs, there are melodies that remind you of other melodies.
EEL-EXPO: On the opening track from The Captain & The Kid,
(Postcards), whos’ decision was it to just mix Elton and his piano
with no reverb at the beginning of the song.
MATT: That was my choice. I wanted to start the record from a
very stripped down place. A very raw, unaffected place and just
build from there. That was an intentional choice by me to do.
EEL-EXPO: The original Captain Fantastic album, Elton wrote
on a ship crossing the Atlantic. He tends to write on the spot, so
on The Captain and The Kid, did Elton record them in order as he
did on the Captain Fantastic album?
MATT: Elton wrote them in order and we recorded them in order. When Elton comes to the studio there is nothing written in
terms of music. Bernie has the lyrics and Elton will sit down with
the lyrics and he will start to write the song. And usually within
30 minutes the song is written. That’s the way it’s always done. If
it takes him over 40 minutes, than there’s something that’s creating a problem for him and he gets frustrated because he pops out
songs really quickly. With the song Electricity from Billy Elliot,
he wrote that song in 12 minutes. I remember when he wrote that
and thinking that’s amazing. It’s the better songs that he writes almost instantaneously. From the very first chord, he’s in that zone
and it comes very quickly.
With The Captain and The Kid, he sat down, just him and the
piano (and maybe a drum loop) and he writes and I’m recording
so we capture everything. He may write the verses first and then
move onto the chorus and then he may forget the verse and we
have to play it back, and we’ll put it together and in the end we
have a song. Then the band will get in there, they’ll rehearse it a
few times, work out a few transitions and then we’ll start going
for it. We may do several takes and listen back to what we like
or don’t like and if we need to re-arrange something like a
chord change, than we’ll do that.
The song Old 67, that was done in one take. He wrote the song in
30 minutes, then the band gets up and he said this is what I want
you guys to do and they said okay. He sat down and they played
it and on the first take it was done.
EEL-EXPO: Did you ever sense from Elton that he felt pressure
trying to follow up the Captain Fantastic album, or was he just
looking at it as good songs that Bernie and he were making?
MATT: I don’t think he ever felt the pressure. They were very relaxed sessions. It was a much more relaxed album than Peachtree
Road. Not to say Peachtree Road was not relaxed, but 2 weeks in
I got fired and got re-hired the next day
.
When you’re working with an artist and you have to be honest
about where songs are and the directions they need to take. People have a certain image of Elton, but he is one of the most generous, most compassionate, kind people I know. And I’m truly
honoured to call him a friend, but until you see what it means to
be called an icon and to live your life as an icon, there’s celebrity,
there’s fame and then there’s being an icon and Elton is in the upper echelon. His fame will never go away. There are stresses that
go along with that that would make the best of us break down and
have a moment when we tell somebody off.
I think during Peachtree Road there were times when there were
a lot of things going on in his life and sometimes it brought itself
into the studio and there was one day where he fired all of us. He
said “that’s it the albums over” and he got on a plane and flew to
L.A.
PART 2 - NEXT ISSUE
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review
The
Diving
Board……
Elton released his 31st studio album The Diving Board in September. Mark Crutchfield and Kevin Bell give their opinions on the
album and the direction Elton’s music should take going forward.
Overview
MC: When I first played the album, I was impressed. I think
it’s very mellow. The piano playing made me think back to the
1980’s, the 21 at 33 period, when Elton started doing television
promotion for that album, he’d play a song like Little Jeannie
solo, I was thinking I’d wish he’d make an album like that. The
first time I saw Elton was on the Single Man shows in 1979, so I
was praying he’d put out an album like this. All these years later
we’ve come up to the Diving Board and I think it delivered on
that.
KB: I’m probably going to get a contract put out on my head after
this but I’m not very fond of The Diving Bored…. There are a
few gems in there, but for me, I found it slow, I found it dull, boring and very theatrical. And frankly, I found it a little pretentious.
I think he’s been writing too many Broadway musicals and it
translated onto this album.
From a piano album standpoint, its okay. Everyone wanted a
prominent piano album, but the story we’ve been fed about this
album being an attempt for Elton to get back to his roots, was
misleading because in my opinion, its just not there.
And I have nothing against the musicians that were used on this
album, they are all talented players, however, I don’t think they
compliment Elton’s music here. If T-Bone had the sense to use
the EJ Band, instead of his own hand-picked musicians, I think
it would have made a big difference. We all know the experience
that Davey has or that Nigel has when it comes to their contribution to the Elton John sound and that’s missing here.
I’m disappointed with the album.
This album doesn’t move me. I think he strains his voice too
often. His voice sounds like he just got out of bed. I don’t understand why he pushes his voice to the point where it becomes
raspy.
His vocals are pitchy. When you listen to it you’ll hear him start
in a good clear vocal, and then he’ll push his voice and it becomes
coarse, and then he’ll drop his vocal down to a lower register…..
all within the same line of the song. His vocals are all over the place.
His voice doesn’t match the music that he’s playing. It would be
like Elvis singing Led Zepplin
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For the first time ever, I don't think the melodies he's composed for
The Diving Board compliment Bernie's lyrics.
MC: I will say this as it applies to The Union album, which was a
good album, except for the sound mixing. But on this album you
can really hear his voice and hear the piano, but I have to say that
I will always defend the Elton John band. I understand T-Bone
wants to use other guys and wants that for freshness, but The
Union lacked the EJ Band and this album lacks the EJ Band. I’ve
always wondered what Nigel, Davey John, Kim & Matt could do
if given the opportunity to do what they do best.
KB: When the first demo’s of this album were being done, I
understand the response to the songs was that they weren’t
very good. If Elton felt the songs were so good, why did he feel
the need to go in and re-record the songs?
OCEANS AWAY
MC: I like Oceans Away. I think it’s a really good song. The
meaning behind it, Bernie’s dad and veterans, I thought it was
great. The way Elton slowly hits that note at the end, I like that.
KB: I’m not fond of Oceans Away. I think it’s too theatrical, it
belongs in Lestat or Billy Elliot or any other Broadway play. If
they make a play from The Road to El Dorado, you can put it in
there. Lyrically, Bernie as always, is the master wordsmith. He
could write a telephone book and make it great. I love the way he
tells stories and how he uses visual words to describe an emotion.
He’s the best. As for the song musically, again it didn’t impress
me. I found it boring.
OSCAR WILDE GETS OUT
KB: I liked this song. It’s an up-tempo song, not a ballad, I want
more of that. I like the melody and of course the lyrics are great. I
would have preferred this song as the opening track, than it would
have hooked me into the album.
MC: I liked the song too. I enjoyed the way he opens it and hits
that note as he’s rolling his hands. I thought it was a great follow
up to Oceans Away. It plays well live. But as I’m listening to the
album, I’m 2 songs in and I’m feeling pretty good.
A TOWN CALLED JUBILEE
KB: I don’t mind this song. Again it’s an up-tempo song. It has
great lyrics and a good piano melody, but where I think it lacks
something is with the harmonies and the accompaniment of the
band. The harmonies are weak for this song and I feel that the
musicians here are just trying to keep time with Elton. There
is a guitar riff in here, but it sounds out of tune. I don’t know
how to describe it, but I felt it sounded flat. They could have used
John Jorgenson here, but there is something missing and
it put me off on the song because of it.
MC: I would agree with that. I feel that in a lot of ways the band
performances are very monotone. I don’t know if they were purposely trying to do that, but I liked the percussion playing on the
song and I know this guy was a famous Motown percussionist,
but I think John Mahon would of added more to the song.
THE BALLAD OF BLIND TOM
MC: I love the lyrics but I have to say this is my least favourite
track on the album, and my least listened to track. I feel it drones
on a bit. To me it just doesn’t grab you. I feel like Elton’s rambling off a story, the story is good, but it just feel it rambles on and
there’s no hook, so it just doesn’t grab me.
KB: I agree. I found it bland. It’s a great story, but I kept thinking,
‘okay when is this going to end?’ Outstanding words from Bernie
but the music disappoints.
08
DREAM #1
KB: I do like the instrumentals Dream #1, 2 & 3, I wish there
was more of it. It reminds me of when we see Elton in concert
and he goes off on a tangent at the piano and you don’t know
where it’s going and then he leads into a song. Its as if he was
warming up and then said okay lets play another song.
MC: I agree. I love instrumentals but I want a real instrumental.
Let’s have another; The Man Who Never Died or Song for Guy.
He hasn’t made any instrumentals in years and he gives us 30
seconds of one. I want a full song. Maybe he’s playing Merry
Melody’s…
MY QUICKSAND
MC: When I heard My Quicksand I thought it's Lestat all
over again. Quicksand really turned me off. I felt like I was
drowning literally when I heard this song. But I have to tell
you, I have found myself singing it. The lyrics are
phenomenal. I love it coming out of Dream#1.
KB: I can’t stand this song, I’m sorry. I find it very slow. I
found it dull and boring. I wish I was standing in quicksand
when I hear this song because then I know I’d be under
ground soon. Just put me out of my misery. It belongs in a play,
maybe it’s a leftover from somewhere, but I don’t like it. His
voice is strained throughout the song and it just grates on my
nerves for some reason. It bores me much like the song There’s
No Tomorrow from The Union album.
CAN’T STAY ALONE TONIGHT
KB: This one I like. I think this should be a single. I like the
melody here, I like the way Bernie gives you both sides of the
story here. A song about a break-up, but the person still pining
over it and desiring to be back with them. The love/hate words
of the song gives you both sides of the coin emotionally.
Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 writes in the same style as this.
Again, it’s not a ballad, and I know Elton doesn’t get much radio airplay anymore, but I do think this song could be a hit.
MC: Can’t Stay Alone Tonight was a relief. I come out of
Quicksand where I’m drowning and I’m in the pits of hell, all
of a sudden now we have Can’t Stay Alone Tonight which is
very uplifting. I love the line ‘you’re the diner in my rear-view’.
I like this song. This song was a relief, but I thought it was a
standard little jingle. It’s not a mover and a shaker but it’s a
nice song.
VOYEUR
KB: I do like Voyeur. Terrific piano work. Lyrics are great. The
only thing I didn’t appreciate is (again) he’s straining his voice.
I can’t understand why he’s doing that on this album. Even
when he’s singing Voyeur in the back ground, I still feel he’s
pushing his voice and it comes through raspy. If I didn’t know
this was an Elton John album, I’d think it was Nickelback. Voyeur is a gem and it was the first time I felt that the studio musicians complimented the song.
MC: I love his voice on this. I love the lyrics. I love the piano
and what I liked about this song is when you’re doing an all
piano album, the songs can all start sounding the same when
you first play it, but Voyeur stuck out as an original tune that’s
very good. I love his vocals on the background part on the end
of the song. I think Voyeur is great coming right out of Can’t
Stay Alone Tonight.
HOME AGAIN
MC: I thought Home Again was a standard ballad. I think it’s
good. The one thing I was concerned about when I heard the 2
Cello’s were going to be on the album was I thought they would
be domineering, but I think they really compliment the song.
They give you that smooth ride and with this song you kind of
drift and I like that. I don’t think it was the mover and shaker that
Elton hoped for. It’s fun, it’s nice, but it’s your cookie cutter Elton
John song.
KB: This is where I think he’s getting bad advice. I think his
hangers-on are telling him that everything he writes is great
and people love the ballads. And he has had more hits with
ballads than with his up-beat songs, but I’m sick and
tired of them feeding us another Elton John ballad.
The marketplace is filled with EJ ballads.
Give us something else. If you look at
the last 10 years of his album releases, all of the first singles have
been ballads. For example; The Diving Board-Home Again
The Union - If It Wasn't For Bad, It Be Good
Gnomeo & Juliet – Hello, Hello
The Captain & The kid – The Bridge
Peachtree Road – Answer In The Sky
The Road to El Dorado – Someday Out of the Blue
Billy Elliot – Electricity
Songs from The West Coast – I Want Love
The list goes on and on….
Frankly, I think the market is saturated
already with Elton John ballads, and
I don’t want to hear any more.
Give me more songs like:
16th Century Man or
Just Like Noah’s Ark, not another ballad.
TAKE THIS DIRTY WATER
KB: I do like this song. Again, it’s an
up-tempo song. I thought I had the record
playing on the wrong speed. I feel Elton is having fun with
this track. The only issue I have is that I feel his piano is not as
prominent in this song. It seems secondary. I feel the piano is in
the background a little here, except when he’s showing his magic
on the keys. Dirty Water has a very gospel feel to it, I think the
choir is great here.
MC: I like the song too. I never thought about the piano not being prominent, but you do give me reason to think about it. What
dominates on this song is the gospel. I like that. Again it’s a little
bit more up-tempo, which makes it sound fast on this record.
THE NEW FEVER WALTZ
KB: This is one of the songs that reviewers recommended as a download for this album. Fever Waltz has
a nice tempo to it, it flows really well, I actually pic-
tured being in a ballroom and waltzing to this song. It’s
an elegant song and the lyrics are terrific.
MC: I like this song. I know Elton has said that this is
one of his favourites. I’ve seen him perform it and the
song translate well in concert. I think it’s a great song,
great lyrics as usual. In playing the album, this is one of
the songs that stuck out for me.
09
MEXICAN VACATION
KB: I do like this song, again a more up-tempo song. I love the
piano on this, however he’s pushing his voice again, it strains
throughout the song, but great piano riffs. There isn’t enough of
the band on this song to compliment it, whereas if you had the
EJ Band in there, they would have known what parts would be
needed to make this even better.
MC: Personally I take a vacation from Mexican Vacation. Second
to Ballad of Blind Tom, I really don’t listen to it. For me it’s just
another up-tempo diddy from Elton and it doesn’t turn my crank
that much. It doesn’t stand out for me.
DREAM #3
MC: I have to say that Dream #3 is a great introduction in to The
Diving Board. I do like the percussions on it.
THE DIVING BOARD
KB: Or as I call it, The Diving BORED. I cannot stand this song.
I put this right up there with My Quicksand. I feel his vocals are
weak on this track, and again, I don’t know
why he keeps trying to push his voice and
strain his vocals. Again, it sounds like he just
woke up and hasn’t had his morning tea yet.
Yes I know he’s 66 years old and he doesn’t
have the voice of his past, I get that.
But for a guy who is on the road 365 days
a year, and I’ve seldom
heard a bad note from
him in concert, why
doesn’t this translate onto
The Diving Board?
He sounds more like
Michael Buble on this track.
This is where I think the
album gets a
little pretentious.
T
I hat sort of attitude comes through to me anyway.
With everyone in the background telling him
“everything you write is great” well in my opinion it
isn’t. It’s the old 70’s attitude of shit for hits.
MC: I love the song. The way he starts out slow and builds is
great. You ought to jump off the diving board Kevin because I
think you’re missing the point here. He’s 66 years old, not 26
years old. I think you’ve been hitting the pipe like your mayor
up there in Toronto if you don’t like this album.
I disagree with Elton when he says his music is irrelevant, that’s
bullshit because it’s relevant to me. This is the man who I have
been following for 40 years, he matured and I like The Diving
Board, I like what it reflects. I love the lyrics, I like what its
about, living that superstar lifestyle, I think Elton is living this song.
I think this is a great tune and a great way to wrap up the album.
THE BONUS TRACKS
MC: I like these tracks, but when you’re listening to the opening
of each of these songs, they sound like the same song. I will say
that Candlelit Bedroom and Gauguin Goes Hollywood, I still
can’t separate those two songs in my head. 5th Avenue, I have
played the living daylights out of that song. I can’t understand
why it wasn’t on the album.
MARKETING
KB: What annoys me the most regarding these extra tracks was
that we had to go to several different stores to get them. And in
Canada, not all the versions were available. I never saw the deluxe box version of the album here. Target had their own version
of the CD, Walmart had their own version, and if you wanted the
Walmart employee concert DVD you had to buy another version
of the CD. If you wanted to have the documentary of the Million Dollar Piano show, you
have to buy another version of the CD from
Best Buy. And you know it’s only the real fans
that are buying all these copies.
The album sold 100,000 copies??? I believe it
was only 25,000 copies actually, because you
had to buy 4 versions of it.
0&This is the first time I ever had to buy
3 copies of an Elton John CD on the first day
of release. I thought the Diving Board Box Set,
which was for the fans, it’s a beautiful box set,
but they didn’t include the bonus tracks. Why
would I fork out the money for the box set
when you’re not giving us all the bonus tracks?
Forget it!
KB: The Diving Board Box Set was priced at
$150. That’s a high price to pay when you’re
not getting any bonus tracks. I recently bought
the Fleetwood Mac – Rumours box set. It came with 7 CD’s/
DVD’s, plus the vinyl album. I only paid $120. For that and I got
a lot more than what The Diving Board gives you.
MC: I had thought that the box set should have included
all the bonus tracks, the video of the Walmart concert, included
the Capital Records concert and the Million Dollar Piano documentary. If they had done that, I would have forked out. I saw
The Diving Board vinyl album, and it was $30. With the box
set, I did want the book, but I still would have had to buy these
3 other versions to get the bonus tracks. To get all of it, we’re
pushing $200. And that’s too much to spend on one album. With
this album, I think Elton was placating to the critics and working the critics over in advance, trying to build the hype of the
album 2 years before the release of it. I don’t think this album
was made for the fans. I feel that the real fans, we are the ones
buying it, we’re buying the different versions of it, we love what
he does, but I believe he needs to take a closer look at what he’s
doing and how he’s doing it.
Part of the Elton John experience is the Elton John band. I think
its okay to branch out and do something different once in a
while, but I feel that T-bone is just saying yes to everything, but
this is not John Melloncamp cutting another let’s gather around
the mic in Memphis. It’s a great record, and T-Bone is a good
producer, it’s not as muddy as The Union was, but I still think
the Elton John band create the Elton John sound. They know
when to move in and move out of a song and not dominate it.
KB: I agree. On some of the songs it seems like the band is secondary. I feel that they are there just to keep rhythm with him. I
feel that the studio band isn’t adding anything to the songs.
MC: I heard Bernie say that Jay Bellarose is his favourite drummer. Jay Bellarose is fine, but if you want the right drummer for
Elton John and for this record, Nigel Olsson should have been
the guy. The same for Davey Johnstone on guitar, you didn’t
need to go and get Doyle Bramhall.
The Elton John band knows how to touch the song and make
it Elton John’s. When I listen to this album, I’m still looking to
hear Davey or Nigel. The bass player on the album is okay, but
I don’t see where he was spectacular, like Matt Bisonnette or
Bob Birch would have been. I just don’t see it, because when
I’ve seen these guys live,(the EJ band) that’s when you prove
true musicianship. They’re not fake, they’re the real deal, and
if you had the EJ band on this album, they would have made a
big difference.
KB: Another thing that bothers me is the chart position of the
album. It came in at number 4 on the Billboard chart. How can
an album that only sells 70,000 copies in the first week make
number 4? I know he’s not going to have a million selling album anymore, but since when did 70,000 copies sold constitute
a number 4 ranking? Did they lower the criteria on the amount
of sales needed to hit the top 10? Was it a slow release week?
MC: I understand that Elton wants to compete, and he can compete with these young rockers, but let’s compete in rock n roll.
Don’t give me Frank Sinatra soft ballads. Don’t get me wrong,
I love what this guys does, I love this album, but now its time
to get back to kick ass rock n roll, which I think would really
get him to compete.
KB: I think that the high chart position and the album sales
were on account of the die-hard fans. I think the marketing of
this album wasn’t there to support it as it should have. Sure
we’ve been hearing about it for a year and it’s gotten good reviews, but it also has received terrible reviews. I’ve read more
negative reviews on this album than positive ones, and the album sank from the charts within the first month.
10
These dates are available
at time of printing.
Visit www.eltonjohn.com
for updated dates.
Feb 01 2014 Y Yyoungstown ohio
Covelli Centre
Feb 03 2014 London, ON, Canada
Budweiser Gardens
Feb 05 2014 Montreal, QC, Canada Bell Centre
Feb 06 2014 Toronto, ON, Canada
Air Canada Centre
Feb 08 2014 Hamilton, ON, Canada Copps Coliseum
Feb 12 2014 Oshawa, ON, Canada General Motors
Feb 13 2014 Ottawa, ON, Canada
Canadian Tire Centre
Feb 19 2014 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil HSBC Arena
Feb 21 2014 Goiânia, Brazil
Estádio Serra Dourada
Feb 22 2014 Salvador, Brazil
Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova
Feb 26 2014 Fortaleza, Brazil
Arena Castelão
Feb 28 2014
Mar 13 2014
Mar 15 2014
Mar 21 2014
Mar 22 2014
Mar 29 2014
Mar 30 2014
Apr 01 2014
Apr 03 2014
Apr 05 2014
Apr 06 2014
Apr 09 2014
Apr 10 2014
Apr 12 2014
Apr 16 2014
Apr 18 2014
Apr 19 2014
Apr 22 2014
Apr 23 2014
Apr 25 2014
Apr 26 2014
Jun 21 2014
Paul McCartney and Sting had the same problem with their
latest releases. This is where Elton needs to pay attention to
the fans. I’m confident in saying that 98% of the sales of this
record were purchased by the real fans, not by the general
public. If you want to hear Elton John back in form, listen to
The Captain and The Kid. But even Paris Hilton sold more
albums than Elton did that year. There is something
seriously wrong with the music industry and music fans.
MC: If Elton heads back into the studio with the same fervour as this album, but brings the EJ band in, I think you’d
have a much better album. It’s been almost 8 years since the
EJ band has been on an Elton record. Let’s see what T-Bone
can do with the EJ band.
Jun 24 2014
Jun 29 2014
Jul 02 2014
Jul 06 2014
Jul 10 2014
Jul 11 2014
Jul 18 2014
Jul 19 2014
Jul 20 2014
Jul 22 2014
Jul 23 2014
Nov 19 2014
11
La Romana,
Dominican Republic
Dallas, TX, USA
Birmingham, AL, USA
New Orleans, LA, USA
Bossier City, LA, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USAs
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Greater
Manchester, UK
Nottingham, UK
Colchester, UK
Newcastle, UK
Halle/Westfalen,
Germany
Fulda, Germany
Dresden, Germany
Carhaix, France
Mainz, Germany
Mönchengladbach,
Germany
Regensberg, Germany
Lörrach, Germany
Paris, France
Altos de Chavón
American Airlines Center
BJCC Arena
New Orleans Arena
CenturyLink Center
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
The Colosseum, Caesars Palace
Leigh Sports Village Leigh,
Capital FM Arena
Weston Homes Comm Stadium
Metro Radio Arena
Gerry Weber Stadion
Domplatz
Theatreplatz vor der Semperoper
Festival des Vieilles Charrues
Zollhafen Nordmole
Warsteiner HockeyPark
Inner Castle
Marktplatz, OPEN-AIR
Bercy
tell me what the papers say
Engelbert sings with his ‘wishlist’ of stars - Happy 3rd Birthday
Elton, Smokey, Cliff and co - to record latest Zachary Furnish-John!
album
POSTED: DECEMBER 25,
By Leicester Mercury | Posted: January 10, 2014
2013 BY KIRSTIN-MIRTICH
By Adrian Troughton
Humperdinck may be just three years short of his 80th birthday, but he
has just recorded an album of duets with some of the biggest names in
world music.The Leicester singer has finished recording the tracks after
drawing up a “wish list” of artists he wanted to work with.
Engelbert has teamed up with singers including Sir Cliff Richard, Sir
Elton John, Willie Nelson, Lulu, Smokey Robinson and Gene Simmons, lead singer of US rock group Kiss. The album, Engelbert Calling
– recorded in London, Nashville and Los Angeles – is due to be released
on March 17.
Engelbert, who lives in Los Angeles and Great Glen, said: “My son and
manager, Scott Dorsey, started putting this together more than two years
ago because there are so may international artists who are constantly
touring the world.
“It’s taken time to get producers, singers and schedules in the same
place. It’s been a labour of love and I’m truly proud of how it’s turned
out.”
Duets he has recorded include a cover of the Shirley Bassey classic
Never Never Never with Olivia Newton-John, Something About The
Way You Look Tonight with Elton John and To Make You Feel My
Love with country music legend Willie Nelson. Sir Elton said his new
recording pal was “one of the sweetest and nicest people I have ever
worked with.”
“We had a great time singing together. He is 77 years old and still sounding as good as ever.”
Engelbert said: “I am truly thrilled to be working with some of the
greats of show business and am honoured Sir Elton has contributed to
this album.
“I had an absolute blast recording and measuring tongue sizes with
Gene Simmons. He won – just.”
Engelbert is already planning a follow-up album of duets called Engelbert Redialled. He said he had six stars lined up and did not rule out the
possibility of recording with Leicester’s X Factor winner Sam Bailey.
He said: “Sam is a huge talent and of course I would love to be able to
give her a leg up the ladder of success and, after 50 years in this business
and 150 million record sales, I could offer her that.”
Son Scott said: “It has always been a passion of mine to record a great
contemporary CD with my father and his peers.
“With all the legendary collaborating artists, the CD comes together in
a very raw, open recording. I love it.”
Engelbert’s new album – his 80th, including compilations – comes 45
years after his number one single and signature tune, Please Release Me.
12
Name: Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John
Parents: Elton John & David Furnish
Date of Birth: December 25, 2010
Siblings: Elijah, nearly 1
Facts: Zachary was born via a surrogate in California. His little brother
Elijah was born via the same surrogate, who also reportedly gave birth
to Camille and Kelsey Grammer’s children. He weighed 7 lbs & 15 oz at
birth. Lady Gaga is one of Zachary’s godmothers
”One of Zachary’s middle names, Levon, is the title of an Elton John song.
We chose it because there is a line in the song ‘He was born on Christmas
Day’ – and of course Zachary was born on December 25, 2010.”
“I love getting up in the morning and having breakfast with Zachary.
They’re very portable; it’s lovely to take them around the world. The biggest change for me, everything I thought I would find annoying about
having children, like screaming and shouting, and tantrums… I don’t find
any of it annoying,I find it all enchanting.You learn so much about your self and about life by seeing children. A ritual I love is 6:30 ‘tubby time.’ I
know every children’s book back to front… even in Las Vegas, he has his
bath backstage, now we have to bathe two of them backstage.”
Lady Gaga
“She’s a great role mode. She’s been a great godmother to Zachary. She
came to bathe him in Las Vegas. She was already dressed to go to the
show, and she was sitting there and she bathed him, and she was like
dressed like Audrey Hepburn… and she fed him… We’re all bonkers in
this business, but we’re human beings at the same time. Zachary and Elijah’s godmother, Lady Gaga.
Behind the Song: “Tiny Dancer” by Elton
John
Written by Jim Beviglia December 23rd, 2013 at 11:04 am
“Tiny Dancer”
There are songs that create an immediate impact on the listening world,
and there are others that take a little time to make their mark on the public
consciousness. Consider the example of “Tiny Dancer,” words by Bernie
Taupin and music by Elton John, the opening track on John’s 1971 album
Madman Across The Water. Elton didn’t even release it as a single in the
U.K., and, though it was a single in America, it didn’t make much of a
dent, reaching only #41 on the charts.
So why wasn’t it a hit the first time around? The simplest explanation is
that the radio edit for the song, which clocked in at longer than six minutes on the album, took away much of what made it great. The edit robbed
“Tiny Dancer” of the subtle musical progression that takes it from John’s
solo piano and vocal at the beginning to the inspiring string arrangement
of Paul Buckmaster that carries the song home. Along the way, there’s
some pedal steel to add just a touch of country and a choir to take the song
gently into gospel territory.
It’s a stellar performance by John as well, so truncating even a second of
that was a crime. He builds his vocal right along the music, starting a bit
reserved, climbing through the middle section in anticipation, and then
finally exploding in the chorus in that trademark high-pitched croon. (And
no one has ever made the word “auditorium” sound so melodic.)
Luckily, for the song’s sake, the AOR format that took hold on FM radio
in the 1970s allowed for more leeway in terms of length. Thus “Tiny
Dancer” began to be heard in its proper form by those who didn’t already
own the album. Its popularity grew in kind, to the point where it became
a staple of classic rock and easy listening formats as well.
As a result, more people had the chance to try and unravel the mysteries
of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics. What exactly was going on here? Just who was
the beneficiary of this beautiful tribute? And why indeed was she so darn
tiny?
The obvious answer seemed to be that the song was written about Maxine Feibelmann, Taupin’s first wife, who was indeed a “seamstress for
the band.” After all, the credits for the song on the Madman Across The
Water album end with the phrase “With love to Maxine.” But dedicating
a song to someone and writing a song about that person are two different
things, and Taupin clarified the confusion in an interview with Rolling
Stone which he quotes on his website.
“We came to California in the fall of 1970 and it seemed like sunshine just
radiated from the populace,” Taupin says. “I guess I was trying to capture
the spirit of that time, encapsulated by the women we met, especially at
the clothes stores and restaurants and bars all up and down the Sunset
Strip. They were these free spirits, sexy, all hip-huggers and lacy blouses,
very ethereal the way they moved.”
“They were just so different from what I’d been used to in England,”
Taupin continues. “They had this thing about embroidering your clothes.
They wanted to sew patches on your jeans. They mothered you and slept
with you. It was the perfect Oedipal complex.”
Taupin’s lyrics effortlessly bring these women to life by amalgamating
them into a single “blue-jean baby” who captures the heart of the narrator.
She floats among her surroundings seemingly unaffected, handling even
the rougher aspects of it with a shrug: “The boulevard is not that bad.” Her
charms are never more evident than in the immortal lines about her reaction to her favorite song: “The words she knows, the tune she hums.”
What seems like an ephemeral relationship is anything but that, as is made
clear when the chorus comes around and John belts out “Hold me closer,
tiny dancer.” With the combination of the stirring music and Elton’s powerful vocal, it’s one of those cathartic moments that only the best rock
ballads can produce.
13
That emotional release is just what director Cameron Crowe latched onto
when he cast the song in a crucial role in his definitive film about the
rock and roll life, 2000’s Almost Famous. At one point in the movie, the
fictional band Stillwater is at the end of its tether due to infighting and its
lead guitarist’s drug-induced freakout at a high school party. As a tense
silence hovers over the tour bus, the drummer slowly begins banging out
a familiar beat and, one-by-one, band members and groupies begin singing the words to “Tiny Dancer” until they’re all screaming out the refrain.
Fences are immediately mended because the song has reminded them just
why they came together in the first place.
Such is the power of this song whose longevity and impact has long since
overwhelmed the initial humdrum reaction to it. But one mystery remains.
Luckily, Bernie Taupin has the answer.
“Why ‘Tiny Dancer’? Well, I guess that’s just poetic license. It just sounds
better than ‘small dancer’ or little dancer.’”
Science Patron Jeffrey Epstein Collaborates
with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to
Combat HIV Resistance
New York, New York (PRWEB) January 07, 2014
The funding marks the collaborative backing for a cocktail approach
to fighting the HIV virus and critically for combating resistance by
targeting treatment on an individual basis.The well-known New York
science philanthropist, Jeffrey Epstein, has put his support behind the
celebrated Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF). The funding marks
the collaborative backing for a cocktail approach to fighting the HIV
virus and for combating resistance by targeting treatment on an individual basis, based on genotype, blood type and many other factors.
For more than a decade now, scientists have agreed that a cocktail of
inhibitors and other drugs have been critical to combating the HIV virus. Viral resistance however has been a growing problem and what is
emerging is the growing trend of targeting treatment on an individual
basis to reduce the chance of resistant strains.
In 2000, Jeffrey Epstein, an established financier and science philanthropist, founded the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard
University which, over the past three years, has collaborated with
John Hopkins University to develop a database to map and predict the
effect of drugs on the HIV virus. Like cancer cells, HIV can develop
resistance to inhibitor drugs, even to drug combinations. Resistance
is a growing problem for patients, who can stay on the same regimen
of drugs for years, and the trial and error of clinical trials can be debilitating and lengthy. Using data collected from thousands of blood
tests on more than 20 anti-HIV drugs, the Program for Evolutionary
Dynamic’s model calculates each drug’s ability to suppress viral replication and avoid resistant HIV strains. The model factors in different
drug combinations and dosages, but also blood type, viral genotype,
viral load, HIV stage, treatment history, age, sex and a host of other
variables to arrive at the most precisely engineered predictor of results
for future patients. Founded in 1993 by Sir Elton John, the Elton John
AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is one of the world’s leading nonprofits in
the field of HIV/AIDS. Since its inception, EJAF has raised more than
$300 million to fund worthy projects across the globe. The EJAF also
supports direct services for persons living with HIV/AIDS, including
medical and mental health treatment, testing and counseling services,
case management and social service coordination, legal aid, and professional training.
Over the last decade, the EJAF has awarded funding for the outstanding HIV Drug Resistance Database at Stanford University’s Clinical
Virology Laboratory in California. The database provides the largest
publicly available resource for HIV drug resistance surveillance, interpreting HIV drug resistance tests, and developing new antiretroviral drugs. The database has more than 90,000 HIV sequences from
approximately 80,000 distinct virus isolations obtained from nearly
40,000 individuals. When presented with an HIV sequence, the genotypic resistance interpretation algorithm takes into consideration
hundreds of factors including: correlations between genotypic data
with the treatments of persons from whom sequenced HIV-1 isolates
have been obtained (genotype-treatment); (2) Correlations between
genotype and in vitro drug susceptibility (genotype-phenotype); and
(3) Correlations between genotype and the clinical response to a new
treatment regimen (genotype-outcome) to render an interpretation.
“The next great advance in HIV treatment will be the ability to foresee viral resistance and to avert it before it develops,” Jeffrey Epstein
remarked.
Since its discovery, AIDS has caused an estimated 36 million deaths
(as of 2012). Today, approximately 35.3 million people live with HIV
globally. AIDS is still considered a pandemic, a disease outbreak that
exists over a large area and is actively spreading.
Jeffrey Epstein is the founder of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and a former member of the Mind, Brain and
Behavior Committee at Harvard. He is one of the largest sponsors of
individual scientists around the world including many eminent Nobel
Laureates. He is a former board member of Rockefeller University,
the Trilateral Commission and the Council for Foreign Relations. His
foundation, the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation was established in 2003
to support cutting edge science research around the world.
NEW MUSICAL in the works
Loud press acclaim and record box office takings follows the opening
of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (8th). This news causes a flurry of
excitement elsewhere in the arts, with plans announced for a musical
written by Elton John with David Starkey.
BUY SHARES IN HONKY CHATEAU
STUDIO
About Project to re-invent Chateau d’Herouville. Create a one-stop
audio video studio complex featuring Live streaming of musical performance to the internet.
Mission
Once upon a time, not so long ago, but pre-digital era, people could
actually feel emotion when they listened to recorded Music. Yes we
know, for some of you, this is hard to believe, but very true. (This was
before the ridiculously compressed mp3 file with everything resolving to 16bit had been designed and implemented) We know, many
of you were not even born yet, and have no comparison value, but
really Music is about feeling emotion when you listen. Lots of this
Music was originally recorded in the acoustical warmth of Chateau
d’Herouville.
Now that technology has progressed past it’s current sterile state, our
mission is to install this new technology, integrate it with classic analog, and rejuvenate the most famous music castle in the world. So that
when you listen (and watch, since we will be streaming live to the internet) you can laugh and cry and dance and certainly Feel the Music.
And live so very happily ever after.....
Company Overview
Honky Chateau LTD Co. LLC has been created to rejuvenate Chateau
d’Herouville.
The project includes the purchase and restoration of the music castle.
The wood beams in the castle absorbed so much musical vibration
over the years the rooms themselves sound like a an old well played
Martin guitar. The region Val d’Oise will help us restore the exter...
See More
Description
In 1969, the Chateau d’Herouville, located in the Oise Valley just outside of Paris, France, was converted into one of the most well known
recording studios of its time. Over the course of 14 years, the studio
worked with some of the most talented musicians in history to produce truly iconic music. Some of these musicians included…
Elton John
The Grateful Dead
Pink Floyd
David Bowie
Fleetwood Mac
The Bee Gees
Iggy Pop
…and many more.
Sadly, the studios at the Chateau have been quiet for over 20 years.
However, it has become our mission to restore the studio to its former glory. Our team of industry professionals and avid musicians are
working day and night to rebirth the studios into the digital millennium. Infused with state of the art equipment and technology, while still
preserving its century-old rustic character, the Chateau d’Herouville
will once again become a place of legend.
For the first time, artists and producers will be able to promote their
music and earn revenues while simultaneously working on their next
project or album. Each studio will be equipped with high-definition
audio and video equipment to live-stream to an audience around the
world, while benefiting from professional recording services. Artists
will be able to connect with their fans on a much more personal level,
providing a whole new stage for promotion and interaction, all while
reaching a global audience.
With luxurious accommodations and amenities, artists will be able to
escape the noisy city atmosphere and enjoy the seclusion of our studios in the quiet French countryside. Our creative zone will provide
everything you need during your stay, so you can focus on what’s
most important: the music.
Visit our website today to learn more about the studio, its facilities,
and services. honkychateau.fr
Launched
September 27, 2013
Products
Member Unit and Member Unit Share Certificatesare debt capital issued
in accordance with Security Exchange Commission (S
14
Member Units.
There are thirty five Honky Chateau LTD Co. LLC Member Units listed
at $371,428.00 each. The units can be acquired on a selective basis. Investment term is three years.
One Member Unit has been divided by ten. Shares of this member unit are
$37,142.00 each. The investment term is three years.
One Member Unit has been divided by one hundred. Shares of this member unit are $3,714.00 The investment term is three years.
ANNUAL RETURN:10% Perks:Weekend Visits to the Chateau
d’Herouville. Tickets to Live performance on the grounds. Free streaming reception. Bumpable studio time.
*All Member Unit and Member Unit Share Holders participate in profit
sharing.
For Member Units and Member Unit Shares please contact Mark Furnas
at Jim Halsey Company [email protected]
order form
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a CANADA $36
a INTERNATIONAL $50
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phone# 416-763-8500
MAIL TO: EAST END LIGHTS
11-4040 CREDITVIEW RD.
P.O. BOX 188
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
L5C 3Y8-CANADA
15
FAX TO:
905-566-7369
See You All Again
Next Time....
In 2015
Thanks to everyone who
came and had a good
time.
IT WAS A BLAST!
Kevin Bell
East End Lights