Listen to:  Elton John (Deluxe Edition) [Digipak] Disc 1 1)  Your Song 2)  I Need You To Turn To 3)  Take Me To the Pilot 4)  No Shoe Strings On Louise 5)  First Episode At Hienton 6)  Sixty Years On 7)  Border Song 8)  The Greatest Discovery 9)  The Cage 10)  The King Must Die   Disc 2 1)  Your Song - (previously unreleased) 2)  I Need You To Turn To - (previously unreleased) 3)  Take Me To the Pilot - (previously unreleased) 4)  No Shoe Strings On Louise - (previously unreleased) 5)  Sixty Years On - (previously unreleased) 6)  The - (previously unreleased) Greatest Discovery 7)  The - (previously unreleased) Cage 8)  The - (previously unreleased) King Must Die 9)  Rock and Roll Madonna - (previously unreleased) 10)  Thank You Mama - (previously unreleased) 11)  All the Way Down To El Paso - (previously unreleased) 12)  I'm Going Home - (previously unreleased) 13)  Grey Seal - (previously unreleased) 14)  Rock and Roll Madonna - (previously unreleased) 15)  Bad Side of the Moon - (previously unreleased) 16)  Grey Seal [Version 1970] - (previously unreleased) 17)  Rock and Roll Madonna - (previously unreleased) 18)  Border Song [Bbc Session (With Hookfoot)] - (previously unreleased) 19)  Your Song [Bbc Session] - (previously unreleased) 20)  Take Me To the Pilot (Bbc Session) - (previously unreleased) RealOne Player (Download) Windows Media player (Download)

• Personnel: Elton John (vocals, piano, harpsichord); Colin Green, Alan Parker , Roland Harker, Alan Weighall, Caleb Quaye (guitar); Frank Clark (acoustic guitar, acoustic bass guitar); Clive Hicks (12-string guitar); Skaila Kanga (harp); Paul Buckmaster (cello); Brian Dee (organ); Diana Lewis (Moog synthesizer); Dave Richmond, Les Hurdie (bass instrument); Terry Cox, Barry Morgan (drums); Dennis Lopez, Tex Navarra (percussion).
  
• Liner Note Author: Gus Dudgeon.
  
• Elton John's second album was his first to be released in the U.S., and the difference between it and its predecessor, EMPTY SKY, is palpable and immediate. ELTON JOHN opens with "Your Song," a halting ballad that is one of the most moving love songs in the modern pop canon. The album also marks John's fruitful association with Gus Dudgeon and arranger Paul Buckmaster (who'd previously collaborated on David Bowie's "Space Oddity"). The team came up with a spare orchestral sound that surrounds the singer and his piano with dashes of both classical and rock guitar, synthesizers, carefully arranged drums, and searing strings.
  
• This wasn't all-out pop yet, but rather a striking and singular brand of folk-rock. "Take Me To The Pilot" shows flashes of John's rocking future ("Bennie And The Jets" descended from it), "No Shoe Strings On Louise" is Rolling Stonesy country-rock, and "Sixty Years On" is haunting and memorable. More typical for this session is "I Need You To Turn To," another love song that finds lyricist Bernie Taupin in an unusually direct mode, and features a beautiful harpsichord melody from John. ELTON JOHN cast the mold for the singer's future superstardom.
  

Mojo (Publisher) (p.122) - "The hit single 'Your Song,' still his signature, the gospel-influenced 'Border Song' and the deep meditation 'Sixty Years On' all posited Elton as a most serious singer-songwriter."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.95) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Here the listener gets a more focused idea of Elton's craft as a tunesmith, the subtle nuances of his chord structures marking him out as an innovative talent."

Producer:	Gus Dudgeon
Format:	CD
Country:	USA
Quantity Available:	18
UPC:	600753055595
Studio/Live:	Studio
Release Date:	20 May 2008