Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Studio album by Elton John
Released	October 5, 1973
Recorded	Château d'Hérouville, Pontoise, France, May 1973
Genre	Rock
Length	76:12
Label	MCA Records
Producer(s)	Gus Dudgeon
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone link
Elton John chronology
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Caribou (1974)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1973. It is regarded by many as his greatest effort. With worldwide sales of 20 million it is his best selling studio album. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 91 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Cover for album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. ... A studio album is a collection of previously unreleased, studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE [2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a multiple Grammy and Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... is the 278th day of the year (279th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... Pontoise is a suburban commune of the Val-dOise département, in suburban Paris in France. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Music Corporation of America was a United States based corporation in the music business. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Gus Dudgeon (1942 - 2002) was a British record producer, and the inventor of audio sampling as a musical device. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4. ... Robert Christgau (2007) Robert Christgau (sometimes abbreviated in print to Xgau), born April 18, 1942, is an American essayist, music journalist, and the self-declared Dean of American Rock Critics[1] His first reviews were published by Esquire in 1967. ... This article is about the magazine. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE [2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a multiple Grammy and Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... Dont Shoot Me Im Only the Piano Player is the seventh album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). ... Caribou is the eighth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1974 (see 1974 in music). ... A studio album is a collection of previously unreleased, studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE [2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a multiple Grammy and Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the magazine. ... Promotional Book Cover The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. ...

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville, where he had previously recorded Honky Chateau and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. The amount of material was such that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released as a double album, his first. This album had originally been planned to be recorded in Jamaica, since the Rolling Stones had recorded Goats Head Soup there. Technical difficulties, coupled with political unrest in the country at the time forced the band to make an early departure without any productive work getting done.^{[citation needed]} Honky Château is the sixth album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music). ... Dont Shoot Me Im Only the Piano Player is the seventh album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). ... A double album is an audio album of sufficient length that two units of the medium in which it is sold (especially records and compact discs) are necessary to contain the entirety of it. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Goats Head Soup is an album by The Rolling Stones released in 1973. ...

In addition to the three successful singles released from this album (see below), many other cuts received substantial airplay at AOR stations when it was released, including "Harmony"; the 11-minute epic, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"; and his Marilyn Monroe tribute, "Candle in the Wind." It was produced by Gus Dudgeon. Album-oriented rock (sometimes referred to as Adult-oriented rock or as West Coast Rock), abbreviated AOR and originally called album-oriented radio, was originally an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists. ... Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding is the opening song on the two-part album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. ... Candle in the Wind is a song with music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. ... Gus Dudgeon (1942 - 2002) was a British record producer, and the inventor of audio sampling as a musical device. ...

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. John/Taupin is a songwriting team that consists of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. ...

Side one

1. "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" – 11:08
2. "Candle in the Wind" – 3:41
3. "Bennie and the Jets" – 5:23

Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding is the opening song on the two-part album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. ... Candle in the Wind is a song with music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Side two

1. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – 3:14
2. "This Song Has No Title" – 2:23
3. "Grey Seal" – 3:58
4. "Jamaica Jerk-Off" – 3:39
5. "I've Seen That Movie Too" – 5:59

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. ...

Side three

1. "Sweet Painted Lady" – 3:52
2. "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)" – 4:24
3. "Dirty Little Girl" – 5:01
4. "All the Girls Love Alice" – 5:08

Side four

1. "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)" – 2:42
2. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" – 4:54
3. "Roy Rogers" – 4:08
4. "Social Disease" – 3:44
5. "Harmony" – 2:45

Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting (sometimes written Saturday Nights Alright (For Fighting)) is a rock & roll song performed by musician Elton John. ...

Bonus tracks (2003 30th Anniversary Hybrid SACD Deluxe Edition / DVD-A Edition)

1. "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" – 2:51
2. "Jack Rabbit" – 1:52
3. "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" – 4:44
4. "Candle in the Wind" (acoustic version) – 3:51

The original 1973 Long Play was on two vinyl discs, while the standard Compact Disc version fit on one disc, as it was slightly less than eighty minutes.

Personnel

• "Funeral for a Friend"
  • Elton John – piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer

• "Love Lies Bleeding"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer

• "Candle in the Wind"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

• "Bennie and the Jets"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, organ
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – Leslie guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "This Song Has No Title"
  • Elton John – vocals, Farfisa organ, electric piano, mellotron, piano

• "Grey Seal"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, mellotron, electric piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, congas

• "Jamaica Jerk-Off"
  • Elton John – vocals, organs
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Prince Rhino – vocal Interjections

• "I've Seen That Movie Too"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Sweet Painted Lady"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, tambourine
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Dirty Little Girl"
  • Elton John – vocals, Leslie piano, mellotron
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "All the Girls Love Alice"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • David Hentschel – A.R.P. synthesizer
  • Ray Cooper – tambourine
  • Kiki Dee – background vocals

• "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano, Farfisa organ
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – electric, slide guitars, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

• "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar
  • Nigel Olsson – drums

• "Roy Rogers"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic, steel guitars
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

• "Social Disease"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass
  • Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, Banjo
  • Nigel Olsson – drums
  • Leroy Gomez – saxophone

• "Harmony"
  • Elton John – vocals, piano
  • Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals
  • Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
  • Del Newman – orchestral arrangement

Dee Murray (April 3, 1946 - January 15, 1992; born David Murray Oates in Southgate, London) was a British bassist, best known as a member of Elton Johns original rock band. ... Johnstone(left) performing Funeral For a Friend at an Elton John concert. ... Olsson (back) performing at an Elton John concert at the Royal Opera House. ... David Hentschel is an English recording engineer, writer and music producer. ...

Production

• Producer: Gus Dudgeon
• Engineer: David Hentschel
• Assistant engineers: Peter Kelsey, Andy Scott
• Tape operator: Barry Sage
• Orchestra contractor: David Katz
• Arranger: Del Newman
• Art direction: David Larkham, Michael Ross
• Artwork: David Larkham, Michael Ross, Ian Beck
• Liner notes: Gus Dudgeon, John Tobler

Charts

Album

It has been suggested that Billboard be merged into this article or section. ...

Singles

Certifications