Through the medium of cinematic metaphor, the album builds on nostalgia for a childhood and culture left in the past. John and Taupin composed a total of 22 tracks for the album, of which 18 (counting 'Funeral for a Friend' and 'Love Lies Bleeding' as two distinct tracks) were used, enough that it was released as a double album, John's first (three more such albums followed up to 2011). The band plays on all the songs except 'This Song Has No Title,' on which John performs all the piano, keyboard and vocal parts.Īccording to the album's producer, Gus Dudgeon, the album was not planned as a two-record collection. While a version of 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' was recorded in Jamaica, that recording was discarded the released version of the song came from the sessions at the Château. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded in two weeks at the Studio d'enregistrement Michel Magne, at the Château d'Hérouville near Pontoise, in France, where John had previously recorded Honky Château and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. Production on the album was started in Jamaica in January 1973, but due to difficulties with the sound system and the studio piano, logistical issues arising from the Joe Frazier– George Foreman boxing match taking place in Kingston, and protests over the political and economic situation in the country, the band decided to move before any productive work was done. John had wanted to go to Jamaica, in part because the Rolling Stones had just recorded Goats Head Soup there. Under the working titles of Vodka and Tonics and Silent Movies, Talking Pictures, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics in two and a half weeks, with John composing most of the melodies in three days while staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003, and continues to be highly regarded in various rankings. Recorded at the Studio d'enregistrement Michel Magne at the Château d'Hérouville in France, the album became a double LP once John and his band became inspired by the locale.

Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits ' Candle in the Wind,' US number-one single ' Bennie and the Jets,' ' Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and ' Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' plus live favourite ' Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.' The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magnum opus. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by English singer, pianist, and composer Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP.

' Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting'.

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