When Elton John set out for his first headlining tour in 1971, his label didn’t provide enough funds to cover a full band so the soon-to-be legendary pianist hired bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson and reworked the songs to fit his new trio. Breaking the tunes down to the basics gave them a raw, focused side of John’s music that disappeared as he added 2 and then 5 and then 10 more pieces to his band over the years. Check out this trio version of Levon from 1971 and let us know if you agree…
One Response
TrioElton rules. My dad saw him on this tour and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. The songs on the first 3 records really shined in this format, and if you dig you should listen to the live record ’17-11-70′ (or at least the killer 18 min “Burn Down the Mission”.)
Elton gn00bs – check out the Tumbleweed Connection record. Without question Sir Reg’s best.