Blue Moves is the eleventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released in October 1976. It was John's second double album and the first to be released by his own label, Rocket Records Ltd. The album reached number 3 in the US charts, ending a long streak of chart-topping albums for John that began with Honky Château in 1972.
Background
Having completed what he described as a "gruelling American tour", John only gave a handful of performances at the time of release, and later announced, "I haven't been touring for a long time. It's been a painful decision, whether to come back on the road or not... I've made a decision tonight – this is going to be the last show... There's a lot more to me than playing on the road." He accordingly left the touring/live performing scene for a brief period. Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, James Newton-Howard and Roger Pope played their last shows together as part of the Elton John Band during John's seven-night engagement at Madison Square Garden at the conclusion of the Louder Than Concorde Tour, and formally were let go from the band after the album's release. The shows were the last time Pope, Passarelli, Quaye and John played together. Newton-Howard would briefly rejoin John's touring band in 1980, and work with him on the 1986 Tour De Force shows in Australia and New Zealand. Only Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper returned for roles on John's next album, A Single Man and beyond. John has stated that Blue Moves is one of his favourites of the albums he has recorded. It was the last album Gus Dudgeon produced with John for almost a decade. The cover art is from a painting by British artist Patrick Procktor, called "The Guardian Readers". In the U.S., it was certified gold in October and platinum in December 1976 by the RIAA. "Cage the Songbird" was a tribute to legendary French songstress Edith Piaf, and a year or so later was covered by Kiki Dee on an unreleased Rocket album, which finally was issued in 2008. The Beach Boys turned down "Chameleon", but Bruce Johnston, a former Beach Boy, performed backing vocals on John's version along with Toni Tennille. John also performed the song at Wembley Stadium in 1975, where he also performed the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album in its entirety. An excerpt from "Out of the Blue" was used for the closing titles on Top Gear until the end of that Top Gear format. This was one of two albums in which Davey Johnstone does not provide backing vocals; 1997's The Big Picture would be the other. Basic tracks for Blue Moves were recorded at Eastern Sound in Toronto, Ontario. Additional overdubs were done at EMI Studios, Abbey Road in London, Brother Studio in Santa Monica, California and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California. The album was mixed at Marquee Studios in London. John has played several songs from Blue Moves live: "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", "Bite Your Lip", "One Horse Town", "Tonight", "Idol" and "Crazy Water" have been played during various concert appearances through the years.
Reception
Blue Moves has received mixed reviews since its release. A contemporary review for Rolling Stone said the album "contains nowhere near enough good songs to justify the extended length" and that the interludes and instrumentals were done "to the exclusion of sense." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described it as "impossibly weepy" and "excessive". Lindsay Planer of Allmusic later said the album showed the "inevitable fatigue" of John's "immense creativity" that had helped create his previous albums of his career.
Track listing
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted. ;Side one
"Your Starter For..." – 1:23
"Tonight" – 7:52
"One Horse Town" – 5:56
"Chameleon" – 5:27
;Side two
"Boogie Pilgrim" – 6:05
"Cage the Songbird" – 3:25
"Crazy Water" – 5:42
"Shoulder Holster" – 5:10
;Side three
"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" – 3:48
"Out of the Blue" – 6:14
"Between Seventeen and Twenty" – 5:17
"The Wide Eyed and Laughing" – 3:27
"Someone's Final Song" – 4:10
;Side four
"Where's the Shoorah?" – 4:09
"If There's a God in Heaven " – 4:25
"Idol" – 4:08
"Theme From a Non-Existent TV Series" – 1:19
"Bite Your Lip " – 6:43
Initial CD versions of the album maintain the same running order, but omit the following tracks: "Shoulder Holster", "The Wide-Eyed and Laughing", "Out of the Blue", and "Where's the Shoorah?" It has since been remastered and re-released as a 2-CD set retaining the original LP track listing.
Personnel
Track numbering refers to the 2-CD and digital releases of the album.
