Elton John (album)


Elton John is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 10 April 1970 by DJM Records. It was released by Uni Records as John's debut album in the United States; many people there assumed it was his first album, as Empty Sky was not released in that country until 1975. Elton John includes his breakthrough single "Your Song", and helped to establish his career during what was considered the "singer-songwriter" era of popular music. In the US, it was certified gold in February 1971 by the Recording Industry Association of America. In the same year, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
This was the first of a string of John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. As Dudgeon recalled in a Mix magazine interview, the album was not actually intended to launch John as an artist, but rather as a collection of polished demos for other artists to consider recording his and co-writer Bernie Taupin's songs.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 468 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance".
The song "No Shoe Strings on Louise" was intended to sound like a Rolling Stones song.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
;Side one
  1. "Your Song" – 4:02
  2. "I Need You to Turn To" – 2:35
  3. "Take Me to the Pilot" – 3:47
  4. "No Shoe Strings on Louise" – 3:31
  5. "First Episode at Hienton" – 4:48
;Side two
  1. "Sixty Years On" – 4:35
  2. "Border Song" – 3:22
  3. "The Greatest Discovery" – 4:12
  4. "The Cage" – 3:28
  5. "The King Must Die" – 5:23

    Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)

  6. "Bad Side of the Moon" – 3:15
  7. "Grey Seal" – 3:35
  8. "Rock and Roll Madonna" – 4:17

    Bonus tracks (2008 deluxe edition)

Disc one – original album
Disc two
  1. "Your Song" – 3:35
  2. "I Need You to Turn To" – 2:12
  3. "Take Me to the Pilot" – 2:36
  4. "No Shoe Strings on Louise" – 3:33
  5. "Sixty Years On" – 4:21
  6. "The Greatest Discovery" – 3:58
  7. "The Cage" – 3:21
  8. "The King Must Die" – 5:24
  9. "Rock and Roll Madonna" – 3:11
  10. "Thank You Mama" – 3:20
  11. "All the Way Down to El Paso" – 2:49
  12. "I'm Going Home" – 3:05
  13. "Grey Seal" – 3:19
  14. "Rock And Roll Madonna" – 2:55
  15. "Bad Side of the Moon" – 3:13
  16. "Grey Seal" – 3:36
  17. "Rock and Roll Madonna" – 4:17
  18. "Border Song" – 3:21
  19. "Your Song" – 4:01
  20. "Take Me to the Pilot" – 3:33
Notes

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.
;Technical
Grammy Awards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications