Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Studio album by Elton John
Released	May 23, 1975
Recorded	June-July 1974, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	46:54 (original album) 62:29 (1995 reissue) 137:13 (2005 reissue)
Label	MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Producer	Gus Dudgeon, Greg Penny
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Elton John chronology
Elton John's Greatest Hits (1974) Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) Rock of the Westies (1975)

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1975. It debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Pop Albums chart, the first ever album to do so, and stayed there for seven weeks. It has gone on to be certified as triple platinum. On the UK Albums Chart, it peaked at number 2. In 2003, the album was ranked number 158 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. This was the last album until Too Low For Zero that Elton John, Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, and Ray Cooper would play together.

History

Written, according to Taupin, in chronological order, Captain Fantastic is a concept album that gives an autobiographical glimpse at the struggles John (Captain Fantastic) and lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) had in the early years of their musical careers in London (from 1967 to 1969). The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that would otherwise be rare in John's music. John composed the music on a cruise ship voyage to the U.S.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight", the only single released from the album (and a number 4 hit on the U.S. Pop Singles chart), is a semi-autobiographical story about John's disastrous engagement to Linda Woodrow, and his related 1969 suicide attempt. The "Someone" refers to Long John Baldry, who convinced him to break off the engagement rather than ruin his music career for an unhappy marriage. It was generally viewed as the best track on the album; Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau said, "As long as Elton John can bring forth one performance per album on the order of 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight', the chance remains that he will become something more than the great entertainer he already is and go on to make a lasting contribution to rock."^[1]

In a 2006 interview with Cameron Crowe, Elton said, "I've always thought that Captain Fantastic was probably my finest album because it wasn't commercial in any way. We did have songs such as 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight,' which is one of the best songs that Bernie and I have ever written together, but whether a song like that could be a single these days, since it's [more than] six minutes long, is questionable. Captain Fantastic was written from start to finish in running order, as a kind of story about coming to terms with failure--or trying desperately not to be one. We lived that story."

Producer Gus Dudgeon was apparently also satisfied with the results. The album's producer was quoted in Elizabeth Rosenthal's "His Song," an exhaustive detailed accounting of nearly all John's recorded work, as saying he thought "Captain Fantastic" was the best the band and Elton had ever played, and praised Elton and Bernie's songwriting. "There's not one song on it that's less than incredible," Dudgeon said.

In 1976 Bally Manufacturing released a Pinball machine for arcades, titled Capt. Fantastic. Elton is featured on the backglass, in his character from the movie Tommy, as the pinball wizard. It is considered an iconic pinball by most enthusiasts as far as artwork. It was also the most produced electromechanical pinball machine.

The 2006 album The Captain & The Kid is the sequel, and continues the autobiography where "Captain Fantastic" leaves off.

Later releases

Both "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "Philadelphia Freedom" were originally released as non-album singles, but years later both songs, along with "Lucy"'s B-Side, the John Lennon-penned "One Day at a Time", were included as bonus tracks on the remastered Captain Fantastic CD reissue.

A deluxe 30th Anniversary edition CD was released September 2005, containing the complete album and the bonus tracks included on prior reissues and adding the "House of Cards", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"'s B-Side, which had previously only appeared on CD on the 1992 Rare Masters collection. Also included is a second disc containing the complete album performed live at Wembley in 1975.

In September 2005, Elton John and his band again performed the entire album (minus "Tower Of Babel" and "Writing") in a series of sold-out concerts in Boston, New York City and the tour's final stop, Atlanta, in October. These "Captain Fantastic Concerts" were a part of the Peachtree Road Tour and were the longest concerts in Elton's career, lasting nearly three and a half hours. The songs from Captain Fantastic were aired by Capital Gold Radio in a broadcast taken from the September 16, 2005 performance in Boston.

Track listing

All songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" – 5:46
2. "Tower of Babel" – 4:28
3. "Bitter Fingers" – 4:35
4. "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows" – 4:20
5. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" – 6:45

Side two

1. "(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" – 4:01
2. "Better Off Dead" – 2:37
3. "Writing" – 3:40
4. "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" – 4:15
5. "Curtains" – 6:15

Bonus tracks (1995 Polygram and MCA reissue)

11. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Lennon/McCartney) – 6:18
12. "One Day At a Time" (Lennon) – 3:49
13. "Philadelphia Freedom" – 5:23

Bonus tracks (2005 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Disc one (Follows original album)

11. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 6:18
12. "One Day (At a Time)" (Lennon) – 3:49
13. "Philadelphia Freedom" – 5:23
14. "House of Cards" – 3:12

Disc two (Live from "Midsummer Music" at Wembley Stadium, June 21, 1975)

1. "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" – 7:02
2. "Tower of Babel" – 4:38
3. "Bitter Fingers" – 5:06
4. "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows" – 4:39
5. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" – 7:17
6. "(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" - 7:19
7. "Better Off Dead" – 3:01
8. "Writing" – 5:30
9. "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" – 3:57
10. "Curtains" – 8:48
11. "Pinball Wizard" (Pete Townshend) – 6:31
12. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" – 7:40

B-sides

Personnel

• Elton John - synthesizer, piano, harpsichord, electric piano, vocals, clavinet, harmony vocals, mellotron, ARP, string ensemble, lum-de-lums
• Ray Cooper - bongos, conga, cymbals, gong, tambourine, triangle, bells, shaker, jawbone, bell tree
• David Hentschel - ARP synthesiser
• Davey Johnstone - acoustic guitar, guitar, mandolin, electric guitar, vocals, background vocals
• Dee Murray - bass, background vocals
• Nigel Olsson - drums, background vocals
• John Lennon (credited as Dr. Winston O' Boogie) - guitar

Production

• Producers: Gus Dudgeon, Greg Penny
• Engineer: Jeff Guercio
• Mixing: Greg Penny
• Remixing: Gus Dudgeon, Phil Dunne
• Remastering: Tony Cousins
• Assistant: Mark Guercio
• Digital transfers: Ricky Graham
• Surround sound: Greg Penny
• Orchestral arrangements: Gene Page
• Art direction: David Larkham, Bernie Taupin
• Graphic conception: David Larkham, Bernie Taupin
• Cover design: Alan Aldridge
• Package design: David Larkham
• Illustrations: Alan Aldridge
• Liner notes: John Tobler

Charts

Album

Singles

References