Peachtree Road

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Peachtree Road
Studio album by Elton John
Released	9 November 2004
Recorded	2004
Genre	Rock, country
Label	Universal Records (US) Rocket Records
Producer	Elton John
Elton John chronology
Greatest Hits 1970–2002 (2002) Peachtree Road (2004) The Captain & the Kid (2006)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	(B-) [2]
Los Angeles Times	[3]

Peachtree Road is the twenty-eighth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 2004. It was named after Peachtree Road, the northern part of Peachtree Street in Atlanta, where one of the singer's four homes is located. This is the only album during his long career on which John alone has sole credit as producer. On previous projects, he was listed as a co-producer, joined by Clive Franks or Greg Penny; Franks on A Single Man, 21 at 33 and parts of The Fox; Penny on Duets and Made In England.

Album cover

The album art on the front cover is a photograph from a railroad crossing near the Atlanta suburb of Douglasville, taken by London photographer Sam Taylor-Wood. Taken in by the American South and given complete artistic freedom, she shot thousands of photos during her week-long trip. The trip included other towns like Unadilla and Forsyth in Georgia. While she also visited Peachtree Road in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, she thought it was too busy for the album's more mellow nature. She picked several photos to present to him, and John made the final selection. Other photos from the shoot appear on the back of the album cover and in the included CD and SACD booklet.

Debut performance

Songs from the album debuted at The Tabernacle in Atlanta in early November. John also performed at the November 2004 Country Music Association Awards, televised live from Madison Square Garden, duetting with Dolly Parton on "Turn the Light Out When You Leave".

Chart performance

Despite its generally positive reviews, Peachtree Road was one of John's leanest-selling contemporary efforts, reaching #17 US upon its release, yet only managing #21 in the UK, making it one of his rare albums to miss the Top 10 in his homeland. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 17 December 2004 by the RIAA.

Additional performers

In addition to Nigel Olsson playing drums on all tracks, once again a permanent member of John's touring and recording band, the album features renown gospel vocalist Adam McKnight, as well as members of Chicago contributing horns and brass arrangements. Guy Babylon was credited with playing Hammond Organ and Rhodes Piano instead of Keyboards, which was the case on earlier projects.

Other information

The album was re-released in 2005 with three bonus tracks from Billy Elliot the Musical, as well as a DVD featuring nine tracks from the album performed live in Atlanta. The song "Electricity" from the musical was also released as a single in June 2005. It rose to #4 in the U.K.

It was dedicated to the memory of Gus and Sheila Dudgeon, the former being John's original producer.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John/Bernie Taupin

1. "Weight of the World" – 3:58
2. "Porch Swing in Tupelo" – 4:38
3. "Answer in the Sky" – 4:03
4. "Turn the Lights Out When You Leave" – 5:02
5. "My Elusive Drug" – 4:57
6. "They Call Her the Cat" – 4:27
7. "Freaks in Love" – 4:21
8. "All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful)" – 5:20
9. "I Stop and I Breathe" – 3:39
10. "Too Many Tears" – 3:19
11. "It's Getting Dark in Here" – 3:56
12. "I Can't Keep This from You" – 3:54

Track 8 was titled "All That I'm Allowed" on the original 2004 release of the album, but was titled "All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful)" on the 2005 expanded edition.

B-sides

Bonus tracks (2005 CD re-issue)

13. "The Letter" – 2:33 (Elton John, Lee Hall)
14. "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher" – 3:38 (Elton John, Lee Hall)
15. "Electricity" – 3:29 (Elton John, Lee Hall)

Bonus DVD (2005 re-issue)

All tracks recorded live at the Tabernacle, Atlanta, Nov. 2004

1. "Weight of the World"
2. "Porch Swing in Tupelo"
3. "Answer in the Sky"
4. "Turn the Lights Out When You Leave"
5. "My Elusive Drug"
6. "They Call Her the Cat"
7. "Freaks in Love"
8. "All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful)"
9. "I Can't Keep This from You"

Songs

"They Call Her the Cat"

"They Call Her the Cat" is about a transsexual woman who was once a man and became female after getting a sex-change operation.

This song was originally supposed to be the only real 'rocker' on the album, but when John and the band recorded it, they found they still had to induct the country influence that the rest of the album had.^{[citation needed]} Notably, the horn section used on the track consists of all three horn players for the band, Chicago. This is not the only cross-pollination with members of Chicago, as Bill Champlin played keyboards and provided background vocals on the 21 at 33 album and Jason Scheff and Lou Pardini both backed up John on the Union album.

Personnel

• Elton John - piano, Rhodes, lead and backing vocals
• Davey Johnstone - acoustic, electric, slide, baritone, Leslie and sitar guitars, DOBRO, mandolin, backing vocals
• Nigel Olsson - drums, backing vocals
• Guy Babylon - Hammond organ, Rhodes, programming, orchestration
• Bob Birch - bass, backing vocals
• John Mahon - percussion, backing vocals
• John Jorgenson - pedal steel guitar
• L'Tanya Shields - choir
• Alecia Terry - choir
• M. Dennis Sims - choir
• Rosalind McKnight Choir
• Mark Ford - choir
• Terrence Davis - choir
• Todd Honeycutt - choir
• Adam McKnight - choir
• Jimmy Pankow - trombone, horn arrangement
• Lee Loughnane - trumpet
• Walter Parazaider - tenor saxophone
• Larry Klimas - baritone saxophone
• Martin Tillman - electric cello
• Matt Still - engineer
• John Holmes - 2nd engineer

References