Sir Elton John

Alyssa (Hale) Young Sir Elton JohnElton John= Reginald Kenneth Dwightdob-03/25/1947Parents-Shelia and Stanley DwightOriginal name Reginald Kenneth Dwight Started playing guitar at age 4Accepted to Royal Academy of Music at age 11 but dropped out to join a band.

Above: Royal Academy of MusicMost of us know the famous Sir Elton John, but most dont know him by his real name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. Born to parents Shelia and Stanley Dwight on 3/25/1947, Reginald began to show musical talent from a young age. He began playing guitar as young as four, and at 11 won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in Great Britain. He later dropped out before graduating to pursue his music career 2BluesologyElton johns first band. He joined them at 14They were an r&b group that backed up many famous artists such as The Bluebells.Money from the gigs with this band helped John buy his first piano

At fourteen he joined a band called Bluesology, which ended up backing up many important R&B artists such as the group The Bluebelles. With the money he earned from this string of gigs, plus running errands for a music publishing company, he bought his very first electric piano. One could say this is where the composer was born. Elton John is BornReginald continued playing with his Bluesology group and eventually auditioned for a lead vocals spot for a couple different bands and was turned down. 3Elton John is Born1966 Reginald auditions for liberty recordsMeets lyrist Bernie Tipin and lifetime partnership in music is born.Reginald changes name based on favorite artist Elton Dean, and John Baldry

Reginald continued playing with his Bluesology group and eventually auditioned for a lead vocals spot for a couple different bands and was turned down. His career really took off in 1966 when he auditioned for liberty records, and was rejected because the recruiters didnt like his material, but liked his voice. He was then paired up with a lyricist Bernie Tipin. This unlikely relationship that started so many years ago and so early ion Eltons career would end up being a lifelong partnership. They paired up and wrote music and lyrics together, almost a song an hour at times, for about 25 bucks a week. Reginald later changed his name to Elton Hercules John after being told his name wasnt rock n roll enough. He used a combination of one of his favorite saxophone players, Elton Dean, and a blues artist John Baldry.

4Eltons career takes off

First hit=Your Song1970s was Johns most successful time. Had 4 albums in the top ten, which is a record held to this dayHe created his own record label=Rocket RecordsIn 1979 Elton John goes on record saying he is done performing. Eltons and Tipins stardom started with the song Your Song in 1970, off of the album entitled Elton John. They had one previous album at this point, but it tanked and was barely noticed. After making the US top ten for Your Song Elton did his first concert in Los Angeles. This started off a really great career with the release of multiple albums, sometimes 2 a year, and during the 1970s Elton John became one of the best/well known pop artists. With all this success he created his very own Record Label called, Rocket Records. Elton also became the first artist since The Beatles to have 4 albums hit the top ten concurrently. He had successes one after another and continued to set records at this time that stand today. He still holds the record for the most consecutive days played at Madison Square Garden, which is 7. This man played one of the most amainzg locations for a week straight. If that isnt the definition of star I dont know what is.

5Albums released in the SeventiesElton John(1970) Tumbleweed Connection(1970) Madman Across the Water(1971) Honky Chteau(1972) Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player(1973) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road(1973) Caribou(1974) Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy(1975) Rock of the Westies(1975) Blue Moves(1976) A Single Man(1978) Victim of Love(1979) 80s, 90s, nowThe eighties and nineties were slow for Eltons career.He came out as homosexual, discussed his drug addictions, and started advocating for AIDS/HIV awareness. He performed at Freddie Mecurys Memory concert with Axel Rose.He started composing for movies and broadway.Elton won a grammy with Tim Rice for Can you Feel the love tonight featured in the Lion King movie and musical.The 80s and 90s Elton spend much of his time having a very public moral dilemma, during this time he also came forward with a drug addition that would cause him to have major throat surgery, but also pushed him into AIDS activism. He donated 2 whole years of income to different aids chairties and later committed to donate the rest of his earnings to AIDS research. In 1990-92 Elton preformed with Axel Rose at Freddy Mercurys tribute concert and started the Elton John AIDS foundation. He also made a musical change. In 1994 when he was inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame, and began co writing the score/soundtrack for Disneys The Lion King. He won a Grammy for his song; Can You feel the Love Tonight , and later continued with Rice to write the music and score for the Disney Broadway play Aida.7Listening to Your SongSee if you can tell the distinct change in the song around 1:40. Listen to how important the line yours are the sweetest eyes Ive ever seen becomes just because of how the music is faded into the background. The added silence adds so much to song.The end of this song sounds very dream like, bringing up the point that maybe this song isnt real, more like a daydream about a crush. What do you think?Your song.0:00-0:08 short piano intro, melody is somewhat up beat and very much based around the piano. This has a very clear texture with the piano making a statement as the primary instrument in the piece.0:08-1:09 1st verse-Eltons voice is very harmonious with layers of guitar, piano and the underlying strings. His voice is quite tantalizing. The rhythm is very sooth with lots of crescendos with the instruments. 1:09-1:40-chorus-The texture of his voice vs. the music is very drastic. He voice has a swoon and definite emotion of love with a raspy blues-esque vibe to it, vs. the now full orchestral accompaniment in the background, which is very smooth.1:40-2:54 2nd verse-The piano is dropped at this point and a smooth single snare is brought in for a subtle beat. The tone of the strings is still very happy and much more prominent. You loose what he is saying and focus more on the upbeat music until the line yours are the sweetest eyes Ive ever seen where the music drops off and makes that statement very prominent.2:54-3:28 2nd chorus-the tone of his voice changes to a much more begging style and shows his desperation for his lover to hear his words. The music becomes more of a background which is a huge switch from the previous section. 3:28-4:02 ending- the strings start to crescendo continuously like almost in a dream state, and the texture becomes very convoluted. You can still tell the distinct instruments but they are overlapping so much you feel in a state of dreaming or fantasizing. Leaving you wondering if he really has this person, or is this whole song just a dream.

8Your SongElton John-Your Song

Your song(1970)This is believed to be Elton johns break out song. This was a collaboration with is friend and lyricist Bernie Tipin. Not much about this song is confirmed, but there are however many rumors. These consist of this being claimed to be johns favorite song, to it only taking 30 minutes to write the entire thing. What is confirmed is that often Tipin and John would not write in the same room and that Elton would write the music around the lyrics which is very possible for this song. Another confirmable fact is the popularity of this song just solely looking at how many renditions have come from it. Ewan Mcgreggor sang it in the hit movie Moulin Rouge, and even more recently British pop star Ellie Goulding made it popular again with a very striped down rendition of it. Its popular, check, its the first, check, and its dang good.

9Listening To Dont Go Breaking my HeartThis song is a very funky R&B song, that one could say is a tribute to Bluesology and the time Elton spent in that band. The song has a very noticeable break with some funky music, even in the video they start to dance to it. This song is meant to be up beat and almost comes off and a verbal chase between the 2 singers. Its quite catchy.Dont go Breaking my Heart000-0:17 intro-this is very mo-town, r and b sounding song. There is a lot of low beats with base, a solid snare and strings. The song builds on each other adding each instrument in on each other. 0:17-0:46 1st verse- this is a duet with instruments supporting the two singers. This has a very upbeat and playful tone, with a clear texture. The music is definitely in the background and harmonizing with the singing. 0:46-1:16-chorus-the music was very mute compared to their singing. The beat stands out the most, and in every break there is a head bobbing upbeat tune leading to their next lyric. The timbre is almost isnt there at all. I cant tell any difference in the instruments. 1:16-2:08- verse 2- this verse is very funky, with a subtle but funky guitar chasing after every lyric break. (very much in line with Elton/Bernie Tippins style of writing music after the lyrics) The harmony of this song is great, almost to the point you dont notice the music until the breaks. It melts together perfectly.2:08-2:56 2nd chorus-this is very upbeat with the music slowly piercing through more and more of the lyrics. The tone starts to be more playful and dance worthy as it gets closer and closer to the bridge, and rhythm also speeds up a tad.2:56-3:13 the bridge-just a slap in the face of some funky music mixed with strings. From my understanding the timbre here is easy to hear with the contrast of strings and funky town rhythm.3:13-4:31-last chorus-this continues with the funky town rhythm, with added and repetitive lyrics. It just makes you want to sing and dance right along with them. It becomes very repetitive in the background music. It is quite noticeable that the strings follow in line with the lyrics.

10Dont Go Breaking My Heart

Dont go breaking my heart (1976)This was one of the first female collaborations Elton did with a girl he signed to his first record label named, Kiki Dee. It was a number one on the US charts and has also been covered on multiple occasions. Its also said that Elton John and Bernie Tipin wrote this song under pseudonyms for unknown reasons. This is also one of Eltons only Uk #1 hits.

11Listening to Can you feel the Love Tonight

This song was made famous by being in Disneys The Lion King. Its a song of love, a song a hope at a pivotal point of the movie, and gives a message that love conquers all and changes everything.Listen once again how Elton does a great job (with help from Tim Rice) in using silence and simplicity to make his point in his songs. He is great because he creates amazing balance between different instruments, and using silences.Can you feel the love tonight?000-0:17-intro-heavy French horns mixed with a prominent piano. The horns are doing the melody and the timbre sounds very white/light but rich at the same time. 0:17-00:49 1st verse-this is simple and bold, with just piano and Eltons voice setting the mood. The melody is the voice with a great strong piano accompaniment.00:49-1:42 chorus-there is a mixture of strings, but it is muddled. Its hard to know what are strings and what is not. But it sounds beautiful, with an interlude of synthesize musics between the first and second verse.1:42-2:35 2nd verse-much more synthesized music mixed with lyrics. not as muddled and the timbre is still very light even with the French horns leading the way of the song. 2:35-3:40 2nd chorus-very vocal heavy with lots of harmonizing vocals. It almost has a sense of a heavenly choir backing up Eltons voice. 3:40-4:02-the chorus drops, the sound of the horns gets very clear as Eltons voice delvers the final lyrics in a very strong and heavy tone.

12Can You Feel The Love TonightCan You Feel the Love Tonight

Can you feel the Love Tonight?(1994)In 1994 around the time Elton John was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame, Elton and composer Tim Rice co-wrote all the music, along with Han Zimmer for the Disney movie, The Lion King. Can you feel the love tonight won an Oscar for best song in 1995. It was also featured in the Broadway musical of the movie. EltonJohn.com quoted Eltons feeling about working on this project, he said, "This project was exciting and challenging because I had to write differently from what I would write for myself. I think that The Lion Kingis the funniest movie Disney has made sinceJungle Book. In fact, I probably think it's the funniest movie they've ever made."

13AIDA-Written in the StarsAIDA-Written in the Stars

Written in the Stars(2000)This song is a part of another Elton John and Tim Rice collaboration. Elton John receives credit for the music in this play and Written in the Stars is its most popular and recognizable song. In 2000 John and Rice won a Tony for the music and lyrics of the show. This is refutably Eltons greatest work as a composer since he is fully credited for the music in this musical.

14Listening to Written in the StarsThis song has so much going on with it. Its a full orchestra with 2 contrasting voices. The female voice is smooth and jazz like, with the male being rough and rock and roll. This song shows so much of Eltons depth in music. He can combine opposing sounds into a beautiful song with so much passion.Listen for the grand crescendo towards the end of this song where all the sounds combine to express the agony of the singers. Its a break up/love song all in one and you feel it.

Written in the stars0000-00:10 intro-this is very short with a heavy use of piano triplets. It sounds heavenly and adrift with a very light timbre.00:10-00:44=1st verse-a strong deep and darker womens voice with just a piano, its striking because this is a breakup song and just in the music you can tell bad news is coming from one who doesnt want to deliver it. 00:44-1:16-2nd half of 1st verse-the star crossed lovers story from the male prospective. He is devastated by this news and his texture is rough and broken. There is piano mixed with violin to tone down the roughness of his voice but only slightly.1:16-1:46 1st chorus-a pick up in temp shows his desperation for his love and lost life, and a snare is added to the violin and piano to pick up the pace.1:46-2:28-2nd verse-the music drops out almost completely as the voice of reason speaks to the main characters, then suddenly the music prayerfully comes back in as they are cursing god for their misfortunes. 2:28-3:00-2nd chorus-the music builds all together and builds up to this huge, loud and dark setting of these two singers declaring how unfair their lives are. All the instruments of the orchestra combine to add to this crescendo of emotion and music.3:00-3:18-music fades out heavenly as if going to another persons thoughts, and that all of their fighting is exhausted. The ends with a feeling of hope, but darkness surrounds them at the same time.

15References

1-"Elton John."Rolling Stone. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.(http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/elton-john/biography)2-"Sir Elton John Biography."Sir Elton John. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013. http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/elton-john.html3-"Elton John Album Discography."Elton John Album Discography. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013. http://www.eltonography.com/albums/standard/index.html4-http://www.eltonjohn.com/music/theLionKing/5- http://www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/aida.htm"The Broadway Musical Home."- Aida. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 20136- http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/9143/Aida"PLAYBILL."Aida on Broadway. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.

References cont.Youtube (links to video)http://www.45cat.com/record/xpres5http://hilltoprecords.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.htmlhttp://www.ram.ac.uk/