On January 24th, Elton John announced that he was going to put on one more tour before retiring from the stage. The tour is a tribute to his album ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ that was released in 1973 called ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’.
The album was Elton John’s seventh studio album that was released in October of 1973 with part of the production of this album being recorded in Jamaica. Elton wanted to record there because of The Rolling Stones recording their “Goats Head Soup” album there. With part of the production starting in Jamaica in the beginning of 1973, they had to change the production location to France because of difficulties with the sound system and the studio piano. Taking it to a different location, they recorded the album in just two weeks, although some versions were recorded in Jamaica, they discarded the versions and released the ones recorded in France.
When the album was released, it wasn’t planned on being a two-record collection however John recorded 22 tracks for the album and even though 18 were used, the songs were just enough for it to be released as a double album. The cover art was designed and created by illustrator Ian Beck depicting John stepping into a poster. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was released on 3 separate occasions including the 30th anniversary edition.
The album sold over 30 million copies worldwide and was stated as Elton John’s best album. Among the 18 tracks, the album contained multiple hits including; “Bennie and the Jets”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Candle in the Wind”. In 1973, the album was certified gold in the same month that it was released. It was also certified 5x platinum in March of 1993 and eventually was certified 8x platinum in February of 2014 by the RIAA.
The album was charted at NO. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and NO. 1 of the US Billboard in 1974 while also making it to NO. 1 on the US Billboard 200. In 2003, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was ranked NO. 91 on Rolling Stone’s magazine’s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time while being places NO. 59 on a 2009 list of the top 100 greatest albums.
Track Listing from the Original release, 1973:
(All tracks written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin except for “Funeral for a Friend” which was written by Elton John)
Side One:
- “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”
- “Candle in the Wind”
- “Bennie and the Jets”
Side Two:
- “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
- “This Song Has No Title”
- “Grey Seal”
- “Jamaica Jerk-Off”
- “I’ve Seen That Movie Too”
Side Three:
- “Sweet Painted Lady”
- “The Ballad of Danny Bailey”
- Dirty Little Girl”
- “All the Girls Love Alice”
Side Four:
- “Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘n Roll)”
- “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
- “Roy Rogers”
- “Social Disease”
- “Harmony”
