MCA 2142
Producer: Gus Dudgeon
Track listing: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy / Tower of Babel Sitter Fingers / Tell Me When the Whistle Blows / Someone Saved My Life Tonight / (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket Better Off Dead / Writing / We All Fall in Love Sometimes / Curtains
June 7, 1975
7 weeks (nonconsecutive)
Following the artistic disappointment of Caribou, Elton John and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin returned in peak form with the autobiographical Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy. The former part the title refers to the flamboyant singer-pianist, while the latter is a reference to the lyricist, whose words often invoke tales of the old West. “There’s no doubt about it,” says producer Gus Dudgeon. “Captain Fantastic, technically, musically, and compositionally [is] the most cohesive Elton John album. It was very obviously going to be something special from the minute we first heard the songs.”
To ensure that the album was a success, Taupin took extra pains to write lyrics as a cohesive set, rather than cranking out a series of songs. John wrote the music on an ocean liner during a trip from France to New York. John and company took a full month to record the album, rather than a mere week or two, as had been their usual practice. Once again, John chose to work at the Caribou Ranch in Colorado, but by this time Dudgeon had overcome the hurdles that had hampered the Caribou sessions. “By then, I had it all sussed out,” says Dudgeon. “I basically recorded it completely flat and did all the work on the mix.”
Although Dudgeon is not a big fan of concept albums, Captain Fantastic worked, with the lyrical concept providing a guideline for the actual recording of the album. “We recorded the songs in running order,” says Dudgeon. “In most cases, I did the overdubs in running order, and I mixed them in running order. All the time we were doing it, we knew exactly what was going to occur in the running order, so we knew how to make everything adjust to what came before and what came after.”
Captain Fantastic also captured the Elton John Band—bassist Dee Murray, guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson, and percussionist Ray Cooper—in prime form. “The band was in its absolute peak,” says Dudgeon. “They played and sang the best they ever had done.” The material was also top-notch. “There’s hardly a song I don’t like,” says Dudgeon.
Of particular note is “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” a heartfelt ballad about John’s failed suicide attempt and his near-marriage to his old girlfriend Linda Woodrow. “That’s an absolutely stunning song and I love the performance of it,” says Dudgeon. “It’s got a great atmosphere. The only thing I hate about it is the awful string synthesizer that comes in a quarter of the way through, but that’s the only thing that was available at the time.” The record-buying public and radio programmers, however, didn’t seem to mind, as the single eventually reached number four on the Hot 100.
The album’s closing tracks, “We All Fall in Love Sometimes” and “Curtains,” were recorded as one long piece of music, although they were separated on the album. The session wowed studio guest Neil Sedaka. “He was just sitting there saying, ‘Oh my God, are they really going to do that all in one go?’,” recalls Dudgeon.
Upon its release, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy made an equally shocking impact on the Top LPs & Tapes chart. It was not only John’s sixth Number One album, it was the first album ever to enter the chart at Number One.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of June 7, 1975
1. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John
2. That’s the Way of the World Earth, Wind & Fire
3. Tommy, Soundtrack
4. Blow By Blow, Jeff Beck
5. Hearts, America