Elton John Friends The Movie

"Is Funny How Young Lovers Start As Friends..." 

Em 1971, Elton John e Bernie Taupin lançaram o álbum Friends, com a trilha sonora do filme homônimo

Produced and Directed by Lewis Gilbert (UK, 1971)
Associate Producer: Geoffrey Helman
Screenplay by Jack Russell and Vernon Harris
(story by Lewis Gilbert)
Cinematography by Andréas Winding
Film Editing by Anne V. Coates
Music by Paul Buckmaster
Songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Nominated for the 1972 Golden Globe of Best Foreign-Film.

CAST:
Sean Bury ... Paul Harrison
Anicée Alvina ... Michelle La Tour
Ronald Lewis ... Mr. Harrison
Toby Robins ... Mrs. Gardner
Joan Hickson ... Lady in bookstore
Pascale Roberts ... Annie
Sady Rebbot ... Pierre

In 1971, a little film by the name of Friends became a huge commercial success around the world. Universally denounced by critics, director Lewis Gilbert's tale of two teenagers in love in the Camargue charmed and delighted untold thousands. The album soundtrack by Elton John and Bernie Taupin also became a hit.

And those so-called critics probablly didn’t felt the magic of this jewel because they weren’t young anymore. Paul Harrison would say «pauvres idiots», while Michelle Latour would call them «poor silly bastards» with her tender accent.

The film's greatest strength – apart from Alvina's extraordinary performance and presence (sadly, the actress died two years ago, at only the age of 53) and, to a lesser extent, Bury's – is its evocation of Arcadia, that magic, protected place where life may be lived as the rest of us can only dream. Literature and art has for all time been obsessed with the many forms of Shangri La, but cinema has not been that successful at evoking it (the very artifice feels more like an attempt than a true experience).

The white cottage and Camargue of Friends is a perfect embodiment of that world – a place where no stranger/adult enters and which even the police cannot track down. This is why, by the end of the movie, they must wait overnight (one assumes in a local village) and return the next morning to the vineyard to await Paul.

Shot by Andréas Winding, the film is always extremely beautiful to look at (though the David Hamilton-esque patina dates it at times), and thoughtfully directed (the green of nature is kept out until the reverse close-ups of Paul and Michelle during their first meeting). Lewis Gilbert has never been regarded as a particularly inventive or imaginative craftsman, but the clearly personal nature of the material has made his work here unusually sensitive and appropriate.

The scenes of nakedness and lovemaking, which created some comment at the time, are strikingly natural, never prurient and exploit neither actor. That did not stop several critics from complaining that Alvina is exposed to more explicit nudity than Bury, but this isn't so. The full-frontal of Alvina that set the puritans afire is three-frames long, and a long-shot. What certainly did upset people was Michelle's having a baby outside the hospital system, as if this was somehow irresponsible and unbelievable. But Michelle's mother died during childbirth (presumably in a hospital), and Michelle's desire to have hers somewhere else is totally believable.

Paul and Michelle are a remarkable cinematic couple, because one always believes in, and is inspired by, their love. Few films have captured the rapture of teenage passion so sweetly; few films have created and held a teenage perspective so honestly. Gilbert has exactly captured Fournier's maxim: «My credo in art and literature is childhood. The thing is to render it without childishness.» One could add: «Nor debase it with adult perspectives.»

The elegiac world of Paul and Michelle's love may have been attacked from outside, dismantled and lost, but, by the virtue of this tender film, one can constantly return and relive it. And the magic still exist: it gives your youth back again, everytime you look at it.Three years after there was a sequel, called “Paul et Michelle”, but the times have already changed and the actors lost their innocence.

I saw this little sweet movie when it was released, back in 1971. It’s a film about innocence, the purity of young love and the determination of two young people to make a better life for themselves then they had at home. At the time it was pretty risky to have a movie about a couple of young runaways who successfully setup house and have a baby on their own. Thinking about the values of young people today, I'm not surprised the movie and Elton John's soundtrack are almost unknown nowadays.
I was then eighteen years old and for the really first time I was deeply in love with a girl of sixteen. That's the reason why I’ve never forgot this movie or the gentle music score signed by Elton & Bernie.

Friends later made a brief appearance on video (CIC-Taft) and was shown a couple of times on late-night television, but then disappeared without trace. The soundtrack went out of print, and no CD version was ever released. The first hint of revival came in 1992 when Elton John released a two-CD compilation, “Rare Masters” (DJM 514 305-1), which contains all the music (and the original's dialogue snippets: «I meant to do my work today as a lizard sunned itself on a moss-grown rock ...»). A few years later, the film was released on VHS in the US.

Finally I’ve got it in DVD, after many many years of waiting. The reason of such a delay it’s because the movie wasn’t edited in DVD in the States because of child nudity (!). I think there’s a stupid decree of American Congress that don’t allow individuals under eighteen to be shown having sex on the screen. Or for that matter, even permitted to have sexual thoughts. Nevertheless, you can buy it (Region 2) quick and easily at Galatea Shop, in Ebay.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to receive an email signed by Sean Bury. Unfortunetely that email was lost between some crashes of my computer. But basicly he told me that he enjoyed to know that this little film has crossed the times and won the status of a cult-movie. He told me also that he was living another life, far away from the cinema world. And that he was very happy because his new work had the gift of helping many people around him. Thanks, Sean, for the wonderful person you are and thanks also for being part of this magic movie, which caused so much happiness to so many people around the world.

«I can't believe that such a small budget film that Anicee and I had the good fortune to make all those years ago, is still receiving your kind attention. Thank you for all your comments, I assure you it was great fun to make "Friends" and an honour to work with Lewis Gilbert who has continued to make some super films.
I shall always remember Lewis's words after the Preview showing..."Sean" he said as he came up to shake my hand,"you have nothing to be ashamed of !"..(I heaved a sigh of relief)...then he added.. "But nothing to be proud of either!".

Years of dedicated training as a young actor just went down the pan!I now work with people with special needs , the money is terrible but the smiles are the best! I have been lucky enough to see both of these 2 very different worlds. One feeds upon the attention it seeks and the other is just happy being, and getting on with things quietly, but both are exciting,fun and challenge one to do better. May your gods be with you all !» (Sean Bury in Amazon.com)

I hope the day will be a lighter highway
For friends are found on every road
Can you ever think of any better way
For the lost and weary travellers to go
Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
With a friend at hand you will see the light
If your friends are there then everything's all right
It seems to me a crime that we should age
These fragile times should never slip us by
A time you never can or shall erase
As friends together watch their childhood fly

ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP Paramount PAS-6004
(February 1971)

Friends In Search of Lost Time: Friends and Paul and Michelle by Scott Murray Scott Murray is a filmmaker, and co-editor of Senses of Cinema. In 1971, a little film by the name of Friends became a huge commercial success around the world. Universally denounced by critics, director Lewis Gilbert's tale of two teenagers in love in the Camargue charmed and delighted untold thousands. The album soundtrack by Elton John and Bernie Taupin also became a hit. Three years later came Gilbert's sequel, Paul and Michelle, this time with a jazz score by Michel Colombier. However, the times had changed and in Australia the only release the film could muster was as the bottom-half of a double-bill at a few drive-ins. Friends later made a brief appearance on video (CIC-Taft) and was shown a couple of times on late-night television, but then disappeared without trace. The soundtrack went out of print, and no CD version was ever released. As for the seemingly unloved Paul and Michelle, there was no Australian video, soundtrack or television screenings. The first hint of revival came in 1992 when Elton John released a two-CD compilation, Rare Masters (DJM 514 305-1), which contains all the music (and the original's dialogue snippets: “I meant to do my work today as a lizard sunned itself on a moss-grown rock ...”). A few years later, both films were released on VHS in the US. Friends – The Critics Apart from critics being totally at odds with the paying audience (1), what is most curious about the incessant critical bagging of Friends is that each new panning appears to be a rehash of someone else's. It is if some god has decreed what the accepted wisdom must be, and all but a few dissidents happily and mindlessly repeat it. Take, for example, this 'review' of Friends in Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide: BOMB. [...] Yucky early-teen romance about French boy and girl who run off to the seashore, set up housekeeping, and have a baby ... then Mommy and Daddy show up to take them home. (2) For one, the boy is English; two, they go to the Camargue, not the seashore; three, there is no Mommy, the boy's mother having abandoned him (and her husband) six years earlier, and the girl's mother having died during childbirth; and, four, at film's end, the boy faces arrest by a police inspector, with not a parent in sight. With four major errors in less than three lines, Maltin sets a new standard in critical (in)accuracy. (3) The multi-volume Motion Picture Guide, which promotes itself on its high degree of accuracy, fares no better: Terrible teenage drama starring [Sean] Bury and [Anicée] Alvina as two unloved French kids who run off together and set up housekeeping on a deserted beach. They have a baby and, shortly afterward, their apologetic parents show up and take them away. (4) What is going on here? Is there a parallel universe where a different version of the film is circulating, corresponding to what Maltin and the Motion Picture Guide describe? But, even if there were, could that explain the bizarre doubling-up of words and phrases (“run off”, “set up housekeeping”, “show up” and “take them”)? One's worst fears are confirmed when reading the damning TimeOut Film Guide crit. Not only are there such inaccuracies as “all lyrical slow motion” (there is very little in the film) (5), the last word is “Yuck”. (6) How odd that both TimeOut and Maltin should have independently decided that “yuck”/”yucky” was the best way to describe Friends. Perhaps it is the collective unconscious at work. The Film Paramount. Friends. © 1971 Paramount Pictures Corporation. Locations: Paris, Arles; the Camargue. France. 35mm. 102 mins. (7) Director: Lewis Gilbert. Producer: Lewis Gilbert. Associate producer: Geoffrey Helman. Scriptwriters: Jack Russell, Vernon Harris. Based on an original story by Lewis Gilbert. DOP: Andreas Winding. Production designer: Marc Frédérix. Wardrobe: Jeannine Perry. Editor: Anne V. Coates. Music: Elton John. Lyrics: Bernie Taupin. Additional music: Paul Buckmaster. Sound recordist: Jo de Bretagne. Mixer: Gerry Humphreys. Cast: Sean Bury (Paul Harrison), Anicée Alvina (Michelle Latour); Ronald Lewis [Robert Harrison (8)], Toby Robins [Jane Gardner], Joan Hickson [Lady in Bookshop], Pascale Roberts [Annie], Sandy Rebbot [Pierre]. After her father dies, 14-and-a-half-year-old Michelle Latour (Anicée Alvina) travels to Paris to stay with a female cousin. Not only is she made to feel most unwanted, but her cousin's boyfriend makes gross sexual advances towards her in a scene that takes a strongly moralistic attitude to age-different sex. Michelle is half-naked in front of a mirror; the cinematic parallel (unwelcome voyeuristic gaze by mature audience members) is obvious. 15-year-old Paul Harrison (Sean Bury) is the ignored son of a wealthy English businessman living in Paris. He spends his time skipping language classes and stealing cars for joy rides. At the Parc Zoologique, he meets Michelle. A few days later they set off on a day-long escape – an adventure that ultimately lasts for a year and sees them living in Michelle's father's cottage in the remote Camargue, where they create an idyllic existence isolated from the adult world. (9) Paul and Michelle fall in love, Michelle becomes pregnant and they decide to have the baby alone at home. At film's end, Paul leaves for work at a local vineyard, unaware the police are waiting there to take him away. (The audience's 'superior' knowledge of the police presence makes Paul and Michelle's last scenes together quite harrowing.) The film's greatest strength – apart from Alvina's extraordinary performance and presence (10), and, to a lesser extent, Bury's – is its evocation of Arcadia, that magic, protected place where life may be lived as the rest of us can only dream. Literature and art has for all time been obsessed with the many forms of Shangri La, but cinema has not been that successful at evoking it (the very artifice feels more like an attempt than a true experience). This domaine perdu (as Alain-Fournier describes it in Le Grand Meaulnes (11)) is somehow cut off from earthly time and space. Only those specially privileged may enter The Great Good Place (12) and, once departed, it can rarely be refound. The white cottage and Camargue of Friends is a perfect embodiment of that world – a place where no stranger/adult enters and which even the police cannot track down. This is why they must wait overnight (one assumes in a local village) and return the next morning to the vineyard to await Paul. (13) Shot by Andreas Winding, the film is always extremely beautiful to look at (though the David Hamilton-esque patina dates it at times), and thoughtfully directed (the green of nature is kept out until the reverse close-ups of Paul and Michelle during their first meeting (14)). Lewis Gilbert has never been regarded as a particularly inventive or imaginative craftsman, but the clearly personal nature of the material (15) has made his work here unusually sensitive and appropriate. The scenes of nakedness and lovemaking, which created some comment at the time, are strikingly natural, never prurient and exploit neither actor. That did not stop several critics from complaining that Alvina is exposed to more explicit nudity than Bury, but this isn't so. The full-frontal of Alvina that set the puritans afire (and the Australian censors cut) is three-frames long, and a long-shot. Though it would no doubt be banned in ageist Australia today, it is difficult to believe any sane person could rationally object to this delicate portrayal of 1970s teenage sexuality. (16) What certainly did upset people was Michelle's having a baby outside the hospital system, as if this was somehow irresponsible and unbelievable. But Michelle's mother died during childbirth (presumably in a hospital), and Michelle's desire to have hers somewhere else is totally believable. Friends As well, girls/women have had babies outside hospitals for most of history; it is a profoundly natural act that only the 20th and 21st centuries have deemed always intervention-necessary. Michelle is 15 at the time, which is a most physiologically appropriate age to give birth. And why shouldn't teenagers happily cut off from a technologically-crazy world not act in a traditional, natural way? It could be argued that Gilbert should have taken his point even further and had Michelle give birth squatting (allegedly the most natural of methods), but Paul and Michelle have read a book on childbirth and this has introduced into their world adult ideas of acceptable delivery. For all its 'controversial' material, this is a profoundly moral, indeed deeply Catholic, work. Paul and Michelle see themselves as married because they have exchanged vows to each other (standing in a church alcove while an adult marriage takes place). They also baptise their child, Sylvie, in an otherwise empty church. It is hard to believe they would not be as blessed by any God as those who simply kowtow to the man-made rules of the Pauline church. Paul and Michelle are a remarkable cinematic couple, because one always believes in, and is inspired by, their love. Few films have captured the rapture of teenage passion so sweetly; few films have created and held a teenage perspective so honestly. Gilbert has exactly captured Fournier's maxim: “My credo in art and literature is childhood. The thing is to render it without childishness.” (17) One could add: “Nor debase it with adult perspectives.” The elegiac world of Paul and Michelle's love may have been attacked from outside, dismantled and lost, but, by the virtue of this tender film, one can constantly return and relive it. * * * Paul and Michelle – The Critics If Leonard Maltin's infelicities regarding Friends were not enough, he is at it again with Paul and Michelle: BOMB. [...] further antics of those lovable teeny-boppers have about as much bearing on real life as anything [Keir] Dullea encountered while going through the 2001 space-warp. (18) Maltin (19) misses the very point of Paul and Michelle, which takes the characters out of the idyllic Camargue and shoves them into the harsh world of modern Paris. The entire film is about what Maltin presumably sees as “real life” intruding on a romantic dream. (As for what Paul and Michelle has to do with the Kubrick film – or a space-warp! – is anyone's guess.) David McGillivray in Monthly Film Bulletin (20) so mangles the film's plot one has to ask if he actually watched it. He makes seven significant errors in his plot synopsis, claiming that: Paul goes to a Parisian school (it is in England); Paul meets Michelle “accidentally” (he has been diligently searching); Paul, Michelle and Sylvie go together to Paris (Paul goes alone, the others following later); Michelle works “in a restaurant and kitchen” (only the kitchen); Michelle discovers she is pregnant in Paris (actually it is in Arles); “her student friends perform a secret abortion” (they are not even remotely her friends); Paul “puts Michelle and Sylvie on a train” (it is Michelle's idea to return to the Camargue, not Paul's). As for describing the white cottage in the Camargue as Michelle and “Paul's old haunt” ...! Despite an incapacity to describe Paul and Michelle accurately, that does not stop McGillivray railing against it: The suffering is richly melodramatic, with the young things (no longer provocative adolescents) being cut off without a penny, languishing in almost Dickensian squalor [...] (21) McGillivray exposes only himself with the “no longer provocative adolescents”, because in Friends Paul and Michelle are in no way provocative to anyone, living as they do in Elysian isolation. As for using the term “Dickensian” to describe lower-middle-class life in Paris, that is simply cultural arrogance. Underlining these and many other attacks on Paul and Michelle is an anger that the film was even made. It is as if the critics believe their denunciations of Friends should have been sufficient to ensure no sequel was ever contemplated or made. The fact that no one listens is always the hardest reality for any critic to bear. To take but two examples; first Leonard Maltin: Why anyone would ever want a sequel to Friends requires an investigation we must take up one of these days [...] One can hardly wait! Second, David McGillivray: Three years after Lewis Gilbert's star-crossed lovers won very few hearts in Friends, the same pair return to suffer anew in this unnecessary sequel. This is McGillivray as self-appointed revisionist. The first film was a hit, as McGillivray well knows, and to say “won very few hearts” is disingenuous in the extreme. The Film Paramount Pictures presents Paul and Michelle. © 1974 Paramount Pictures Corporation. Locations: Paris, Nice; the Camargue. A Franco-British co-production. 35mm. 103 mins. (22) Director: Lewis Gilbert. Producer: Lewis Gilbert. Associate producer: William P. Cartlidge. Scriptwriters: Angela Huth, Vernon Harris. Based on an original story by Lewis Gilbert. DOP: Claude Renoir. Production designer: Pierre Guffroy. Editor: Thelma Connell. Music: Michel Colombier. Songs: “Paul & Michelle”, “Good” (lyrics: Don Black); “Sexy Thing”, “Queen of the Nasties” (music, lyrics: Steve Gilbert). Mixer: Gerry Humphreys. Cast: Sean Bury (Paul Harrison), Anicée Alvina (Michelle Latour), Keir Dullea (Gary (23)), Ronald Lewis (Sir Robert Harrison), Catherine Allegret (Joanna), Georges Beller (Daniel), Anne Lonnberg (Susannah), Sara Stout (Sylvie), Steve Gilbert (Nic), Anthony Clark (Hush), Peggy Frankston (Lilli), Peter Graves (Sir Henry), Toby Robins (Jane Harrison), André Maranne (M. Bellancourt), Jenny Arasse (Sister Mercier), Michel Garland (Doctor in Arles), Elizabeth Kaza (Mother Superior), Sylvie Joly (Hotel Receptionist), Alberto Favart (Professor). It is three years after Friends, and Paul graduates from an English public school, where he has been effectively locked away by his father. Before starting a university course at the Sorbonne, Paul decides to return to France and search for Michelle. For those who think Paul has done too little to find Michelle over the three years, in 1974 he would have had no passport separate from his father's and no means of travel from England to France without that parent's consent – a consent that clearly would never have been given. The dialogue between father and son at the start also indicates that Paul deliberately waited until he is old enough to escape his father's clutches. Paul finally finds Michelle in Nice. In an odd misjudgement, Lewis Gilbert cuts from a near-wordless embrace (on a pedestrian crossing as car horns blare and traffic whizzes past) to some time later. What did Paul and Michelle say to each other on meeting after three years of separation? What did their eyes seek out and find in each other's? This is the same failure of imagination as found in Le Grand Meaulnes, where Alain-Fournier has Augustin Meaulnes and Yvonne de Galais, after having passed each other several times in the woods and gardens of the château, finally meet and talk by the lake. Every reader is on tenterhooks about what they will say to each other, but, after the characters introduce themselves, Fournier opts out and delivers the most infuriating two sentences in all literature: “Et ils parlèrent un instant encore. Ils parlèrent lentement, avec bonheur, – avec amitié.” (“And they spoke a moment more. They spoke slowly, with happiness, – with friendship.”) (24) Paul and Michelle What is soon learnt, however, is that Michelle is now living with an American airline employee, Garry (Keir Dullea). In full knowledge of her time with Paul, Garry has taken in both Michelle and her child, Sylvie. The unavoidable emotional tug-of-war begins, with Michelle leaving Garry to return with Paul and Sylvie to the domaine perdu of the white cottage in the Camargue. But the happiness they find there is only on the surface, and dark shadows gather. The varied close-ups of Michelle are unbearably sad, as if she alone senses what will befall them – a fear justified when the 32-year-old Garry arrives by car, penetrating the sanctity of their childhood Eden. One immediately knows much, if not all, is lost. Paul then travels alone to Paris to set up home in a tiny attic apartment, in a student quarter filled with drug-taking hippie protesters. (Gilbert unfortunately shows his age in these scenes.) Michelle and Sylvie arrive later, adapting uneasily to the city lifestyle and the demands of supporting a family, which weighs heavily on Michelle and Paul (each working while the other takes turn to mind Sylvie). The film is an almost unrelievedly bleak look at the crushing effects of a grey capitalist world on young love (Claude Renoir muting his photographic palette to chilling effect), and ends on yet another separation: Michelle and child returning to the cottage, and Paul staying in Paris to finish his degree. Despite promises of joint holidays and being together in three years' time, they look far more life-defeated than at the end of Friends, and no sequel has ever appeared to suggest that their now-illusive happiness has been regained or separately found. (25) This impression is reinforced by the unleavened hand of Gilbert who sets up many negative parallels between the two films: the natural home birth is 'replaced' with an illegal abortion in a hospital; Paul's job in a picturesque vineyard full of wonderfully warm Frenchmen becomes back-breaking toil in an industrial meat-packing plant; and so on. It is almost as if Gilbert is punishing the audience for having believed in the possibility of Friends. (This Catholic-like turnabout is also found in Le Grand Meaulnes and in many other tales of lost domains and loves unregained.) No wonder so few at the time wanted to see his new film (just as many re-readers of Le Grand Meaulnes falter after the première partie, unwilling to face again what follows). That said, Paul and Michelle is an always interesting film, even if the story feels unfinished, like a novel where the final chapters have fallen loose. Paul and Michelle's story is too special to not want more ... to not want to return to that most special of places and once again believe that love can overcome all. For a moment or two there was only one time, and it was not the present, but that of the domaine perdu, the so impossible to find; yet once found, so impossible to forget. (26) © Scott Murray, 2005

 

PART 01






PART 02









PART 3










PÁRT 4

Elton John Performances ao vivo, Raridades, Singles, Trilhas Sonoras

Performances ao vivo, Raridades, Singles,
Trilhas Sonoras

Matéria: Demétrio Barros



65/70



Elton começou com o Bluesology (de onde extraiu seu nome artístico – e oficial
desde 74 intercalado por Hercules), Elton Dean e Long John Baldry eram os
líderes dessa pequena banda de blues.

Em ‘’Come Back Baby’’ de 65 , Elton, ainda Reg
Dwight, teve seu nome pela primeira vez impresso num compacto como autor. Entre
esse compacto e o primeiro LP, se aventurou com algumas pérolas que foram
lançadas somente em cd bootlegs, tais como ‘’The Tide Will Turn From Rebecca’’,
‘’A Dandelion Dies In The Wind’’ (esta pode ser ouvida parcialmente no
documentário ‘’Two Rooms’’) e a mais psicodélica de sua carreira: ‘’Regimental
Sgt. Zippo’’, todas elas ainda são bastante ingênuas, mas já demonstram o
talento que ganharia o mundo em 70. Foi em 68 que Elton lançou seu primeiro
compacto solo (I’ve Been Loving You), mas em 69 com ‘’Lady Samantha’’ (com boa
aceitação nas rádios) e ‘’It’s Me That You Need’’ (uma de minhas preferidas),
Elton John já estava mais do que preparado para lançar seu primeiro álbum.

Na verdade, entre 67 e 69, existe material
suficiente para um pré-Empty Sky, e certamente seria um grande disco. Já em 70,
‘’Bad Side Of The Moon’’, regravada pelo grupo Toe Fat de Ken Hensley (um dos
magos do Uriah Heep), difere dos primeiros compactos e demonstra a mesma fúria
do segundo trabalho, a exemplo de ‘’Grey Seal’’ (relançada em 73 no antológico
‘’Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’’).

Toe Fat 1 & 2 [Original recording
remastered, Import]

Toe Fat

Format: Audio CD

Audio CD (April 8, 1996)

Original Release Date: 1996

Number of Discs: 2

Format: Original recording remastered, Import

Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on

ASIN: B0000086NR

Disc: 1

1. That's My Love for You 

2. Bad Side of the Moon

3. Nobody

4. Wherefores and the Whys 

5. But I'm Wrong

6. Just Like Me 45

7. Just Like All the Rest

8. I Can't Believe 

9. Working Nights 

10. You Tried to Take It All

Disc: 2

1. Stick Heat

2. Indian Summer

3. Idol

4. There'll Be Changes

5. New Way

6. Since You've Been Gone

7. Three Time Loser

8. Midnight Sun

Download fast :

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GSB0VUXO

Pouca gente sabe da existência e muito menos
ouviu a canção ‘’From Denver To L.A.’’, composta para o filme ‘’The Games’’ de
70, uma faixa interessante, orquestrada num clima de espionagem bem ao estilo
‘’007’’. Uma das maiores surpresas da caixa ‘’Rare Masters’’ (lançado em 92) sem
dúvida é a versão original de ‘’Madman Across The Water’’, anterior a oficial de
71. Com solos de guitarras do saudoso Mick Ronson (Spiders From Mars de Bowie),
a versão supera a do disco para muitos. Em seguida vem ‘’Into The Old Man’s
Shoes’’ (lado B de ‘’Your Song’’), essa faixa é uma daquelas que foram feitas
para os fãs assíduos, pois sua beleza é tão grande que não deve nada aos maiores
clássicos de sua carreira. É um verdadeiro brinde para quem coleciona raridades.

Esta faixa é uma das melhores de toda a obra
de Elton, segundo minha opinião. Umas das melhores performances ao vivo de toda
a obra de Elton John: ‘’Burn Down The Mission’’ (com inserções de ‘’My Baby Left
Me’’ e ‘’Get Back’’) fecha o álbum ‘’17/11/70’’, o dia em que Elton mostrou ao
mundo para o que veio, juntamente com o impecável baixo do saudoso Dee Murray e
da batera estonteante de Nigel Olsson.



  



71/76



A trilha sonora do filme ‘’Friends’’ não agradou ao público, assim como “Blue
Moves’’ decepcionou os fãs em 76, mas a verdade é que a sonoridade da
faixa-título e de outras como ‘’Can I Put You On’’ (com um intenso crescendo) e
‘’Honey Roll’’ justificam a inserção do álbum completo na coletânea ‘’Rare
Masters’’. Justiça feita. Não há muito o que comentar sobre a segunda versão de
“Skyline Pigeon’’ (lado B de ‘’Daniel’’), pois aqui no Brasil muita gente passou
a conhecer Elton John graças a esta que é uma de suas melhores obras.

Lá fora, ela quase ficou no anonimato, não
fosse algumas versões ao vivo. Esta canção serve perfeitamente como uma espécie
de cartão-postal para toda sua carreira. Em 1974, Elton viveu o momento mais
importante de sua carreira (segundo ele mesmo), ao cantar 3 músicas com John
Lennon no Madison Square Garden, no Dia de Ação de Graças. Este show tem uma
grande importância, sobretudo para os beatlemaníacos, pois foi nele que John
Lennon apareceu em público pela última vez. Foi neste show também, que Elton
agiu como um verdadeiro cupido, reconciliando o casal Lennon e Yoko, ganhando
mais tarde, como forma de gratidão, o afilhado Sean Lennon.

Na série Classic Years o álbum simples ´´Here
And There´´ ganhou várias bônus e se tornou duplo, com destaque para essas 3
músicas ao lado de Lennon. Entre outras, também contém ´´Country Comfort´´ e uma
bela versão para ´´Bad Side Of The Moon´´. Ainda em 74, Elton regravou ‘’Lucy In
The Sky With Diamonds’’, também dos Beatles, e ‘’One Day At A Time’’ de Lennon,
ambas com a paticipação de John Lennon. ‘’One Day At A Time’’ virou nome de
coletânea aqui no Brasil em 76. Outro petardo em forma de compacto ainda em 74
foi a pré-discoteque ‘’Philadelphia Freedom’’, um dos balanços mais eletrizantes
da história. Os compactos não paravam, e em 75 um deles aproveitou o sucesso da
ópera rock ‘’Tommy’’, onde Elton no papel de ‘’Pinball Wizard’’, interpreta um
dos maiores clássicos do Who. Ainda em 75, ‘’Island Girl’’ foi lançada em outro
compacto, dessa vez com ‘’Sugar On The Floor’’ no lado B. Curiosamente essa
faixa, onde Elton tem uma belíssima interpretação, foi composta por Kiki Dee.

No ano seguinte Elton e Kiki Dee interpretam
‘’Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’’, um dos compactos mais bem sucedidos da história,
e também um dos duetos mais marcantes de todos os tempos.









 77/2005



Em 2003, ‘’Are You Ready For Love?’’ foi relançada em diversas versões remixadas
e estendidas, mas a versão original , lançada num compacto duplo juntamente com
‘’Mama Can’t Buy You Love’’ e ‘’Three Way Love Affair’’ em 77 ainda é
insuperável.

Em 89 ela voltou em cd numa espécie de
coletânea intitulada ‘’The Complete Thom Bell Sessions’’. A faixa é uma das boas
surpresas da fase experimental. Na série ‘’Classic Years’’ (segunda edição) de
98, o cd ‘’A Single Man’’ foi premiado com 5 faixas bônus: Ego, Flintstone Boy,
Lovesick, I Cry At Night e Strangers. Dessas, duas merecem destaque:
‘’Flintstone Boy’’ (lado B de ‘’Ego’’), surpreendente música, sobretudo nos
vocais e ‘’Strangers’’, uma bela balada que está muito mais para ‘’Georgia’’ de
78 ou ‘’Never Gonna Fall In Love Again’’ de 80 do que para lado B de ‘’Victim Of
Love’’. ‘’Donner Pour Donner’’ não faz parte da discografia de Elton John, mas
pouca gente se lembra do nome de France Gall neste dueto onde Elton se comporta
como um galã.

Depois de ‘’Empty Garden’’, Elton ainda
homenageou John Lennon num instrumental em 84 (The Man Who Never Died), a faixa
faz parte do Single de 12 “ de ‘’Nikita’’ e é bem interessante. O sonho de
gravar ao vivo com uma orquestra se concretizou em 86 e virou álbum duplo em 87,
com a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Elton interpreta boa parte do material de
seu segundo LP, e com essa versão de ´´Candle In The Wind´´, Elton arrebata uma
nova geração de fãs. Mais uma participação em trilha sonora e mais um sucesso, o
último da década de 80 lançado também na coletânea ‘’The Very Best’’: ‘’You
Gotta Love Someone’’. Ao contrário de ‘’Friends’’, a trilha sonora de ‘’Lion
King’’ foi lançada um ano após o fraco ‘’Duets’’, dessa forma ‘’Can You Feel The
Love Tonight?’’ e ‘’Circle Of Life’’ agradaram tanto ao público que acabou lhe
rendendo o Oscar de Melhor Canção.

Em 97, um single entrou para a história,
embora não tenha sido essa a intenção de Elton, ‘’Candle In The Wind’’ foi
composta às pressas por Bernie Taupin (nova letra) e ganhou arranjos de George
Martin, para homenagear a Princesa Diana. Desse mesmo compacto saiu ‘’You Can
Make History (Young Again)’’ e uma versão editada de ‘’Something About The Way
You Look Tonight’’.

Em 98, juntamente com Tim Rice, Elton lançou
uma espécie de coletânea não muito bem definida com vários artistas, onde Elton
participa em alguns duetos. Desta obra extraiu-se um clip bastante romântico e
uma boa canção ao lado de LeAnn Rimes: ‘’Written In The Stars’’. Parece que
Elton é mesmo uma boa opção para trilhas sonoras, chegando até mesmo a compor
duas em seguida: ‘’The Muse’’ e ‘’The Road To Eldorado’’.

A faixa ‘’Someday Out Of The Blue’’ do filme
‘’..Eldorado’’ é bastante interessante. Em 2002, ‘’Your Song’’, seu maior
sucesso, ganhou outra versão em estúdio com a participação de Alessandro Safina.
Em 2003 grava uma canção que faz parte da trilha sonora do filme ‘’Mona Lisas
Smile’’ com Julia Roberts: ‘’The Heart Of Every Girl’’, onde Elton interpreta
bem ao estilo das grandes vozes de todos os tempos. Para alavancar as vendas de
´´Peachtree Road´´, uma nova edição é lançada e com algumas bônus, entre elas
uma regravação intitulada ´´Electricity´´.

Por: Demétrio Barros

Elton John & Leon Russell to Release First Single, If It Wasn't For Bad,

Elton John & Leon Russell to Release First Single, 'If It Wasn't For Bad,' From Their Forthcoming Co

Elton John , Leon Russell cover front cd  If It Wasn't For Bad

http://www.melodika.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57559&Itemid=50

Monday, 23 August 2010

Decca Records is pleased to announce the single release of "If It Wasn't For Bad," available August 24th on iTunes and all digital retailers. The highly anticipated single is the first to be made available from The Union, the collaborative album with Elton John and Leon Russell to be released October 19th in the U.S. on Decca (October 25th in the U.K. on Mercury Records). The album marks the first time these iconic artists have worked together since 1970. "If It Wasn't For Bad," written by Leon Russell, features vocals by Elton John and piano and vocals by Russell along with an extraordinary band bringing a bold rock/country sound organically crafted by these true musical legends. Produced by Oscar and multiple-Grammy winning producer T Bone Burnett, The Union was recorded live in the studio with Elton and Leon on dueling pianos. The album features a variety of musical genres from R&B, soul, gospel, country, pop and rock. The 14-track disc includes selections written by Elton and his lifelong lyricist Bernie Taupin, as well as the combined incomparable songwriting team encompassing Leon, Elton, Bernie and T Bone. Leon first met Elton in 1970 when he attended Elton's first ever U.S. show at the famous Troubadour in Los Angeles. The meeting heralded the beginning of a long friendship and a mutual appreciation between the two artists. "In the late '60s and early '70s, the one piano player and vocalist who influenced me more than anybody else was Leon Russell," Elton said. "He was my idol." The pair went on to tour together shortly thereafter at New York's Fillmore East and to this day have held such high admiration for each other's work. After years of being out of touch, Elton listened to Leon's music while on safari in Africa last summer and was inspired to reconnect with his idol. "Elton called to ask if I would do a duet album with him," Russell said. "I'm very happy that he chose me to do this." Source: Decca Records

This watch will include Elton John’s signature

http://www.storewatches.org/this-watch-will-include-elton-johns-signature/

admin

This timepiece is also made with a mother of the pearl dial highlighted in green and gray and is accented with small sized black diamond embellishments for a more luxurious look. Aside from its luxurious design, this watch is also functional with its small seconds counter, and 12- hour and 60 -minute counters.
This new Chopard Elton John Watch is a luxurious timepiece that will be available in limited edition of 2000 pieces. This watch will also include Elton John’s signature on the case back. Chopard is presenting another set of watch collection this 2009 which they call as the Chopard Elton John Watch Collection. This collection is composed of luxurious timepieces where part of the proceeds will go to Elton John’s AIDS Foundation.
Among all the watches included in this collection, the one we are showing on the above image is one of the most attractive especially to women enthusiasts. The Chopard Elton John above is composed of an 18 carat red gold material found on the case and bezel. Aside from this, Chopard has also included on this some diamond embellishments found on the case and baguette diamonds on the bezel which make his timepiece luxurious looking.
This watch is also made with a mother of the pearl dial with accents of red gold and diamonds on it. Aside from the center time, this watch also includes other functions such as the 30 minute counter, 12 hour counter, and small seconds counter. This timepiece is finished with a pink crocodile leather strap.

August 23, 2010 1:51 PM PDT

NASA crowd-sourcing its astronaut soundtrack

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20014454-36.html

Astronauts on the space shuttle can see a sunrise numerous times a day, making the daily wake-up call from mission control all the more important. This image shows the sun lighting up Earth's atmosphere as seen in August 2005 from the shuttle Discovery (looking back past the cargo bay and tail assembly) on mission STS-114.

(Credit: NASA)

As NASA's space shuttle era draws to a close, the space program is inviting online fans to partake in one of its traditions: voting for the "Wakeup Song" traditionally played for astronauts to roust them in the mornings, which have in the past been chosen by family and friends of the shuttle crews.
"Space shuttle crews really enjoy the morning wake-up music," shuttle commander Mark Kelly said in a NASA announcement from last Friday. "While we don't have the best quality speaker in the space shuttle, it will be interesting to hear what the public comes up with. We are looking forward to it."
NASA's two final space shuttle missions, STS-133 (Discovery) and STS-134 (Endeavour), have scheduled launch dates of Nov. 1 and Feb. 26 respectively. (They had been scheduled to go in July and September of this year, respectively.)
Unfortunately, there are not many opportunities for write-in candidates: you can vote on NASA's site for your favorite of the top 40 previously used "Wakeup Songs," or upload an original song of your own, as long as it's "space-themed." (This could be a great opportunity for publicity on behalf of some indie bands.) STS-133 will feature the two highest-ranking songs in the top 40; STS-134 will feature the two highest-ranking original songs after finalists are put to a vote online. Among the choices for the top 40 are Tom Petty's "Learning To Fly," Train's "Drops of Jupiter," Elton John's "Rocket Man," and the theme from "Star Trek."
This restrictiveness may be because a good chunk of "space-themed" songs are sad astro-ballads about getting lost and never coming home, from David Bowie's classic "Space Oddity" to this year's Wolf Parade single "Yulia," and could be a bit insensitive for use in the space program. Or it might be because invariably some prank-minded Web forum would try to game the contest in favor of a meme-fueled suggestion like Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (which won a New York Mets eighth-inning sing-along contest after Digg and Fark encouraged users to vote it up) or anything by teen pop star Justin Bieber.
Although, come to think about it, that trippy, stretched-out recording of a Justin Bieber song would be a perfect soundtrack for space.

Elton John, Leon Russell, 'If It Wasn't for Bad' -- New Song

http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/08/23/elton-john-leon-russell-if-it-wasnt-for-bad/

Posted on Aug 23rd 2010 12:46PM by Sara D Anderson

1 Comments

Amazon

'If It Wasn't for Bad' is the first single off Elton John and Leon Russell's first collaboration album, 'The Union,' produced by T-Bone Burnett.

Penned by Russell and lyricist Bernie Taupin, 'If It Wasn't for Bad,' features Russell's intricate piano licks -- beginning as a '50s classical tune, before breaking out into a bluesy, twangy rock effort.

And with John's undeniable soulful voice, mixed in with Russell's rustic harmonies and and backing gospel vocals, the song makes a perfect choice for the album's lead-off track.

The concept of the album, 'The Union,' stems from John's praise and appreciation of Russell's music, which was selective to studio sessions before extending to live performances in the late '60s and early '70s. A pianist, singer, songwriter and producer, Russell fronted the band for Joe Cocker's tour Mad Dogs and Englishmen, as well as the touring ensemble for George Harrison's benefit event Concert for Bangladesh.

"All I wanted for Leon is to have, in his later life, the accolades that seem to have been missing for him in the last 35 years," explains John. " I want his name written in stone. I want him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I want his name to be on everybody's lips again, like it used to be. So we made this record."

The album's penmanship varies song-to-song, but includes one, two or all three (Elton, Russell, Taupin), and features musicians and friends Brian Wilson, Booker T, Don Was and Neil Young.

The album cover was shot by esteemed photographer Annie Leibovitz, and Cameron Crowe even filmed the recording sessions for an upcoming documentary, details yet to be revealed.

To hear 'If It Wasn't for Bad,' head over to AOL Radio's Adult Rock station.

Elton John & Leon Russell to Release First Single, 'If It Wasn't For Bad,' From Their Forthcoming Collaborative New CD, The Union

 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elton-john--leon-russell-to-release-first-single-if-it-wasnt-for-bad-from-their-forthcoming-collaborative-new-cd-the-union-101311864.html

 

Single Available at iTunes and All Digital Retailers August 24th

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Decca Records is pleased to announce the single release of "If It Wasn't For Bad," available August 24th on iTunes and all digital retailers.  The highly anticipated single is the first to be made available from The Union, the collaborative album with Elton John and Leon Russell to be released October 19th in the U.S. on Decca (October 25th in the U.K. on Mercury Records).  The album marks the first time these iconic artists have worked together since 1970.
"If It Wasn't For Bad," written by Leon Russell, features vocals by Elton John and piano and vocals by Russell along with an extraordinary band bringing a bold rock/country sound organically crafted by these true musical legends.
Produced by Oscar and multiple-Grammy winning producer T Bone Burnett, The Union was recorded live in the studio with Elton and Leon on dueling pianos.  The album features a variety of musical genres from R&B, soul, gospel, country, pop and rock.  The 14-track disc includes selections written by Elton and his lifelong lyricist Bernie Taupin, as well as the combined incomparable songwriting team encompassing Leon, Elton, Bernie and T Bone.
Leon first met Elton in 1970 when he attended Elton's first ever U.S. show at the famous Troubadour in Los Angeles.  The meeting heralded the beginning of a long friendship and a mutual appreciation between the two artists.  "In the late '60s and early '70s, the one piano player and vocalist who influenced me more than anybody else was Leon Russell," Elton said.  "He was my idol."  The pair went on to tour together shortly thereafter at New York's Fillmore East and to this day have held such high admiration for each other's work.
After years of being out of touch, Elton listened to Leon's music while on safari in Africa last summer and was inspired to reconnect with his idol.  "Elton called to ask if I would do a duet album with him," Russell said.  "I'm very happy that he chose me to do this."
SOURCE Decca Records