Elton John´s Diary 1967

The Illustrated Cornflakes & Classics A musical history of Elton John
by Paul Maclauchlan


Copyright 1989, 2006 Paul Maclauchlan

Permission granted to copy this information if credit is given


1967

Spring 1967

Long John Baldry expands the group into a nine-piece band and moves to the cabaret circuit as the John Baldry Show.


Jun 17 1967
UK MAGAZINE - NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS

The famous music paper advertisement by Ray Williams, soliciting talent for Liberty Records. Both Reg Dwight and Bernie Taupin answer the ad.

Jun 1967
ENGLAND AUDITION - Regent Sound Studios, Denmark Street, London

+He'll Have To Go 
+I Love You Because 

Reg Dwight auditions for Liberty Records. Ray Williams declines to sign him, but suggests Reg might want to "try" writing songs with Bernie Taupin.


Jul & Aug 1967
Reg Dwight is signed through an agency to replace Eric Hine on keyboards for the band Simon Dupree And The Big Sound during a tour of Scotland. Reg played Hammond organ and Mellotron for £25 a week.

Reg kept in touch with Ray Shulman after Eric Hine returned to the group. Simon Dupree And The Big Sound later recorded, but didn't release, the Elton John / Bernie Taupin song I'm Going Home. Elton contributed piano to that recording and also the unreleased songs Laughing Boy From Nowhere and Give It All Back. All were to eventually be heard on the Simon Dupree And The Big Sound CD release Part Of My Past on 


April 27 2004.
This information is from Peter O'Flaherty's web site Simon Dupree and The Big Sound. Peter was the bass guitar player in the group. Be sure to visit Peter's site to read his memoir of that summer and see pictures of young Reg Dwight on tour in Scotland!


Jul & Aug 1967
SCOTLAND CONCERTS - Simon Dupree And The Big Sound with Reg Dwight on keyboards

Glasgow and area ( Three nights ) 
Brodick, Island of Arran. Two days and nights, over a weekend. 
Forte William 
Inverness 
Aberdeen 
Stonehaven 
Arbroath 
Dundee 
Perth 
Stirling 
Falkirk 
Edinburgh ( Two nights ). 
This information is from Peter O'Flaherty's web site Simon Dupree and The Big Sound.


Sep 1967
UK COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

A Dandelion Dies In The Wind 
A Little Love Goes A Long Long Way (Reg Dwight) 
Can't You See It (Reg Dwight) 
If You Could See Me Now (Reg Dwight) 
Mr Lightning Strikerman 
Onetime, Sometime or Never 
Scarecrow 
Velvet Fountain 
Watching The Planes Go By 
Published by The Hollies publishing company, Gralto, ( subsidiary of Dick James Music) none of these songs have been released by any artist.

Lyrics from Scarecrow: 
"Like moths around a light bulb
Your brain is still bleeding
From visions and pictures of nature's young raincoat
If only my eyes were not pinned to your table
My arms would be grasping the lilies of summer."

"A wooden construction...can you still see me Scarecrow." 

Oct 5 1967
UK 45 - Bluesology

Since I Found You Baby 
Just A Little Bit 
The B-side is available on the LP ROCK LEGENDS - RARE TRACKS Polydor 2475 711 (Australia), also released in Germany. Caleb Quaye has joined the band at this point.

Oct 1967
UK COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

Countryside Love Affair (Reg Dwight) 
I Could Never Fall In Love With Anybody Else (Reg Dwight) 
I Get A Little Bit Lonely (Reg Dwight) 
Where It's At (Reg Dwight / Nicky James) 
Who's Gonna Love You (Reg Dwight / Kirk Duncan) 
Witch's House (Reg Dwight) 
Year Of The Teddy Bear 
None of these songs have been released by any artist.

Nov 17 1967
Reg Dwight and Bernie Taupin are signed to DJM records.

DJM Records (also known as Dick James Music) was the record label set up in the 1970s by British music publisher, Dick James, distributed by Pye Records in the UK and various other companies around the world, including the USA.

The first release on the label was by Dave Sealy and entitled "It Takes A Thief", which had been adapted from the theme music from a popular television series for which a lyric was written. Frank Neilson was A&R manager from 1976 to 1979, before he moved to Polydor Records. Andy Stinton was Promotions Manager for several years before moving to Canada in 1980 to start his own communications company.

Elton John was very prominent on DJM, except in the US and Canada where he was signed to MCA Records. He switched in 1976 to his own Rocket Records, before later deciding to sue DJM in the 1980s over the rights to his earlier (pre-1976) work.

Other acts on the label in the 1970s included Ireland's Celtic rockers Horslips; Mr. Bloe, who included pianist Zack Laurence and harmonica player Harry Pitch; former Fleetwood Mac member Danny Kirwan, who recorded three albums for DJM, Second Chapter (1975), Midnight In San Juan (1976), and Hello There Big Boy! (1979); The Tremeloes, after their departure from CBS/Epic in 1974; singer-turned-actor Dennis Waterman; Johnny Guitar Watson, who had several successful singles and albums in the USA; and various session musicians who had worked with Elton John.

Roger Hodgson – prior to joining Supertramp – issued a U.K. single on DJM under the name "Argosy". This record was also released on Congress Records (a division of Kapp Records) in the U.S..

After Dick James' death in 1986, the DJM catalogue was acquired by PolyGram.

Nov 1967
UK COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

Nina 
This song has not been released by any artist.

Dec 1967
Reg Dwight resigns from Bluesology and changes his name to Elton John. The name is combined from those of his bandmates, saxophone player Elton Dean and singer Long John Baldry.

Dec 1967
UK COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

I Want To See You Smile (Elton John / Caleb Quaye) 
This song has not been released by any artist.


Chapter Menu
1947 to 1965
1966
1967
1968
1969

Elton John´s Diary 1966

The Illustrated Cornflakes & Classics A musical history of Elton John
by Paul Maclauchlan


Copyright 1989, 2006 Paul Maclauchlan

Permission granted to copy this information if credit is given

Photo: Elton John and Bluesology

1966

Feb 1966

UK 45 - Bluesology

Fontana

Mr Frantic 

Everyday (I Have The Blues) 

Dec 11 1966

Mr. Frantic

Written by Reg Dwight

© 1965 Mills Music

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you hold me, when you thrill me

My heart just sets on fire

When you love me, when you hold me

I'm just filled with desire

You know that I love you baby

But your kind of loving just drives me crazy

When you hold me, when you kiss me

Mr. Frantic, Mr. Frantic

When you tell me that I'm your only

I feel on top of the world

If you'd only say you will

Then you'll be my only girl

We could be such a happy pair

And I promise to do my share

When you hold me, when you kiss me

Mr. Frantic, Mr. Frantic

You know that I have loved you since

The day we met in the rain

And if you were to go away now

My heart couldn't stand the pain

BLUESOLOGY History

From about 1960, organist Reggie Dwight - then aged 13 - and his neighbour, singer and guitarist Stewart "Stu" Brown, performed with a local group, the Corvettes, in Pinner, Middlesex, a suburb of London. After that group split up, the pair formed a new group, Bluesology, with Rex Bishop (bass), and Mick Inkpen (drums). According to Dwight the band's name was in homage to the Django Reinhardt album Djangology. There had also been a 1956 piece named Bluesology by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. By 1962 they had begun playing local pubs, and in 1963 they won a regular weekly slot at the Establishment Club in London, playing tunes by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Witherspoon and Memphis Slim, among others. In 1965, they turned professional, and signed a contract with an agency which began hiring them out as a backing band for visiting American performers, including The Isley Brothers, Doris Troy, Billy Stewart and Patti LaBelle.

After recording a demo they were signed by Fontana Records, and recorded their first single, Dwight's song "Come Back Baby", in July 1965.[3] In November 1965 they released a second single, "Mr. Frantic", again written and sung by Dwight, and again unsuccessful. After a tour of Germany the band returned to England to work as the backing band for Major Lance with an expanded line-up of Dwight, Brown, Pat Higgs (trumpet), Dave Murphy (saxophone), Freddie Creasey (bass) and Paul Gale (drums).

In September 1966 the band was invited by vocalist Long John Baldry to become his regular band. Only Dwight and Brown agreed, thus forming with Baldry a new version of Bluesology, along with Fred Gandy (bass), Pete Gavin (drums), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Elton Dean (saxophone), Marc Charig (cornet), and Alan Walker (vocals), and, for a brief spell, singer Marsha Hunt.[6] As Stu Brown and Bluesology, they recorded the single "Since I Found You Baby" for Polydor Records, produced by Kenny Lynch.

As Baldry's music drifted more towards the cabaret market, Dwight became disenchanted with the band, and so simultaneously began to develop songwriting skills in collaboration with Bernie Taupin whilst working as a session musician. Dwight, Brown and Dean all quit Bluesology in late 1967, Brown's replacement being Caleb Quaye, only for the band to call it a day the following year.

Dwight used the names of fellow band members Elton Dean and John Baldry to create his new solo stage name of Elton John. Brown went on to form country rock band Cochise, playing and singing on their first two albums, Cochise and Swallow Tales, in 1970-71, before moving to the Mediterranean. Dean, Hubbard and Charig all had lengthy careers as jazz and session musicians. Gavin became a member of Heads Hands & Feet and later Vinegar Joe,and Gandy joined Caleb Quaye's band Hookfoot.[

A Bluesology compilation album, Rare Tracks, was issued by Polydor in 1975.

UK CONCERT - Saville Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Bluesology, along with The Quotations and The Alan Price Set, appear as a support band for the only London appearance of Little Richard. At this point in time the band is: Stuart Brown: vocals; Reg Dwight: keyboards; Freddie Creasey: bass; David Murphey: sax; Chris Bateson: trumpet; and Paul Gale: drums.

Chapter Menu
1947 to 1965
1966
1967
1968
1969

Dec 1966

Long John Baldry becomes the lead singer of Bluesology.