Elton John - BLUE MOVES (LP) Vinyl Record

Personnel: Elton John (vocals, piano, harpsichord); Davey Johnstone (guitar, mandolin); Caleb Quaye (guitar); Michael Hurwirz (cello); David Sanborn (saxophone); Barry Rogers, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker (horns); James Newton-Howard (piano, organ, synthesizer); Kenny Pasarrelli (bass); Roger Pope (drums); Ray Cooper (percussion); The Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Choir, Southern California Community Choir, Bruce Johnston, Graham Nash, Curt Becher, Clark Burroughs, Joe Chemay, Jon Joyce, Cindy Bullens, Ron Hicklin, Toni Tennille, David Crosby, Gene Morford (background vocals).
Engineers include: Gus Dudgeon, John Kurtlander, Earl Mankey.
Recorded at Eastern Sound, Toronto, Canada. Includes liner notes by Gus Dudgeon.
All tracks have been digitally remastered by Gus Dudgeon.
BLUE MOVES was Elton John's first double-album since 1973's GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD and his last full collaboration with Bernie Taupin before taking a two-year break from the lyricist. MOVES also signaled the end of a Golden Age marked by a string of wildly successful albums (including the aforementioned ROAD and CARIBOU) and non-stop, sold-out tours. This melancholy 1976 release includes what would be EJ's last Top 10 hit for three years ("Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word") and is loaded with numbers reflecting the ennui and burnout both John and Taupin were experiencing at the time ("Between Seventeen And Twenty," "If There's A God In Heaven [What's He Waiting For?]"). Elsewhere, John and Taupin write songs in tribute to Edith Piaf ("Cage The Songbird") and a depressingly debilitated Elvis Presley ("Idol").
Despite the inclusion of these and other heart-wrenching compositions like "Tonight," John's irrepressible upbeat attitude comes to the fore on tracks such as the Caleb Quaye instrumental "Your Starter For..." and "One Horse Town," a peppy song about life in the rural South. Most gratifying is a collaboration with the Reverend James Cleveland and his Southern California Choir on the funky "Boogie Pilgrim."

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Pop