Tuesday, February 05, 2008

What happened: "The Captain and The Kid"

Elton John and The Captain and The KidBack in 2005 we heard the stories that Elton was going to record a sequel to the 1975 classic album "Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy" as suggested by his manager Merck Mercuriadis. At the time the idea was enthusiastically received and fans were buzzing about the album. As tracks lyrics and snippets of the songs began to leak out it was clear that this album was sure to be something special and some of Elton's best work since the mid 1970s. Eventually full tracks began to appear all over the internet and they were roundly praised. It appeared that Elton had done what few thought possible and that was to match his creativity from his hey-day. Music critics agreed with rave reviews, even Rolling Stone magazine, not the most Elton friendly music magazine, awarded 4 stars;

The Captain and the Kid is the third album in a career-resurrecting run that began in 2001, when Elton John took the novel approach of sitting down at a piano and writing songs that sound a lot like Elton John. The album is a sequel to 1975's chart-topping Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and it has moments that rival the original: The songs are precision instruments, from the honky-tonk pop of "Just Like Noah's Ark" to pristine ballads like the title track. With lyricist Bernie Taupin in tow, The Kid traces thirty-odd years' worth of ups and downs that befall the duo. The story line gets a little murky and the album cheeses out on songs like "The Bridge." But more than just a gift to fans, it shows Elton's gifts haven't deserted him. And that's more than good enough.

And then Universal stepped in.

Of all the wonderful songs on "The Captain and The Kid" the absolute worst choice was made as the lead single. Instead of going with any of the terrific mid-tempo songs from the album such as "Just Like Noah's Ark" or "Tinderbox" or even the self-promoting title cut Universal made the safe choice and released to radio-only (another mistake) "The Bridge." A piano only track with up-front vocals from Elton and a beautiful vocal bridge, nonetheless it was not radio-friendly nor was it memorable. Quite frankly it was a boring track and did not fairly represent the overall outstanding quality of the rest of the album. It did reasonably well at AC radio where Elton has become a staple. However it did not generate much buzz for the album and Universal decided not to release a second track to radio effectively killing the album. Curiously a wonderful video was produced for "Tinderbox" reminiscent of the Beatles "Free As A Bird" video which interspersed archival footage of Elton, Bernie and the boys into colorful nostalgic scenes of Elton in the 1970s. And another odd note was that one of the promotional placements for this video was on MLB.com, the Major League Baseball official website.

Elton John and Tinderbox on MLB.comAs a result of the poor choice for the lead single and no then follow-up the album tanked on the charts and Universal essentially abandoned it. Elton was not happy. He publicly ridiculed Universal and begged them to drop him from their label.

“Nobody would know the album has been out since September.

“My record label isn’t doing anything to help. F— Universal. Please drop me. I’m 58 and I don’t care anymore.”


Quite frankly I think Elton is exactly correct. He needs to get away from the traditional record labels like Universal and go in a new direction in regards to promoting his new music. He has nothing left to prove and can probably do a much better job of getting his music out in front of a new audience as well as his core fan base. He has several options available to him in my opinion;

One option is to take the Paul McCartney route and sign with a label like Starbucks "Hear Music" which will enthusiastically and aggressively promote his new material. They have their own XM Radio channel which can feature the music as well as selling the CDs in the coffee shops.

Another option is to strike a deal similar to what Madonna did when she signed with Live Nation. The Madonna deal includes "new studio efforts, tours, merchandise, DVD releases, sponsorships, licensing agreements, fan club, Web site, and TV and film projects." The problem here is Elton has never shown the least bit of interest in the internet, in fact he hates the internet and wishes it were non-existent. This is a foolish position to take. The internet can open up Elton to an unlimited number of new fans if he would embrace it and use it to his advantage.

Elton could also just market his new music on his own website eltonjohn.com along with other exclusive merchandise. But that hating-the-internet problem gets in the way again.

As I said, Elton has nothing to prove to anyone and could easily not release another album ever again. His position as a rock legend is well established. But his creative juices are still flowing and I don't see him just disappearing off the music scene. He loves to write music, tour and perform so while he is still has the desire he will continue to record new music. However, Elton clearly needs took go in a new direction getting his new music out in front of the new music fans in order to avoid the disaster of "The Captain and The Kid" from happening again.

6 comments:

Mukke said...

EXACTLY right. Dead on. Now post this to Elton's management, pronto. :P

I do disagree about the quality of The Bridge (not about it being a poor leadoff single, though).

Anonymous said...

YOU DID HIT IT HEAD ON! Let's get this signed and to elton's management!

Jerred Price
Age 19
Arkansas

Anonymous said...

The choice of singles has been the problem for recent albums. "Love her like me" would have been perfect at least for Europe, but instead we get the boring "This train don´t stop..". "The Bridge" is the standout track from The Captain... so this was the right choice in my opinion. To be honest; the album was not that great, 4 or 5 listenable songs, about as many forgettable songs and a few stinkers. I really wish he would try harder. OK, he used to be able to write a whole album in a few weeks, but not so anymore obviously.

Anonymous said...

Greetings. As I was reading your on-point comments, I was nodding my head in the amen corner. "The Captain & The Kid" is a great album thats never too far from my cd changer. From the first track to the last, everything just flows so perfectly in the telling of 30+ years of two mates(and the fact that EJ cranks up the tempo on a few gems with this great band is something thats been missing since the start of his albums in the 90s.....). Mr. Taupin once stated that one of the great things about the classic "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues"-is that its one of their most relatable songs-and this is a fact I feel strongly about this album as a whole-its their story of course, but the lyrics could be about the life experinces of any of us. It's a shame that the record company didn't promote it -but that's to be expected at this junction(Stevie Wonder's last recording was not backed by record company either). Until I read your comments I wasn't aware of EJ lact of interest in the internet. The web represents in this day & age, a great avenue for those music greats who are still releasing great/new music-to get their music heard by the masses. Because, while I'm old-school in the sense that I have a physical music collection(Lps, Tapes, & Cds..) today the majority of music listeners music archives are stored via their Ipods, etc......or just listening/looking for new music on the internet(which I do as well). The internet would be a great option for EJ. Thanks very much for your post on this sleeped-on great recording that is The Captain & The Kid.

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