Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by Elton John. The album is an autobiographical account of the early musical careers of Elton John (Captain Fantastic) and his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy). It was released in May 1975 by MCA in America and DJM in the UK and was an instant commercial success.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Studio album by
Elton John
Released19 May 1975
RecordedAugust 1974[1]
StudioCaribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado
GenreRock, pop
Length46:32
LabelMCA (US)
DJM (UK)
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Elton John Greatest Hits
(1974)		 Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
(1975)		 Rock of the Westies
(1975)
Singles from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
  1. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"
    Released: 23 June 1975

The album reached number 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first ever album to do so, reportedly selling 1.4 million copies within 4 days of release, and it stayed in that position in the chart for seven weeks.[2][3]

Though they would all appear on later albums, this was the last album of the 1970s with the original lineup of the Elton John Band (guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson). Murray and Olsson, who had formed John's rhythm section since 1970, were sacked prior to the recording of the follow-up album Rock of the Westies, while Johnstone would leave in 1978. This was the last album until 1983's Too Low for Zero that Elton John and his classic band would play on together.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 158 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[4]

History

Written, according to lyricist Bernie Taupin, in chronological order, Captain Fantastic is a concept album that gives an autobiographical glimpse at the struggles John (Captain Fantastic) and Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) had in the early years of their musical careers in London (from 1967 to 1969), leading up to John's eventual breakthrough in 1970. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that would otherwise be rare in John's music. John composed the music on a ship voyage from the UK to New York.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight", the only single released from the album (and a number 4 hit on the US Pop Singles chart), is a semi-autobiographical story about John's disastrous engagement to Linda Woodrow, and his related 1968 suicide attempt. The "Someone" refers to Long John Baldry, who convinced him to break off the engagement rather than ruin his music career for an unhappy marriage. It was viewed by Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau as the best track on the album: "As long as Elton John can bring forth one performance per album on the order of 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight', the chance remains that he will become something more than the great entertainer he already is and go on to make a lasting contribution to rock."[5]

In a 2006 interview with Cameron Crowe, John said, "I've always thought that Captain Fantastic was probably my finest album because it wasn't commercial in any way. We did have songs such as 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight,' which is one of the best songs that Bernie and I have ever written together, but whether a song like that could be a single these days, since it's [more than] six minutes long, is questionable. Captain Fantastic was written from start to finish in running order, as a kind of story about coming to terms with failure—or trying desperately not to be one. We lived that story."[6][7]

John, Taupin and the band laboured harder and longer on the album than perhaps any previous record they'd ever done to that point. As opposed to the rather quick, almost factory-like process of writing and recording an album in a matter of a few days or at most a couple of weeks (as with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), the team spent the better part of a month off the road at Caribou Ranch Studios working on the recordings. Producer Gus Dudgeon was apparently also very satisfied with the results. The album's producer was quoted in Elizabeth Rosenthal's His Song, an exhaustive detailed accounting of nearly all John's recorded work, as saying he thought Captain Fantastic was the best the band and Elton had ever played, lauded their vocal work, and soundly praised Elton and Bernie's songwriting. "There's not one song on it that's less than incredible," Dudgeon said.

Sequel

The 2006 album The Captain & the Kid is the sequel, and continues the autobiography where Captain Fantastic leaves off. The album sold poorly.

Cover art

The intricate cover art was designed by pop artist Alan Aldridge, drawing fantastic imagery from the Renaissance painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.[8][9] The original LP package also included two booklets; a "Lyrics" booklet which contained an uncompleted lyric for "Dogs in the Kitchen" that did not appear on the album, and another booklet called "Scraps," which collected photos and snippets of reviews, personal diary entries and other memorabilia of John and Taupin during the years that are chronicled on the album. The original LP also contained a poster of the album's cover.

In 1976, Bally released a Capt. Fantastic pinball machine with artwork by Dave Christensen of Elton John in his "pinball wizard" character from the movie Tommy. In 1977, Bally released a "home model" version with artwork by Alan Aldridge.

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Rolling Stone(favourable)[5]
The Village VoiceB[11]

The album reached number 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first ever album to do so, reportedly selling 1.4 million copies within 4 days of release, and it stayed in that position in the chart for seven weeks.[2][3] It was certified gold based on pre-release orders in early May 1975, two weeks before it was even officially released, and was certified platinum and triple platinum in March 1993 by the RIAA.

In Canada, it also debuted at number 1 on the RPM national Top Albums chart and only broke a run of what would have been fifteen consecutive weeks at the top by falling one position to number 2 in the ninth week (31 May–6 September).[12] On the UK Albums Chart, it peaked at number 2.

In 2003, the album was ranked #158 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[4]

Later releases

A deluxe 30th anniversary edition CD was released September 2005, containing the complete album and adding "House of Cards", the original B-side to the 7" single of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", which had previously only appeared on CD on the 1992 Rare Masters collection. Also included is a second disc containing the complete album performed live at Wembley Stadium on 21 June 1975.

In September 2005, Elton John and his band again performed the entire album (minus "Tower of Babel" and "Writing") in a series of sold-out concerts in Boston, New York City and the tour's final stop, Atlanta, in October. These "Captain Fantastic Concerts" were a part of the Peachtree Road Tour and were the longest concerts in Elton's career, many lasting at least three and a half hours. The songs from Captain Fantastic were aired by Capital Gold Radio in a broadcast taken from 16 September 2005 performance in Boston.

"Curtains", among other songs from the album, was sampled in Pnau's 2012 album Good Morning to the Night.

"We All Fall in Love Sometimes" was covered by Jeff Buckley.[13] It was also covered by Coldplay for the 2018 tribute album Revamp: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy"5:46
2."Tower of Babel"4:28
3."Bitter Fingers"4:35
4."Tell Me When the Whistle Blows"4:20
5."Someone Saved My Life Tonight"6:45
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket"4:01
7."Better Off Dead"2:37
8."Writing"3:40
9."We All Fall in Love Sometimes"4:15
10."Curtains"6:15
Total length:46:32

Note: On the original DJM Records CD version, "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" and "Curtains" are both combined into one track, making it a nine-track album. On all other CD versions (MCA Records, Polydor and French label Carrere Records), both tracks are separated, remaining it the original ten-track album.

Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"John Lennon/Paul McCartney6:18
12."One Day at a Time"John Lennon3:49
13."Philadelphia Freedom" 5:22
Total length:62:01

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Bonus track
No.TitleLength
14."House of Cards"3:12
Total length:65:13
Disc two: Live from "Midsummer Music" at Wembley Stadium, 21 June 1975
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" 7:02
2."Tower of Babel" 4:38
3."Bitter Fingers" 5:06
4."Tell Me When the Whistle Blows" 4:39
5."Someone Saved My Life Tonight" 7:17
6."(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" 7:19
7."Better Off Dead" 3:01
8."Writing" 5:30
9."We All Fall in Love Sometimes" 3:57
10."Curtains" 8:48
11."Pinball Wizard"Pete Townshend6:31
12."Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" 7:40
Total length:71:28

B-sides
Song Format
"House of Cards""Someone Saved My Life Tonight" 7" (US/UK)

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

Wembley Stadium, 21 June 1975
Production
  • Producer – Gus Dudgeon
  • Engineer – Jeff Guercio
  • Assistant Engineer – Mark Guercio
  • Remixing – Gus Dudgeon and Phil Dunne
  • Remastering – Tony Cousins
  • Digital Transfers – Ricky Graham
  • Art Direction and Graphic Conception – David Larkham and Bernie Taupin
  • Cover Design and Illustrations – Alan Aldridge and Harry Willock
  • Booklet Illustrations – Alan Aldridge and John Hair
  • Package Design – David Larkham
  • Inner Sleeve Photography – Terry O'Neill
  • Booklet Photos – Sam Emerson, David Larkham, Anthony Lowe, Michael Ross and Ian Vaughan.
  • Liner Notes – John Tobler, Paul Gambaccini (Deluxe Edition)

Accolades
Grammy Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
1976Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt CowboyAlbum of the Year[14]Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male[15]Nominated

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Gold 160,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]
reissue 		Silver
United States (RIAA)[37] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. 10 Things You Need to Know About Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy Retrieved 8 April 2018
  2. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2, illustrated ed.). Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0-214-20480-4.
  3. "Elton Expands 'Captain Fantastic' With Live Tracks". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2014
  4. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  5. Landau, Jon (17 July 1975). "Elton John: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  6. "Interview with Cameron Crowe". eltonjohnitaly.com.
  7. Spignesi, Stephen; Lewis, Michael (15 October 2019). Elton John - Fifty Years On - Captain Fantastic. Google Books. ISBN 9781642933284.
  8. "Traumafessions :: Reader Bigwig on Captain Fantastic & Hieronymus Bosch". kindertrauma. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  9. Spencer, Neil (4 October 2008). "Alan Aldridge talks about his ground-breaking work for Penguin, Elton John and the Beatles". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  10. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r10466/review
  11. Christgau, Robert (16 June 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  12. Library and Archives Canada. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6149a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=qke6t2h6q2eg48ntu4cdulkfr0 Archived 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUq9sgPqfJ8
  14. "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1970–1979". grammy.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  15. "Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male". rockonthenet.com. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  16. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. "austriancharts.at Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Hung Medien (in German). Archived from the original (ASP) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  18. Library and Archives Canada. Archived 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 October 2011
  19. http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=2260
  20. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  21. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Elton John" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  22. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1975" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  23. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  24. "charts.nz Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  25. "norwegiancharts.com Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Hung Medien. VG-lista. Archived from the original (ASP) on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  26. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  27. "The Official Charts Company – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" (PHP). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  28. "allmusic ((( Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  29. "Album Search: Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  30. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1975". RPM. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  31. "Les Albums (CD) de 1975 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  32. "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  33. "Top Pop Albums of 1975". billboard.biz. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  34. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1976". RPM. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  35. "British album certifications – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  36. "British album certifications – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  37. "American album certifications – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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