Exactly. Incidentally, a "guide through my catalog" would've been a nice addition to (or a standalone from) his book, even just like, a bit of like "here's 30 songs you've probably forgotten about that are really special" kind of thing. Oh well.
I'm torn ... I'm excited for Jewel Box, even though I have all his albums, and most of the singles, too. What I'm torn over is buying the Diamonds Deluxe 3 CD set, even though I have everything. It would make a nice set on the shelf next Jewel Box, but I have the songs on Diamonds many, many times over already. Disc 3 of Diamonds is a bit of a companion to Elton's deep cuts on Jewel Box and would be nice to have.
You got it. This is exactly how I feel. It's not exhaustive, and, yeah, the deep cuts we already have. But "Diamonds" was 3 discs whereas this thing is 8 discs, only three of which are the deep cuts. I don't care about those three discs; I'd gladly pay the same price just for two discs of B-sides previously unavailable on CD (well, most of them) and three discs of material previously unavailable at all (some of which wasn't even available on bootlegs).
Yes, they'll look nice together. If you don't own ANY of the GH or other comps, Diamonds is a simple way to play the GH in order (if you don't care about sound quality). And the third disc throws some nice singles on that rarely make the comps. But otherwise, it's a meh set. I picked it up for around $20 when it came out, so it wasn't a huge investment. But I'm much more excited about this new one.
REVISED Here are a few thoughts/facts regarding the song choices on Discs 1, 2, & 8: All That I'm Allowed; #20 U.K., so not a ''deep cut'' All Quiet On the Western Front; U.K. A-side which did not chart Lady Samantha; A-side which did not chart Border Song; #92 U.S. Philadelphia Freedom (#12 U.K./#1 U.S.) and Song for Guy (#4 U.K./#110 U.S.); both also available on Diamonds, but both tie into the autobiography, so there is that... Sartorial Eloquence; #44 U.K./#39 U.S. Cold as Christmas (in the Middle of the Year); #33 U.K. The Last Song; #21 U.K./#23 U.S. Also, regarding Discs 4 & 5; 11 of the demos included are songs that Elton would re-record for his singles/albums from 1968-1973: Here's to the Next Time, Skyline Pigeon, All Across the Havens, It's Me That You Need, My Father's Gun, Amoreena, Burn Down the Mission, Razor Face, Madman Across the Water, Holiday Inn, All the Nasties Elton John & Tumbleweed Connection 2008 deluxe editions – piano demos; note: no overlap with Jewel Box Your Song 3:35, I Need You to Turn To 2:12, Take Me to the Pilot 2:36, No Shoe Strings On Louise 3:33, Sixty Years On 4:21, The Greatest Discovery 3:58, The Cage 3:21, The King Must Die 5:24, Rock and Roll Madonna 3:11, Thank You Mama 3:20, All the Way Down to El Paso 2:49, I'm Going Home 3:05, Grey Seal 3:19, Come Down in Time 3:21, Country Comfort 4:12, Son of Your Father 4:13, Talking Old Soldiers 4:13, Into the Old Man's Shoes 3:40, Sisters of the Cross 4:38
Disc 3 of the Diamonds box is the "best" for fans of more than his 20-30 signature songs/hits...……… I am actually compiling an 80 minute CD of Deep Tracks/Non singles that are not on this box set. It will be my "thrown-in" to put in the box when it arrives. Certain classic tracks like "Harmony", "Elderberry Wine", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and "High Flying Bird" should have easily made this new Jewel Box on discs 1, 2, or 8.
He's fairly involved with Apple Music, with his own radio show and stuff, so he could totally do his own themed playlists there, which would be really neat (and not restricted by any format limitations).
Well, I have the mono issue of his fourth Uni single, Levon/Goodbye, and, to my ears, it's just a fold-down of the stereo. I believe one or two past SHF threads have discussed these mixes but not everyone agreed whether these were dedicated mono mixes or just fold-downs. (I have Uni pressings of the first three, incidentally; but they're not marked stereo or mono, and I've never bothered to play them. Maybe I will later in the week.)
I personally would have preferred a couple more discs of unreleased demos or oop b-sides over the deep cuts but honestly before the Japan remaster series who thought that any part of the Elton archive was going to receive any kind of decent release at all? We can therefore still live in hope that the concert film archive might see some sort of proper consideration.
For those of us who would like to know, I've compiled the following. If anyone wants to make any corrections feel free! NOTE: The 3 Dick James Demo Bootleg Discs include 5 songs that are not included at all on the Jewel Box - These are: You'll Be Sorry To See Me Go Sarah's Coming Back (Raymond/Murray) Last to Arrive I Love You & That's All That Matters (Dwight) Annabella I've removed any reference to demo's of officially released album tracks. Disc 3: Rarities 1965-1968 Scarecrow (Piano/Tambourine Demo} *Only partial version on Dick James Demos Bootleg A Dandelion Dies In The Wind (Piano Demo) *Bootleg has band version Velvet Fountain (Piano Demo) *Only partial version on Bootleg A Little Love Goes a Long Way (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg If You Could See Me Now (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Mr. Lightning Strikerman (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Countryside Love Affair (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg I Could Never Fall In Love With Anybody Else (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg I Get a Little Bit Lonely (Piano Demo) *Bootleg is same The Witch’s House (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Get Out Of This Town (Piano/Tambourine Demo) *Bootleg has band version Year Of The Teddy Bear (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Where It’s At (Piano/Percussion Demo) *Bootleg is same Who’s Gonna Love You (Piano/Percussion Demo) *Not on Bootleg Nina (Band Version) *Not on Bootleg Angel Tree (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo) *Bootleg has two band mixes Here’s To The Next Time )Piano/Tambourine Demo) *Not on Bootleg Thank You For All Your Loving (Band Version) *Bootleg is same Watching The Planes Go By (Band Version) *Not on Bootleg When The First Tear Shows (Arranged Band Version) *Bootleg is same Tartan Coloured Lady (Arranged Band Version) *Bootleg has two band mixes Disc 4: Rarities 1968 Hourglass (Band Version) *Bootleg is same 71-75 New Oxford Street Band (Demo) *Bootleg is same (band) Turn To Me (Arranged Band Version) *Bootleg has two band mixes Reminds Me Of You (Piano Demo) *Bootleg is same I Can’t Go On Living Without You (Arranged Band Version) *Bootleg is same And The Clock Goes Round (Piano Demo) *Bootleg has band version When I Was Tealby Abbey (Piano Demo) *Bootleg has band version I’ll Stop Living When You Stop Loving Me (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Trying To Hold On To a Love That’s Dying (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Sitting Doing Nothing (Band Version) *Bootleg is same (two mixes) Regimental Sgt. Zippo (Band Version) *Bootleg is same Cry Willow Cry (Band Demo) *Not on Bootleg There Is Still a Little Love (Band Demo) *Bootleg has piano demo If I Asked You (Band Demo) *Not on Bootleg Skyline Pigeon (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg Two Of a Kind (Arranged Band Version) *Not on Bootleg The Girl On Angel Pavement (Arranged Band Version) *Not on Bootleg Smokestack Children (Arranged Band Version) *Not on Bootleg Baby I Miss You Band (Demo) *Not on Bootleg but demo was available All Across The Havens (Piano/Guitar Demo) *Not on Bootleg Bonnie’s Gone Away (Piano/Guitar Demo) *Not on Bootleg Just An Ordinary Man (Piano Demo) *Not on Bootleg There’s Still Time For Me (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo) *Bootleg is same Disc 5: Rarities 1969-1971 (previously unreleased except #) The Tide Will Turn For Rebecca (Piano Demo) *Bootleg is same and also has full orchestrated version! Dick Barton Theme (Devil’s Gallop) – Bread and Beer Band # Breakdown Blues – Bread and Beer Band # Taking The Sun From My Eyes (Arranged Band Version) *Bootleg is same It’s Me That You Need (Band Demo) *Not on Bootleg Sing Me No Sad Songs (Band Demo) *Bootleg is same The Flowers Will Never Die (Piano Demo) *Bootleg is same In The Morning (Band Demo) *Bootleg is same Open Your Eyes To The Sun (Piano/Tambourine Demo) *Not on Bootleg One Time, Sometime or Never (Band Demo) *Not on Bootleg Slow Fade To Blue (Piano/Guitar Demo) *Not on Bootleg Rolling Western Union (Piano Demo) *Available on Bootleg
Funny thing is if he threw some Lion King stuff on there, even though it's not my favorite it really would round out my collection. I own nothing after Sleeping With the Past.
That appears to be another of his demos of songs by other writers. I don't think any of those type of (likely "Publisher") demos are included in the Jewel Box unfortunately. Elton seems to have done quite a few of those. Some of the acetates have been partially posted on YouTube; a couple pretty recently actually.
Nice catch. Hadn't thought about that. Words sound a bit too sweet for Taupin, even then. Yes, there is a trove of Elton doing cover songs as we all know. Not too well versed in copyright expiration, who owns what etc. but would a thorough, complete "Reg Dwight's Piano Goes Pop" type release be on the table soon? Also regarding Lion King, excellent song called Red, Wake Up Wendy from the South Park album and so forth, I keep hoping for a soundtrack kind of release where all Elton's movie songs are included. Perhaps include some of the Aida/Lestat demos as a bonus. What's the deal with this? "Basque"? An early run for this box, perhaps? Elton John - Elton John
I wrote the sleevenotes to Reg Wright's Piano Goes Pop! The title had to be changed, as EJ reasonably pointed out that he didn't play piano on the CD. His royalties went to his charity, I think.
I believe that set (renamed Chartbusters Goes Pop!) was issued on vinyl a few years ago. He was doing session work and covers well after his s/t album came out in '70.
Why assume that everyone is streaming? If it is only about the music, you could basically stream every release (or store on servers) - not just deep cuts. If we are fans of physical media (like me), we should be thankful for every release in this vein (with a book containing anecdotes to the tracks etc.). It remains to be seen whether this type of release will still happen in 15-20 years. To hell with streaming ;-)
