Elton John - New Vinyl Releases

Just when we thought the EJ vinyl releases were done, two more were just announced - his other live albums "Here and There" and "Live in Australia." Couldn't find details on who did the mastering, but I might assume it was Bob Ludwig again.

Here and There - appears to be the original single disc album
Here and There LP

Live In Australia - double vinyl, as the original set was
Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 2LP

I think this completes all his live albums being re-released on vinyl (11/17/70, Here and There, Live in Australia, and One Night Only). This also opens hope that more releases may be in the future. I'd love some of the later day albums - The One, Made in England, and a Peachtree Road reissue.

 

Disappointed "Here and There" is the original single disc but I guess it makes sense. I'm definitely in for "Live in Australia" .

 

So far can't find on Amazon US (though did find them on UK).

 

Would love a complete Here and There, but there is no way they would release a 4 l.p. set.........maybe RSD 2019?

 

You never know...they did 17/11/70+ for RSD. After doing the single album as a vinyl reissue.

 

Complete H&T would be phenomenal - I was lucky enough to be at the NY show - my first major concert. It was so great, especially of course when John Lennon came out to play. It's one of the first and most cherished memories I have in music.

 

Wow, now that's a memory. Elton has mentioned that night many, many times at concerts, particularly when he was doing Empty Garden. Apparently John was throwing up he was so nervous, but it made for a legendary evening.

 

Thanksgiving Day (night) 11/28/74...never forget it. My older brother took me - he's a major Beatles fan - so he was thrilled. I was 15! It was so loud in there you could barely hear the band when Elton announced Lennon. People just went nuts. So cool.

First time I saw Elton at The Garden - first of many, many times. I was also there when he played Empty Garden years later and Yoko came out onstage with Sean...such a beautiful yet sad moment.

 

Bumping this up to see if anyone has found these titles yet in the U.S. Don't see them on Amazon or any US based sites. Wonder if they're a European only release?
Only Elton's own site has them for sale in North America.

 

Here and There was one of a very small number of titles that MCA made available in a budget line rather than send to the cutout bins. Probably to appease Elton. Anyway, Here and There, Empty Sky and I think Rock of the Westies were stamped with a gold stamp on the cover and moved to a super budget line (wholesale < $2). It was available for many years at that price, and good condition copies are still plentiful and cheap.

It's a crappy album in its original configuration, and I'm pretty surprised it's getting reissued in front of a lot of more worthy albums. Actually, I'm surprised it's getting reissued at all. It would make much more sense to reissue the (infinitely superior) 2CD version.

 

Agree. Apparently H&T was a "contract" album to fulfill Elton's Dick James contract. He thought it was trash to release a live album.
Gus Dudgeon's 2CD '95 remaster is fantastic though - is a pity they didn't put that on 2-disc vinyl.

 

Would LOVE to see the first Greatest Hits album get a vinyl release.

 

How do the new Bob Ludwig LP remasters sound as compared to the original DJMs? I see he has done the entire main catalogue.

 

I've just done some transfers, because I was interested in this question as well. I wanted to get something objective, so I thought dynamic range would be one place to start. I transferred one track from each of the first 5 studio albums, both from my DJM pressings, and from the remasters. I also compared the WAVs that were made available to download with the reissues. I've thrown in the DR scores of the classic years remasters from 1995 as well (these are just taken from the loudness war website)

The WAVs don't have anything like the dynamics of Bob's remasters, which are very close in terms of DR to the original DJMs.

I compared the length of the tracks as well. Don't ask me why, but I was interested. It does seem that his black album is running a little slow compared with the original, and his Empty Sky a little fast. Obviously these aren't accurate to the thousandth of a second - it's just what I happened to write down.


I can't help anyone who wants to do a blind preference test, as my DJM records are full of pops, and the reissues are mostly very clean. However, I've snipped out some thirty second segments for people who may care to compare, and these can be found here.

I have the details of my DJM pressings if anyone wants to know.

 

Just saw this as a "rumored" 2019 RSD title:

Elton John - Live From Moscow - 2LP
Presumably his 1979 show famously bootlegged for years (though the whole thing wouldn't fit on two vinyls)

 

It's official:

2019 is the 40th anniversary of Elton John’s historic first tour of Russia – he was the first Western rock star to ever perform in the country. The show in Moscow on 28th May 1979 also features Ray Cooper and was broadcast on BBC radio in the UK. This special 2LP release for Record Store Day 2019 is taken from the original broadcast masters. Remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering and cut at Abbey Road.

Listed as "RSD First" release. Meaning, likely will be mass-released later. Rather than "RSD Exclusive"

 

Just saw this too. Awesome. Some of the best live versions of his songs will be on this.His voice was at an absolute peak in the late 70s.

 

Although I was really hoping for Rainbow Rock on an official release...

 

Of course, it won't be the whole show. It was over two hours, so even with 2 LPs over an hour will be hacked. I doubt it'll include things like I Heard it Through the Grapevine which ran for 10 minutes. Hopefully they'll keep the mix of songs interesting. Either way, nice to have this properly mastered and pressed to vinyl.

 

I saw this on the UK list, but not (yet) the US. Will it be released stateside as well?

 

Says its from the original broadcast tapes so I imagine those were never of the full concert anyway - guess you are right. However still some stunning versions.

Trust this will feature the songs running at correct speed/pitch unlike the film which had them at a 1/2 step up.

 

I agree - seems utterly half hearted to simply re-release the original LP rather than put together a vinyl reissue matching or at least in the direction of the 2CD version.

Same with the Live In Australia album - there were a number of tracks which made the original VHS tapes which were not on the album. They could have put at least some of them on an expanded set. although cost/benefit may have precluded expanding an already 2LP set.

 

I believe the broadcast was in fact the whole show. The "A Single Man in Moscow" boot that's been around for years is taken from that broadcast, and it's the entire thing. But yeah, the film sped up the songs and creatively edited them (for example, Tonight was shortened) - and in some cases, Elton's not "playing" on screen what's being heard. Creative editing. Nevertheless, an amazing documentary of the tour.

 

Seen a track list yet James?

 

Face A

1 Daniel
2 Skyline Pigeon
3 Take Me To The Pilot
4 Rocket Man

Face B

1 Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
2 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
3 Candle In The Wind
4 I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Face C

1 Funeral For A Friend
2 Tonight
3 Better Off Dead
4 Bennie And The Jets

Face D

1 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
2 Crazy Water
3 Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) / Pinball Wizard
4 Crocodile Rock / Get Back / Back In The U.S.S.R.

Source: Elton John – Live from Moscow – Disquaire Day

Disappointed by some of the cut tracks but a good selection overall. Hopefully (though unlikely) the download card has the entire unedited show.