Lennon & Elton at MSG 1974
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HappinessIsAWarmGun:
kapoo:
I love that song Surprise, Surprise.. just an awesome tune. Sweet! Sweet!.. Sweet! Sweet!.. Bird! that's a total nod to Drive My Car and to Paul, good call. John's done that a few times in his solo songs.. I have to think of them, some are really subtle... on Mind Games in I Know its basically the rythm from I've Got A Feeling.. and I think there's a lick in the song New York City that sounds like Back in the USSR.. need to listen again.. dcshark, at this clip I'm hearing I Feel Fine at about the 57-58 sec mark. am I right on that? it almost blends so well you wouldn't even notice it.. unless you're a complete Beatles nerd.. like us
I wouldn't say the rhythm of the whole song for "I Know (I Know) is like" I've Got a Feeling" but he throws in a very similar riff in the intro and in other parts of the song. That's a great song too, a lot of people forget about that one when discussing the public John-Paul feud of the early 70's. In addition to the couple you mentioned, John's "Going Down On Love" has a nod to "Help" in it as well.
yep, better said, it wouldbe the riff that's similar more than the rhythm. Going Down On Love is another with the won't you please please help me lyric. I love that tune. That's one where the music does some interesting things, sort of a McCartney-esque song. I like the horns that come in during the second part of each verse. and I always liked John's nod to the show the Price is Right in there. well you know you know you know the price is riiiiight. I know he wasa big TV fan, so I always took that line to be a nod at that show which began airing in 1972.
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kapoo:
Birthday:
Birthday:
kapoo:
btw I bought that vinyl I mentioned, sounds better than I expected, loving it. I hadn't noticed based on listening on YouTube, but in two spots John teases the opening riff to I Feel Fine. Once as he's coming onstage right before they do Whatever Gets You Through The Night.. and then once during I Saw Her Standing There. When he slips it in ISHST it's really cool and fits perfectly! he does it juts after the 'way beyond compare'... listen for it, its pretty sweet
Oh wow, I've never heard that before! You're right. It sounds really good. Thanks for pointing that one out.
Did John also sing on Elton's stuido single version of Lucy -
It says he played guitar on the track, but definitely sounds like him singing on the chorus too.It does include background vocals from Lennon, I heard it wasn?t credited but Elton John later verified as much.. as well as his guitar. Thanks for posting that link Bday, been a while since I?d heard it. Check out the credits printed on the vinyl single pic below. Does that say ?Elton John featuring the Reggae guitars of Dr. Winston O?Boogie?? Nice
I'm listening to the Elton's studio version of Lucy right now. I like the reggae breakdown at the 3:30 mark. sweet reggae guitars from Dr O'Boogie M.D. (manic depressive)
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After talking about I Know (I Know) recently, I gave it a listen. I forgot the "It's getting better all the time" line which I'd be pretty sure is a nod to the song from Sgt Pepper.
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HappinessIsAWarmGun:
After talking about I Know (I Know) recently, I gave it a listen. I forgot the "It's getting better all the time" line which I'd be pretty sure is a nod to the song from Sgt Pepper.
for sure! and to finish that line, cause its a cool and telling line... it goes ..and I know, its getting better all the time, as we share in eachothers minds.. today.. I love you more than Yesterday.. now.. I love you more, right now.. no more cryin.. very cool
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Here?s a scan/OCR?d account of the event, taken straight from Philip Norman?s book, John Lennon: the Life. Is that legal? whatever. enjoy
On Thanksgiving Eve in New York, he joined Elton for a rehearsal that ended up lasting barely an hour and a half. Elton wanted him to sing ?Imagine?, but John didn?t want to ?come on like Dean Martin, doing my classic hits. I wanted to have some fun and play some rock ?n? roll, and I didn?t want to do more than three because it was Elton?s show after all.? They agreed on ?Whatever Gets You Through The Night? and ?Lucy?, and, as a second choice from the Lennon-McCartney songbook, Elton suggested ?I Saw Her Standing There?, from the Beatles very first album. This appealed to John for it?s antiquity and because it?s lead vocal always used to be sung by Paul. There had been no official announcement of his appearance, but rumors were rife, the show was sold out, and Elton?s right-hand man, Tony King, was besieged by illustrious claimants for the VIP front rows. One of the first calls King received was from Yoko: she requested seats for herself and David Spinozza, stipulating they should be near the stage, but out of John?s direct sight line. And no one must let him know she intended to be there. At the last moment, he almost chickened out, but old Beatle campaign reflexes triumphed, and he reported to the Garden?s backstage area on schedule in a plain black suit, looking as if he were about to mount the scaffold. During the countdown to showtime, a messenger arrived with two boxes, one for him and one for Elton. Each contained a white gardenia from Yoko. She had taken care to choose identical blooms and express no favoritism in the accompanying cards, both of which read ?Best of luck and all my love.? Her instructions had been obeyed; John had no idea she was in the audience. ?Otherwise I know I?d never be able to go out there.? He was scheduled to appear about two thirds into the show, which meant hanging around for something like an hour and a half, listening to Elton?s audience being ratcheted higher and higher. Stage freight struck in the usual place, and he had to rush to the men?s room to throw up. In his agitation, he even forgot how to tune his guitar and had to ask Davey Johnstone from Elton?s band to do it for him. The audience was kept on tenterhooks until well into the second hour, when Elton suddenly sat back from his piano. ?Seeing as it?s Thanksgiving?, he said casually, ?we thought we?d make tonight a little bit of a joyous occasion by inviting someone up with us onto the stage.? Waiting in the wings with Elton?s lyricist, Bernie Taupin, John very nearly lost his nerve again. ?He said, ?I?m not going on unless you go on with me,?? Taupin remembers. ?So I just went forward a little way with him, the he sort of hugged me and I said, ?You?re on your own.?? As John walked onstage, the house lights went up and eighteen thousand people rose to their feet with a roar and thunderous stamping that shook even that applause-hardened edifice to its core. ?The audience gave him a terrific reception,? Yoko remembers. ?But when he bowed, it was too quickly, and too many times. And suddenly I thought, ?He looks so lonely up there.?? To the audience, he seemed back in his element, lead-vocaling the surprise party hit that still had a sting in its tail (??don?t need a gun to blow your mind??), then, on reggae rhythm guitar, helping Elton put Lucy in the Ska with Diamonds. There was a whisper of Royal Variety Show mischief when he announced ?a number by an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul?- no one yet knowing the estranged fiancés were long reconciled. By the time the John-John partnership had done with ?I Saw Her Standing There,? Madison Square Garden was beside itself. ?Everyone around me was crying,? remembers Margo Stevens, one of the large British contingent flown in especially for the occasion. ?John was hugging Elton, and Elton seemed to be crying too.? It was a measure of Elton?s generosity that he let the pandemonium for on and on, despite facing the uphill task of restarting his own set and continuing for another forty minutes. John would never make another stage appearance, but in this final one he never felt more loved.
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GeorgeGoode:
Did John Lennon like Elton? I think so, because he said a lot of positive things about him. He said: "Elton's version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is better than the version I did with The Beatles." It's very sad he died in 1980, so he never heard Elton's later work.
a stroke of luck I'd say! elton post 1980......not good
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Listening to my vinyl 12" of this right now, and was amused to find my shrine to it thread still exists! quite a bump I'm giving it. enjoy the photos. as I enjoy the vinyl. and the photo's are photo's made of vinyl? : great show!
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Kapoo, I have the 12" vinyl as well! Must have been a fantastic show!
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Nancy R:
Kapoo, I have the 12" vinyl as well! Must have been a fantastic show!
Don't the 12" sound great! Mine is a german pressing, I've posted pic of it before in this thread. Is yours the German one as well? not sure if there were any others? My 12" can be heard and seen right at the very end of this clip! right after the
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Yes, mine is the German pressing too. And I have Son of Dracula in 8-track tape! (you already know I have Pussycats)
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In fact, there IS a fragment of video of MSG with Elton + John, shot by a fan. It is incomplete, silent and rough. It was posted 'somewhere on the internet'. No joke. Sorry I forgot where that was.
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Plastic Soul Man:
GeorgeGoode:
Did John Lennon like Elton? I think so, because he said a lot of positive things about him. He said: "Elton's version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is better than the version I did with The Beatles." It's very sad he died in 1980, so he never heard Elton's later work.
a stroke of luck I'd say! elton post 1980......not good
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No brace yourselves! Film does exist from the 1974 show with John Lennon and here it is! http://beatlephotoblog.com/john-lennon-and-elton-john-madison-square-garden-thanksgiving-1974
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Plastic Soul Man:
GeorgeGoode:
Did John Lennon like Elton? I think so, because he said a lot of positive things about him. He said: "Elton's version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is better than the version I did with The Beatles." It's very sad he died in 1980, so he never heard Elton's later work.
a stroke of luck I'd say! elton post 1980......not good
Elton ran out of steam after Captain Fantastic in 1975. Still, that was one hell of of an impressive run from 1970-1975. Empty Gardens remains my favorite Lennon tribute song. "..and we are so amazed..."
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consider what a big appearance that show must have felt like for John.. I know he threw up before it cause he was so nervous. John was pretty much underground for 2 years at that point. Walls & Bridges was out so he was a bit hot again, but performing wise, and the stage mentality must have been just rusty as could be. and then boom, on stage at MSG with an act like EJ. gotta get up
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I didn't know much about John's performance history while growing up. I assuemed like any big star, he performed and toured reguarly and nearly every book I had on him in the early 80s after he died all had pictures of him on stage AFTER the Beatles. Little did I know it was a few scattered performances with the Elton one being the biggest. It surprised me to learn this about him (and George too) but also made them both human.
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Never thought I would ever see this footage!!!!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Birthday:
Does anyone know if this was the only time these songs were officially released or whether they appeared on one of Elton's albums sometime?
Yes, they are on Elton's live album Here and There. They were included on the expanded remastered CD which came out in 1995. Much of the Thanksgiving '74 concert is restored on Here and There, including the 3 Lennon tracks. The performance and the sound is incredible.
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Anniversary of a great surprise appearance by John Lennon with Elton John
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dcshark:
Anniversary of a great surprise appearance by John Lennon with Elton John
Just noticed John's "boogie" shoes!