Hands up – I kinda lost Elton John when the performances became bigger than the songs. This performance, however, is a stripped back, pure Elton John, accompanied only by Ray Cooper. It’s from a series of shows her performed at the Rainbow Theatre (one of the many lost mid-sized venues in London’s history), six nights as part of the late Queen’s jubilee.
I captures Elton doing what he always did best – just a man with a piano, singing wonderful songs with meaningful lyrics. It’s what first brought people to hear him and, for me, it is a delight.
The album features many of his best numbers – ‘Border Song’, ‘Cage The Songbird’, ‘Sweet Painted Lady’, ‘Roy Rogers’ - on the CD version it includes ‘Goodbye’ as a bonus. My personal favourite is Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)’ – shows all the whimsy that Bernie Taupin was capable of.
EJ’s piano playing is faultless, sharp and incisive, and brilliantly matched to those slightly nasal vocals. Ray Cooper’s percussion is spare and only appears as a proper support to the voice/piano mix.
The recording standard is superb – as you would expect from a BBC recording – and the production creates a big space while concentrating on the magic happening in the centre – exactly like being in a big auditorium with an intimate performance happening on stage. The vinyl sound quality is superb, no compression and really putting you in the Rainbow. The CD is fractionally less dynamic but you do get the extra track.
