Elton John - Friends

In 1971, writer/director Lewis Gilbert made Friends and, in a moment of what would turn out to be genius, chose Elton John to do the soundtrack. The movie did poorly in theaters both in the US and its native UK while the soundtrack went on to do fairly well. The title track rose to #34 on the Billboard charts and put the names Elton John and, to a lesser extent, Bernie Taupin into the minds of their future adoring American fans.

To my knowledge, this soundtrack has only been available on hard to find vinyl in the US. It had a limited CD release in the UK and is just as rare as the vinyl recording. This week, however, I was lucky enough to lay my hands upon a copy.

It is a typical soundtrack with its dramatic and emotional music and instrumental pieces with moments of dialogue. On a side note, after hearing some of the dialogue it's easy to understand why the film didn't do so well. The album is 10 songs of hit or miss music. When it hits, it's dead on. When it's miss, it's the dialogue-riddled long-winded instrumental pieces (which may be just fine for some). The pleasant exception is the too-short ballad "Seasons Reprise," beautifully constructed around his voice. It reminds me of Rufus Wainwright's fully orchestrated album Want One, which is also fantastic.

Either way, it's interesting to hear the early music of Sir Elton and lyrics of Mr. Taupin. One of my favorite records of all time is the 5-star 1972 masterpiece Honky Chateau so hearing the music that was leading up to his peak is a bit of an adventure. His vocal melodies (especially in the chorus of "Michelle's Song") are actually more similar to the songs he has written in the past 10 or 15 years. "Can I Put You On" and "Honey Roll" are easily the greatest b-sides he has ever recorded and belong alongside their peers on either Tumbleweed Connection or Honky Chateau. It certainly doesn't hurt that the band that made him famous was full constructed at this point (most notably to me Nigel Olsson).

I know this is a rare find, I know it was released some 36 years ago (which is straying far from my normal reviewing period), and I know many of you may think of Elton John as the man wearing funny glasses, singing "Bennie and the Jets," and responsible for the Lion King soundtrack, but his early stuff really is amazing. So, if you can't find Friends anywhere (which is a guarantee), then try to pick up either Honky Chateau or Tumbleweed Connection. Don't do it for me, do it for you.