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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Island
Salesrank: 3424
Released: May 14, 1996 |
| Our Price: $5.33 |
| Used Price: $3.70 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Track Listing:
1. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
2. Tower of Babel
3. Bitter Fingers
4. Tell Me When the Whistle Blows
5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
6. (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket
7. Better Off Dead
8. Writing
9. We All Fall in Love Sometimes
10. Curtains
11. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds [*]
12. One Day (At a Time) [*]
13. Philadelphia Freedom [*]
Editorial Review:
Elton John has always liked having it both ways. He's flamboyant and vain, yet empathetic and sincere. He sits at his piano playing sentimental melodies, but the words come not from inside his soul but from friend Bernie Taupin. For Captain Fantastic, he and Taupin wrote a concept album which sketches their career together. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is easily the strongest song outside of the concept. The addition of several songs "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" featuring John Lennon, "Philadelphia Freedom," and "One Day at a Time" blow the concept but up the entertainment value considerably. --Rob O'Connor
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Reviews:
my 1st elton album 
2009-06-16 - christmas 1975
got aeromith -toys in the attic, elton john-captain fantastic, queen - a night at the opera and kiss - dressed to kill. man i still listen to all 4 of these. try listening to "captain fantastic" and the new "captain and the kid" back to back
Songs about Elton's early days with Bernie
2009-06-11 - This album is a series of songs about the sixties, beginning when Elton and Bernie first met and ending when Elton's first album, Empty sky, was released. As such, it is likely to be best appreciated by those who are familiar with the story behind the songs, but as most people who listen to this album don't know the men personally and haven't read any biographies about Elton (and I'm not sure how much those biographies say about the period in question anyway, since I haven`t yet read any of them), the music here has to stand on its own merit.
The CD booklet, like the original vinyl album insert, contains lyrics for Dogs in the kitchen, a song attacking music industry bosses that never appeared on the original album. Apparently, Elton never recorded the song, but thought that merely including the lyrics in the booklet was sufficient to make his point.
The songs that actually made up the original album are presented in the order in which the events that inspired them occurred. The title track introduces thee two main characters, these being Captain Fantastic (Elton) and the brown dirt cowboy (Bernie). Subsequent tracks show some of the resentment that Elton and Bernie felt about the moguls who controlled the music business. This is particularly evident on Bitter fingers, which explains that it is hard to simply write songs to order, especially if you're told what kind of song is required. Away from the music business itself, other songs tell of life growing up as young men in the sixties, a good example being Tell me when the whistle blows.
The only single released from the original album was Someone saved my life tonight, which made the top ten in America but didn't do so well in Britain, where it just messed the top twenty. Two other singles appear on this re-release as bonus tracks, together with one of their B-sides. Lucy in the sky with diamonds, a cover of the Beatles classic, should be instantly recognizable. Although it doesn't say so in the liner notes, I think this was recorded for a Beatles tribute album (All this and world war two) . In any case, it was a hugely successful single, become an American number one and British top ten hit. The other A-side single presented here as a bonus track, Philadelphia freedom, , also topped the American singles chart but just missed the British top ten. The interesting fact about this song is that Elton and Bernie wrote it following a request by Billie Jean King, the famous tennis player, for a theme song for her team.
This isn't the most accessible Elton John album. It takes a few plays to get into, but it is a fascinating album and is further strengthened by the bonus tracks. Serious Elton John fans definitely need this album.
Great service
2009-04-17 - My CD came very quickly and was in perfect shape. I've been enjoying my trip down memory lane!
Elton John - The Story Of Elton And Bernie's Early Days In The Music Business
2008-10-26 - For me this is probably Elton's last great album. The rest of the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's would find him putting out rather inconsistent material that although having high points never was as cohesive as this, or his previous couple of albums. "Captain Fantastic" is a concept album that tells the story of Elton and Bernie's early years and their rise to fame and fortune. The album only contained one hit single, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" which to my ears ranks up with the very best songs the duo ever wrote together. It remains a great song and one that I never tire of. The rest of the album tells the story from the opening title track to the closer "Curtains" chronicling the duos highs and lows trying to make it in the music business of the late 60's and early 70's. The album has held up remarkable well, with only the disco-ish "Tell Me When The Whistle Blows" sounding overly dated. The period between 1970 and 1975 were the nadir of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's creative output and "Captain Fantastic" would prove to be the end of an era for the duo. Second only to "Yellow Brick Road" in the Elton John catalogue "Captain Fantastic" is an essential Elton album.
Captian Fantastic is Fantastic!
2008-08-28 - One of the BEST Elton John albums EVER! Grew up with the album and could not find the CD for years. So glad that I searched Amazon! This is the only CD that rides in my truck and I listen to it at least once a week.
