![]() So what did he really want to write about? Let’s start with the lure of the American West and arriving in the wonderland of L.A. ![]() “That’s been recounted many times in many forums. “You know, say, if I’m talking about John Lennon and Madison Square Garden,” Taupin says of the night when Lennon, having lost a bet to John, had to join him in performance, but only if Taupin did, too. “But if I do write about those, then hopefully I write about them from a different standpoint. “There are certain things that you can’t help but mention, because they’re ingrained in the fabric of your life, and part of our history.,” he says. Taupin was there in his usual role as a non-performing member of the group which also included drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray.Īll that’s in the memoir, but it’s not the part Taupin enjoyed writing most. debut at the Troubadour, a show widely seen as the moment his fame took off. The self-titled “Elton John” album delivered a hit with “Your Song,” as well as songs such as “Take Me to the Pilot” and “Border Song.” They had early success in England and by 1970 were ready to try the United States. They teamed up quickly, Taupin writing lyrics that John would then find melodies for, living and working together at John’s family flat. At 17, Taupin saw an ad in a music newspaper seeking songwriters at a record label and left his home in rural Lincolnshire for London, where John, 20, had responded to the same notice. The legend of Elton and Bernie is well known. “I mean, I’m sure I’m going to end up doing a few more things, but I think that the bulk of my history is behind me.” Bernie’s version “I think it makes sense at this point in my life, the culmination of everything, you know,” Taupin says. “Rocketman,” the Elton John biopic that starred Taron Egerton as John and Jamie Bell as Taupin came out in 2019, followed a few months later by John’s own memoir, “Me.” OK, I’m gonna get in touch with my literary agent and sell the sucker and get published.’Īt 73, he says it felt right to tell his story now. “When I wrote the first few pieces it took me a while until I realized, ‘Oh, what you’re doing here is you’re actually writing a book,’” he says. “I started writing it somewhat as an experiment,” Taupin says on a recent call from his home in the Santa Ynez Valley some 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara. Scores of big hits and deep cuts from the more than 25 albums Taupin and John made together, as well as dozens more that Taupin wrote for artists such as Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Heart and himself, decades ago established his talent with chorus and verse.īut Taupin always liked writing prose, too, which is how, almost by accident, he came to compose his just-published memoir, “Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton & Me.” ![]() “Your Song” and “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” and “I’m Still Standing.” ![]() It reached Number Seven in the U.K.For 56 years, since the day Bernie Taupin met Elton John and embarked on a lifelong musical partnership, most of lyricist Taupin’s best-known works fit neatly on a single sheet of paper. Too Low For Zero peaked at Number 25 on the Billboard 200 and earned a gold album. I had fun going around writing with other people.” I think if we didn't have that break, we would never have survived. It was just that he was here (the U.S.) and wrote an album with Alice Cooper…But it was never, ever a split. We had started working again together, but that was our first total commitment again, and it worked.”Įven though Too Low For Zero was ballyhooed as a reunion between John and Taupin–it's the first album entirely written by the two since Blue Moves in 1976–John says their split was actually overstated: “We never at any time in our lives fell out with each other or had arguments. “It came on the heels of Elton and I writing very sporadically together over the two years prior. Lyricist Bernie Taupin calls the Too Low For Zero album one of the highlights in his long association with John. It was also the best video I've ever done.” At that point, I was struggling over here with my record company that I was with. chart.Įlton John calls “I'm Still Standing” “a great song to sing. Recorded: Late spring 1983, in MontserratĪn optimistic, positive rocker, “I'm Still Standing” hit Number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number Four on the U.K.
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