Comments for John, Elton, Honky Chateau

"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters Part I & II" are both written about New York City.

"Mona Lisas" parts I and II are both viewpoints on New York City, told (literally) from ten years apart or so. Listen to them both and compare how the narrator has changed. Kinda neat. BTW, Honky Chateau is one of EJ's finest.

Honky Chateau combines Taupin's lyrics of classic Americana with Elton's sense of melody and a band that continually grooves, and the result is a great album. Elton carries a distinctively soulful vocal and piano style on songs such as "Suzie," "Amy," and "Mellow," while his great talent for the melody shines on "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters." The true jewel of this album is "Rocket Man." Taupin's lyrics are original and thought-provoking, and Elton's vocals are as clear as ever. A top effort.

Good album. I will always remember when I was nine I dressed up as Elton John for Hallowe'en and when I reached a house on my route the lady at the door asked me who I was supposed to be and I replied "Elton John." The lady broke out laughing and fetched her husband to see for himself. In her laughter she asked me if I would play "Honky Chateau" for her! Although it's not one my favourites, it is well respected in the collection. Just to demonstrate the impact Elton John had on the pop music-playing population of 1989, that same night one of the first houses I visited was playing "Sleeping With The Past" in the background as they opened the door. Shocked to hear my hero on such a strange night, I excitedly exclaimed "Hey, you're playing me back there!!"

recording in france for the first time gave elton a chance to make a clean break from the shackles that the monsterous arrangements seemed to hold on to his music. his longtime touring rhythm section of dee murray and nigel olsson now became his permanent recording team as well . also davey johnstone was added on guitar and a stable band makes all the difference. for the first time elton and bernie also have written some happy upbeat material such as honky cat , hercules ,and susie . even so the two best songs here are both ballads (rocket man and mona lisas and mad hatters) that would've worked nicely on his previous albums

''Honky Chateau'' is an excellent album. It also made EJ a certified superstar, being that it featured two top ten hits ("Rocket Man", "Honky Cat") and was his first #1 album (and first in a string of #1 albums). Also, not to be forgotten, the touching "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"- a song about someone being killed just outside of Bernie Taupin''s hotel room in New York City (fact, not fiction). There is "I''m Going To Kill Myself", a humorous tune about self-destructive teen idols. "Suzie (Dramas)" has as contagious a chorus as "Bitter Fingers" (off of the ''Captain Fantastic'' album, 1975) and then there''s that rocking closer "Hercules"- an ode to Elton''s middle name and a subtle reference to a horse with the same name on one of his favorite TV shows in Britain when he was growing up... in fact, EJ officially changed his name by deed poll from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John in the same year ''Honky Chateau'' was released (1972). By the way- if you don''t have this album, try to purchase the remastered CD version of it because besides it having the best sound of it ever, it also has a sped-up bonus track of "Slave".

The 2nd part of "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" is on "Reg Strikes Back"but I have no idea how the two songs are related except from by name.