The Captain & the Kid

The Captain and the Kid are John and Bernie Taupin, his longtime songwriting partner. The music, a choir-enhanced swerve through genres including pop, rock, blues, folk, and country with signature piano riffs thrown in nearly everywhere, chronicles their splintery relationship. Innocence and hope ("Postcards from Richard Nixon") give way to success and joy ("Just Like Noah's Ark"), which eventually leads to discontent ("Tinderbox") and disaster ("And the House Fell Down"). A shot at redemption ("The Bridge") later finds the Captain; reflection ("Old 67") and a joyous reunion (the title track) follow.

Theirs is ultimately a simple story, but John and Taupin suffuse it with hypnotic sentimentality--along with the narrative, echoes of past hits wander into several classic-sounding tracks. "Tiny Dancer" darts through the cracked-voice beauty of "Blues Never Fade Away" and "The Bridge," for example, while "Wouldn't HaveYou Any Other Way (NYC)" works in hints at both "Candle in the Wind" and "Where to Now St. Peter." Other songs shake loose less likely influences ("I Must Have Lost it on the Wind" sounds like something off a vintage Linda Ronstadt album), but all are compellingly steeped in context; if you don't get the late-disc reference to fine silk suits and six-inch heels, you'll wish you did. --Tammy La Gorce

Selected Favorites from Elton John

Album Description
The Captain & The Kid, written with his long-time writing partner, Bernie Taupin. More than 30 years after the release of their landmark #1 multi-platinum album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the duo returns with this sequel. The new album features 10 new songs reflecting the intimate lives and public times spanning the long-standing songwriting partnership of Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. In fact, for the first time, both John and Taupin are featured on an Elton John album cover.

"The album is a celebration of our lives and our lifetimes, of our music and of the music we love. The Captain & The Kid continues our story. You can't look back, we're looking ahead," says John.

Created in the tradition of those fantastic records of the 60's and 70's, The Captain & The Kid is a celebration of when music was the most important voice of our culture and the album was its prime vehicle. Much like Elton's previous records Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across The Water, and Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, The Captain & The Kid is an album meant to transport you back to that place in time when music mattered most. 35 plus years-later, Elton really has become Captain Fantastic and Bernie is most definitely The Brown Dirt Cowboy and they are as passionate about their music as they have ever been.

"I find the whole album to be so touching and beautiful for me because I've lived it," Elton added. "I lived it with Bernie and we've come through it. We've gone over the bridge and here we are at the other side."

The first single from the album, 'The Bridge" is one of 10 tracks which picks up where Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy left off. The album tells the story of Elton and Bernie from when they arrived in Los Angeles 30 years ago, through the ups and downs of their lives, to present day.

Album Description
Vinyl LP pressing of this 2006 album from Elton and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, an autobiographical sequel to their 1975 album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy. 10 tracks. Mercury.

Album Details
The Original 'captain Fantastic' was the First Album Ever to Debut on the Billboard Chart at No.1, During the Staggering Creative Hot Streak that Represented Elton John's First Wave of Global Success, and Incorporated at Least One Top 40 Entry on the Hot 100 Every Year from 1970 to 1995 Inclusive. This Album Will Seize the Momentum of John's Acclaimed Albums of the New Century, 2004's 'peachtree Road' and 2001's Multi-platinum Selling 'songs from the West Coast, Records that Saw his Creative Spirit and Span Reaching New Levels.