Exclusive: Listen to Elton John Become a Star on His First U.S. Tour in 1970
From the Paste Vault: unique recordings of the shows that cemented his legend.
This week marks the anniversary of Elton John’s first ever concert in the United States, at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, on Aug. 25, 1970. By all appearances, it was an event. The rising star was introduced by an established star, Neil Diamond. David Crosby and Graham Nash were in attendance, and a row of seats was reserved for Quincy Jones. Bob Dylan would visit with John backstage before the four-night stand ended, and John Lennon called John “the first new thing that’s happened since we happened.”
The Los Angeles Times’s Robert Hilburn wrote that night: “He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.” Twenty years later, Rolling Stone rated John’s introduction to American audiences among the 20 most important concerts in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
Thanks to the Paste Vault, we can hear what was captivating the music world thanks to a recording of a show just a few months later, at Cleveland’s Music Hall. By Nov. 26, 1970, John was a full-fledged star not just with industry insiders but an American public right at home with his influences of The Band, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young and late-period Beatles.
John talked about this quick rise to stardom with Rolling Stone at the time. “On the last tour, we were getting $500 a week at the Troubadour in L.A. With eight people. In San Francisco, Doug Weston upped it to $750. Ungano’s in New York still offered me $75 a night. But the States … in Philadelphia the people were all clapping, I was up on the grand [piano] mashin’ about with my feet, I just gave them a signal with my hand and the whole crowd was standing. Fantastic.”
It was a good thing, because John turned down $1,000 a night (via his prescient manager) to tour the states supporting Jeff Beck, who was pulling in $10,000 a show and offered John a 10% split.
Like every rise to stardom, it seemed like fate was at work. John’s partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin materialized only after Taupin’s mother mailed in an application to become half of a songwriting team; Taupin had thrown it in the garbage. Later, John’s career as a performer arose after he failed to sell enough of his songs. Then, he was able to release “Your Song” as his groundbreaking single only because Three Dog Night chose not to release it in order to give John a chance to make it in the States. John was barely a driving force behind his own stardom, which happened almost organically.
Taupin and John were so prolific that John would often write music to Taupin’s lyrics within an hour after receiving them. By the time of the Cleveland show, John’s third album, Tumbleweed Connection, had already been out for three weeks. The album is far more stripped down than Elton John, the follow up to his debut, Empty Sky. The trio of John, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray provided a signature sound sans any guitar, but a sound that John would soon ditch for something far more commercial. Most of Tumbleweed seems straight out of a Western.
Let’s start at the beginning with the song that best exemplified the new trio’s American sound: “Amoreena,” off Tumbleweed Connection. It’s a forgotten John classic whose only claim to fame is opening the Sidney Lumet movie Dog Day Afternoon.