“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the seminal, 1973 breakthrough album, has been remastered and will be issued on CD, vinyl, limited-edition yellow vinyl, and in a box set featuring recordings of “Live at Hammersmith 1973”on CD, a DVD of Bryan Forbes’ 1973 film “Elton John and Bernie Taupin Say Goodbye to Norma Jean and Other Things,” along with a 100-page illustrated hardback book packed with rare photos, memorabilia and a new essay containing interviews with Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Also included in the Deluxe Edition and box set versions is a suite of nine, new cover versions of classic songs from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” performed by Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé, Fall Out Boy, Hunter Hayes, Imelda May, John Grant, Miguel featuring Wale, The Band Perry, and Zac Brown Band. This was the album that created a true superstar. Although he was already known in 1973 due to the growing success of his previous albums—including “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player,” “Elton John” and “Honky Chateau” — it was the release of this double album, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” that made Elton John a household name. It went on to sell 31-million copies. “Goodbye”… perfectly marries the various elements of Elton’s craft: classic songwriting, glam stomp, R&B, gospel, jaw-dropping performances, soul and a large helping of brilliant showmanship.
The album spent eight weeks at No.1 and went platinum seven times over in the U.S. It also contains Elton and co-writer Bernie Taupin’s most successful song, “Candle in the Wind;” a No.1 hit three times, in three different versions, in three successive decades, ultimately becoming the biggest-selling single of all time. It also features dynamite standards such as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” and “Bennie and the Jets,” the latter being the song that led to Elton becoming the first white performer to appear on the influential American R&B TV show “Soul Train.” The album is also ranked No. 91 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time” chart. In a career filled with highlights that other artists can only dream of, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” stands as a towering achievement, a defining moment in the most exciting era in rock history.
