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Blue Moves

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Blue Moves
Studio album by
Released22 October 1976
RecordedMarch 1976
StudioEastern Sound, Toronto, Abbey Road Studios, London, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, Brother Studios, Santa Monica; remixed at Marquee Studios, London[1]
GenreRock, pop rock, soft rock, progressive rock
Length84:47
LabelMCA (US)
Rocket (UK)
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Here and There
(1976)
Blue Moves
(1976)
Greatest Hits Volume II
(1977)
Singles from Blue Moves
  1. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"
    Released: 1 November 1976
  2. "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)"
    Released: 31 January 1977
  3. "Crazy Water"
    Released: 4 February 1977 (U.K.)

Blue Moves is the eleventh studio album release by Elton John. It was released in October 1976. It was John's second double album (after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) and the first to be released by his own label, Rocket Records Ltd. Despite the album's darker tone, it reached no. 3 on the charts.

Background

Having completed what he described as a "gruelling American tour",[2] John only gave a handful of performances at the time of release, and later announced (during a charity concert at Wembley Arena the following year), "I haven't been touring for a long time. It's been a painful decision, whether to come back on the road or not... I've made a decision tonight – this is going to be the last show... There's a lot more to me than playing on the road."[3] He accordingly left the touring/live performing scene for a brief period, whilst Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, James Newton-Howard and Roger Pope left the band after the album's release. Newton-Howard would briefly rejoin John's touring band in 1980. Only Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper returned in limited roles for John's next album, A Single Man.

John has stated that Blue Moves is one of his favourites of the albums he has recorded.[4] It was the last album Gus Dudgeon produced with John for almost a decade. The cover art is from a painting by British artist Patrick Procktor, called "The Guardian Readers". In the U.S., it was certified gold in October and platinum in December 1976 by the RIAA.

"Cage the Songbird" was a tribute to legendary French songstress Edith Piaf, and a year or so later was covered by Kiki Dee on an unreleased Rocket album, which finally was issued in 2008. ("Songbird" originated as part of the Rock of the Westies sessions, but was not completed during them, probably because the song's acoustic, delicate sound did not fit with the more rock 'n' roll approach of the rest of the songs that made the Westies final track list.) The Beach Boys turned down "Chameleon" (which was written two years prior to the album's release), but Bruce Johnston, a former Beach Boy, performed backing vocals on John's version along with Toni Tennille. John also performed the song at Wembley Stadium in 1975, where he also performed the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album in its entirety. An excerpt from "Out of the Blue" was used for the closing titles on Top Gear until the end of that Top Gear format (in 2001). This was one of two albums in which Davey Johnstone does not provide backing vocals; 1997's The Big Picture would be the other. Blue Moves was initially recorded in Toronto, Ontario.

John has played several songs from Blue Moves live: "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", "Bite Your Lip", "One Horse Town", "Tonight", "Idol" and "Crazy Water" have been played during various concert appearances through the years.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
Christgau's Record GuideC[6]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[7]
Sputnik Music[8]

Blue Moves has received negative reviews since its release. A contemporary review for Rolling Stone said the album "contains nowhere near enough good songs to justify the extended length" and that the interludes and instrumentals were done "to the exclusion of sense."[7] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described it as "impossibly weepy" and "excessive".[9] Lindsay Planer of Allmusic later said the album showed the "inevitable fatigue" of John's "immense creativity" that had helped create his previous albums of his career.[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Your Starter for..." (Caleb Quaye) – 1:23
  2. "Tonight" – 7:52
  3. "One Horse Town" (John, James Newton Howard, Taupin) – 5:56
  4. "Chameleon" – 5:27
Side two
  1. "Boogie Pilgrim" (John, Davey Johnstone, Quaye, Taupin) – 6:05
  2. "Cage the Songbird" (John, Johnstone, Taupin) – 3:25
  3. "Crazy Water" – 5:42
  4. "Shoulder Holster" – 5:10
Side three
  1. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" – 3:48
  2. "Out of the Blue" – 6:14
  3. "Between Seventeen and Twenty" (John, Johnstone, Quaye, Taupin) – 5:17
  4. "The Wide-Eyed and Laughing" (John, Johnstone, Newton Howard, Quaye, Taupin) – 3:27
  5. "Someone's Final Song" – 4:10
Side four
  1. "Where's the Shoorah?" – 4:09
  2. "If There's a God in Heaven (What's He Waiting For?)" (John, Johnstone, Taupin) – 4:25
  3. "Idol" – 4:08
  4. "Theme from a Non-Existent TV Series" – 1:19
  5. "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)" – 6:43

Initial CD versions of the album maintain the same running order, but omit the following tracks: "Shoulder Holster", "The Wide-Eyed and Laughing", "Out of the Blue", and "Where's the Shoorah?" It has since been remastered and re-released as a 2-CD set retaining the original LP track listing.

Personnel

Production

  • Producer, Liner NotesGus Dudgeon
  • Engineers – Arun Chakraverty, Gus Dudgeon, Mark Howlett, John Kurlander, Earle Mankey and John Stewart.
  • Mixing – Phil Dunne
  • Remixing – Gus Dudgeon and Phil Dunne
  • Cutting Engineer – Arun Chakraverty
  • Art Direction and Coordination – David Costa
  • Photography – David Nutter
  • Painting – Patrick Procktor
  • Management – John Reid

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[12] Gold 157,000[11]
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Charts

References

  1. ^ http://albumlinernotes.com/Blue_Moves.html
  2. ^ Video on YouTube
  3. ^ Video on YouTube
  4. ^ Elton John: Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 1987.
  5. ^ a b Planer, Lindsay. "Blue Moves – Elton John". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 27 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  7. ^ a b "Blue Moves Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  8. ^ https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/30427/Elton-John-Blue-Moves. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference CG: elton john was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Elton John – Blue Moves". Music Canada.
  11. ^ "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr. SNEP. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "French album certifications – Elton John – Blue Moves" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  13. ^ "British album certifications – Elton John – Blue Moves". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Blue Moves in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Elton John – Blue Moves". Recording Industry Association of America.
  15. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  16. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 February 2012
  17. ^ http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=2429
  18. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Elton John – Blue Moves" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  19. ^ source: Pennanen, Timo: Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, 2006. ISBN 9789511210535. page: 280
  20. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Elton John" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 29 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1977" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  22. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  23. ^ "charts.org.nz Elton John – Blue Moves" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  24. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Elton John – Blue Moves" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  25. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  26. ^ "swedishcharts.com Elton John – Blue Moves" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  27. ^ "Chart Stats – Elton John – Blue Moves" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "allmusic ((( Blue Moves > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  29. ^ "Album Search: Elton John – Blue Moves" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  30. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1976". RPM. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1977". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  32. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1976 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1977". RPM. 31 December 1977. Retrieved 24 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1977". billboard.biz. Retrieved 12 August 2011.