Elton John Album: “Here & There”

The original version of Here and There, issued in 1976, was very brief, with just a few songs from each of the two concerts featured, and I regarded it as an unimpressive album, apparently put together only to fulfil Elton's DJM Records contract . This remastered and expanded edition is a tremendous improvement, with a full 16 additional songs, and much clearer sound than the original LP. As such it gives a much more realistic impression of Elton and his classic 5-piece band live at the peak of their mid-70s success, and because of the length of the performances listening to it is much more of an `experience' than the original LP. There is a good selection of songs, including many hits but also some interesting and less well known Elton album tracks, and there are alternate versions of Your song and Take me to the pilot. You also get the 3 historically very important performances by Elton with John Lennon at Madison Square Garden. An essential album for committed Elton aficionados.

Originally a single disc album with ten songs, "Here and There" was a contractual obligation album that Elton disavowed. But in 1996, as part of the ambitious "Classic Years" remastering project, "Here and There" was given a deluxe redo, expanding the album to a pair of CD's, over two hours of music and the classic New York appearance on John Lennon with Elton for three songs. This is also now a terrific document of the extravagance and sheer exuberance of Elton's mid-seventies concerts.

The "Here" segment was a benefit Elton performed in 1974 at the request of Princess Margaret, and is the more reserved of the two shows. It is also an interesting show in that Elton dipped into his oldies and played the likes of "Skyline Pigeon" and "Love Song." The British respond with typical stiff-upper-lippedness...until "Crocodile Rock" comes along. They jump from their chairs at the last minute, for "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting." But for the most part, Elton leans hard on the piano based early tunes like "Border Song" and "Candle In The Wind."

The reserve is totally blown off for the "There" concert, Thanksgiving in Madison Square Garden 1974. The crowd is already roaring by the time the opening graveyard wind whistling of "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" breaks into its meaty main verses, and hardly wanes from there. While John's voice is a little raw from the constant touring (you can hear his voice crack on "Rocket Man"), he's obviously having a blast. You also get a couple songs here that have long since been trimmed from the live shows, like "Grey Seal" and "You're So Static."

Even with all that energy, when Elton introduces Lennon, you can almost feel the Garden shaking. Little did these folks know that they were witnessing history; Lennon never played in public again. As history records, Lennon accepted a dare from Elton that "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" would not hit number one on the pop charts. Likely because of Elton's popularity and his piano playing on the single, the record did top the charts, and Lennon made good on the deal. The reward for us now is that Elton and Lennon's version of "Whatever...," Lucy In The Sky In Diamonds" and a loose, raucous version of "I Saw Her Standing There" are preserved for posterity.

The remastering is exquisite, and when you figure the sonic improvements along with the extra tracks AND the inclusion of the Lennon songs, "Here and There" is the best of Elton's live albums. For all the live albums that glutted the seventies, "Here and There" can now be counted among the best.

It was Thanksgiving 1974 and I was only 15 and, lucky for me, I happened to be attending my very first concert at Madison Square Garden. Little did I know that the show would one day become an album, nor that I was about to witness the once-in-my-lifetime thrill of seeing John Lennon perform live. I assure anyone who listens to this CD that if you think you can hear the excitement when Lennon takes stage for his three songs, it doesn't even come close to the incredible energy in the Garden that night. The roar was deafening & the floor beneath my feet literally shook. I've been to many, many concerts since then, but nothing compares in terms of the sheer audience exhilaration that erupted when Lennon took stage. This CD is worth it, if only to try to capture a glimpse of that extraordinary and rare performance.

I originally purchased this as an album. I was seriously disappointed. The sound was not very good, especially in New York, and the album seemed incredibly short. The CD version definitely corrected the second problem and made some strides in addressing the first. The sound was significantly better in England for the principal reason that the English concert was rather reserved compared to the rowdy, raucous, American crowd. I also think that Elton responded accordingly, and gave a much more spirited performance in New York.

This double CD is a flavor of an Elton concert when he was at his peak of popularity. Elton considered "Here and There" a failure because it didn't reach the sales of his previous albums. Looking back, the album "Here and There" was the dividing line between the Elton John that could not fail and the Elton John that lost his creative edge in the late 70's and early 80's.

However this album commemorates a cross-section of Elton's work that extended from about 1970 to 1974, the year these songs were recorded. What marvelous songs these are, including an excellent version of "Skyline Pigeon," the most memorable song from Elton's "Empty Sky" album. Two other very memorable songs are "Whatever Gets You through the Night" and "I Saw Her Standing There," duets sung with John Lennon, John's last concert appearance.

"Bennie and the Jets" has much more audience support than the original version recorded for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," which was Elton's original intent and so is somewhat improved for that reason.

Overall this two CD set is a very good live album. It is not perfect, but then again there are few live albums that are. I'm not a huge fan of live albums, but I find this one is easy to listen to when I'm in the right mood. Certainly a must-have for any serious Elton John fan, you might want to pass it by if you are not.

Note that this album is available in a later re-mastered version, as well as other versions. You may wish to survey the available versions for price prior to choosing the version that best meets your needs.

Enjoy!

Here & There was originally released in 1976 as a single album. The album was comprised of one side of songs from a London show and the other side of songs from a Madison Square Garden show. The reissue greatly expands the original album to include two disks. Elton John and his band are in peak condition, so there are some rousing performances. All of his classics are here including "Your Song", "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" and others as well as lesser known gems like "Bad Side Of The Moon", "Grey Seal" and "Skyline Pigeon". The real reason to buy this album though is for the three songs that Mr. John's good friend John Lennon appears on. When Mr. John helped out Mr. Lennon on the song "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night", he made him a bet that if the song went to number one, Mr. Lennon would have to join him on stage. Since Mr. Lennon had never had a solo number one song, he took the bet. Of course the song hit number one, so Mr. Lennon complied and joined Mr. John on stage for a rendition of that song, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and a song he dedicated to an old girlfriend (Paul McCartney), "I Saw Her Standing There". The historical value of Mr. Lennon's appearance is that it was the last live performance he ever made.