Elton John - Honky Château’

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 26 / 5 / 2023

Nick Dent-Robinson listens to the reissue of ’Honky Château’, the 1972 album that sent Elton John’s career into the stratosphere.

Article

Now on the last leg of his farewell tour and with this summer's Glastonbury Festival on the horizon, Elton John has released a deluxe version of his fifth studio album ‘Honky Château’, marking its 50th anniversary. Originally issued in 1972, this record was Elton’s first American number one, and it marked the turning point at which the Rocket Man's career truly went into orbit. The album was completed within two weeks at the famous Château d'Herouville studio near Paris, a venue allegedly haunted by the ghost of Chopin. Working quickly came easily to Elton after his earlier years as a studio session player, and on this record he opted to strip away the opulent orchestration of his preceding album ‘Madman Across The Water’ which had been released just six months previously. Instead he chose to highlight the soulful playing of a tight and accomplished small band including drummer Nigel Olsson and guitarist Davey Johnstone, both of whom are still working with him today. The album, which feels intimate and spontaneous, is now expanded to two discs with the addition of some fine demos and a 1972 live show recorded at the Royal Festival Hall. ‘Honky Tonk’ – not one of Elton's most successful singles – is an attractive track with its hard-to-resist New Orleans spirit. ‘I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself’ comes across as strangely upbeat given its troubling subject - but the 1950s pastiche ‘Hercules’ is enjoyable and clearly led the way for “Crocodile Rock” which was to follow just five months later. There are also two classic tracks: ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’ was lyricist Bernie Taupin's take on an English boy's first visit to New York City, and ‘Rocket Man’ – which Elton says he wrote in under thirty minutes over breakfast one morning at the Château – has become so ubiquitous it topped the charts again as recently as 2021 after it featured on ‘Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)’, Elton John's collaboration with Dua Lipa. ‘Honky Château (50th Anniversary Edition)’ will please many Elton John aficionados - and it is yet another reminder of the man’s virtuosity, both as a performer and as a writer.