a b Landau, Jon (17 July 1975). "Elton John: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009 . Retrieved 26 November 2011.

Between the start of the sessions and the album’s appearance there came another few months of momentous releases and events. Elton’s first greatest hits collection, released in November, became a prodigious success, soaring to what is now estimated at 24 million worldwide sales. A US chart-topper for ten weeks, it was certified 17-times platinum by the RIAA for its American sales in 2016, and is comfortably his biggest-selling album of all. Keeping a bargain The 2006 album The Captain & the Kid is the sequel, and continues the autobiography where Captain Fantastic leaves off.Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9. In a rare interview with Melody Maker, published in January 1975, Olsson provided a tantalising preview of the upcoming release. “The next LP is perfect,” he said. “It really is the one! It’s called Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy. It’s a concept album and tells how Bernie and Elton started writing songs. For me – it’s my favorite album to date.” Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by English musician Elton John. The album is an autobiographical account of the early musical careers of Elton John (Captain Fantastic) and his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy). It was released in May 1975 by MCA Records in America and DJM in the UK and was an instant commercial success. The album was certified gold before its release, and reached No. 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first album to achieve both honors. It sold 1.4 million copies within four days of release, and stayed in the top position in the chart for seven weeks. [3] [4] I’ve often wondered just what the common, crucial element has been in the artistic downfall of so many different artists. What’s the process by which otherwise talented musicians — Bowie, the Stones, U2, Stevie Wonder, and especially Elton John and Bernie Taupin — go from frightening acuity to rote professionalism? After considering the matter for some time the only answer that makes any sense is hunger. Everyone starts from the same point of hunger. Desire propels the artist through the stratosphere at frightening velocities, enabling them to accomplish Herculean feats of artistic mastery for as long as they remain in motion. Austriancharts.at – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

The Captain And The Kid reached No.6 in the UK and No.18 in the US, and critics and fans alike were delighted with the album. Billboard wrote: “Thanks to organic, piano-driven production, stellar storytelling and Sir’s rededication to his vocal craft, this is a triumph.” Top Selling Albums of 1975 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand . Retrieved 8 November 2021. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1975". RPM. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013 . Retrieved 3 October 2011. Then there was his ever-enthusiastic championing of new acts, notably including English singer-songwriter James Blunt. He had been signed to Twenty First Artists, co-owned by John before it was sold in 2005 to the Sanctuary Group. By now, Blunt had turned into one of the bestselling artists in the world. ‘Tell stories that are accessible to people’As ever, the new album was only one of several projects on Elton’s plate that year. He and Bernie wrote what the superstar pianist described as their most complex songs ever, for the Lestat musical, which opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in April 2006. Based on Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles books, Lestat constituted John’s third time on Broadway as a composer, following The Lion King and Aida ( Billy Elliot: The Musical would transfer to Broadway in 2008).

From the end of the world to your town. That was the odyssey completed in the title-song lyric from Elton John’s ninth studio album, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy. Put another way, this was the record that describes Elton and Bernie Taupin’s adventures in their first seven years, which took them from their towns all over the world. Flippers (4), Popbumpers (3), Slingshots (2), Star rollovers (8), Standuptargets (2), 5-bank droptargets (1), Right outlane detour gate. End-of-ballbonus. Fifty-nine at the time of the album’s release, John co-produced it himself with the Atlanta-based Matt Still, who had engineered and mixed the previous set. He was one of only two other names to appear in the tight-knit team that made The Captain And The Kid, along with percussionist John Mahon (that’s if you don’t count Elton’s dog Arthur, who made a cameo appearance barking at the end of “Just Like Noah’s Ark”). Larkin, Colin (1999). All-Time Top 1000 Albums. Virgin Books. p.144. ISBN 0-7535-0354-9. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021.Christgau, Robert (16 June 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York . Retrieved 27 May 2013. More than anything else, his enthusiasm for the realm of pop stardom, without any of the ironic detachment that has allowed peers such as Bowie to thrive in the public eye without losing a shred of their critical cache, has eroded his credibility as an artist of import almost beyond the vanishing point. For a younger critical establishment raised on the likes of Nirvana and Pavement, it would be almost impossible to reconcile the steely likes of Madman Across the Water with the image of Elton as the self-proclaimed “Queen Bitch” of pop, hobnobbing with the rich and richer, making no effort to hide his own beyond-ostentatious wealth. American album certifications – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Recording Industry Association of America. British album certifications – Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". British Phonographic Industry.