Classic and huge song from the repertoire of Elton John, Rocket Man was written, quickly, in about thirty minutes, in an 18th century French castle. A success that paved the way for the opus Honky Château which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary.
• To read also: 25 outstanding albums of the year 1972
This five-minute piece, which describes the feelings of an astronaut who goes on a mission, far from his family, is one of the essentials of the British musician. It was inspired by the short story The Spaceman (The Rocket Man), which can be found in the collection The Illustrated Man, by American science fiction author Ray Bradbury.
“History tells that the profession of astronaut will be, in the future, an everyday job. I took that idea and ran away,” lyricist Bernie Taupin said in a 2016 interview on Elton John’s YouTube channel.
“The first two sentences came to me when I was driving and it was written in my head, by the time I got home. I rushed inside and hurriedly put it down on paper before I forgot about it,” he said in a 1973 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
At the castle
Released as a single on April 17, 1972, a month before Honky Château was released, Rocket Man (I Think it’s Gonna Be a Long, Long Time) landed at No. 149 on the revised Top 500 Songs chart. established by Rolling Stone.
The song reached No. 2 in the UK, No. 6 in Ireland and the United States, and No. 8 in Canada. It has 718 million streams on Spotify.
In early 1972, Elton John moved with guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson to the Château d’Hérouville, France, to record his fifth studio album.
For the first time, the English singer, songwriter and pianist could work with his touring musicians. Which he had been banned by the UNI record label, which insisted on the presence of studio musicians.
Every morning, Elton John sat down at the piano. Upstairs, Bernie Taupin was writing lyrics and bringing them to the musician.
Later in the day, the songs were recorded. The John-Taupin duo wrote nine songs in three days.
At the top
Released on May 19, 1972, Honky Château was Elton John’s first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts. It will sit atop the US charts for five weeks.
Honky Château will be the first of seven consecutive albums by Elton John to top the Billboard 200.
This ten-song album, which totals 45 minutes, was No. 2 in the UK, No. 3 in Canada, No. 4 in Australia and No. 8 in Norway.
Released as a single in the summer of 1972, Honky Cat, which opens the album, is also among Elton John’s other many hits.
The piece Hercules, which puts an end to the opus Honky Château, was also to be launched in the form of 45 rpm, but it never ended up in record stores.
This opus, on which we also find the very beautiful song Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, is considered, with Tumbleweed Connection (1970), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy (1975), as one of the important albums of Elton John.
In 2003, it was number 357 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 greatest albums of all time list. It slipped two ranks in 2012 only to jump to 251st in the revised 2020 version.
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