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Americana, Elton John, Great albums

October 30: Elton John released Tumbleweed Connection in 1970

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tumbleweed connection
The cover photo of the album was taken at the Bluebell Railway, approximately 30 miles south of London. Photographer David Larkham photographed John (seated, right) and Taupin (standing, left) in front of the station to add a sense of Americana realism to the album concept, despite the railway station being English.

Down at the well they’ve got a new machine
Foreman says it cuts manpower by fifteen
But that ain’t natural, well so old Clay would say
You see he’s a horse drawn man until his dying day.

“…Tumbleweed Connection, fortuitously recorded prior to Elton’s commercial explosion and thus dictated only by the artistic impulses of the artist and his creative team – Taupin, Dudgeon and string arranger Paul Buckmaster (who’d teamed with Dudgeon on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”) – presented a far more unified musical and thematic vision. Not only that, but the LP was created as an album of interlocking songs, with no thought given to radio singles (an utterly pure situation that would be impossible for them to repeat).

Inspired by The Band’s Music From Big Pink, Tumbleweed… was born out of Taupin’s fascination with Americana, largely inspired by western movies, as John reacted to the sheaf of lyrics he was given with synergistic flights of musical fancy.”
– Uncut Magazine

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Tumbleweed Connection is the third album by Elton John (and collaborator Bernie Taupin). It is a concept album based on country and western/Americana themes. It is one of Elton John’s best albums.

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