Alan Shapiro's Album Reviews
In the late 1960s you had musical trios like the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream who were guitar based trios Then here comes this amazing piano based trio of Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray and Elton John. On the heels of their first two major albums comes an extraordinary live performance in the form of "11-17-70."
The album opens with "take me to the pilot" from their first album. This song rocks right from the opening and it's followed by their version of "honky-tonk woman." Also from their first album is "sixty years on" which was one of the most highly orchestrated songs from that album. However, this version is stripped down to the bare essentials but this trio just fills this song with masterful drum fills, a great baseline, incredible piano playing and a fantastic voiced Elton John.
Side one finishes off with a great song from the "friends" soundtrack "can I put you on."
Side two opens with "bad side of the moon" a song that never made it to the first album. It could have which tells you how great the first album was. The album closes with the showstopping "burn down the mission" which includes "my baby left me" and "get back."
It's very rare for a live album to showcase music the way this music is showcased. One of the reasons for that is where it was recorded, it was in the WABC FM studios in New York, in front of about 125 people. Elton would record a few other live albums in his career but none were as great as this.
The album opens with "take me to the pilot" from their first album. This song rocks right from the opening and it's followed by their version of "honky-tonk woman." Also from their first album is "sixty years on" which was one of the most highly orchestrated songs from that album. However, this version is stripped down to the bare essentials but this trio just fills this song with masterful drum fills, a great baseline, incredible piano playing and a fantastic voiced Elton John.
Side one finishes off with a great song from the "friends" soundtrack "can I put you on."
Side two opens with "bad side of the moon" a song that never made it to the first album. It could have which tells you how great the first album was. The album closes with the showstopping "burn down the mission" which includes "my baby left me" and "get back."
It's very rare for a live album to showcase music the way this music is showcased. One of the reasons for that is where it was recorded, it was in the WABC FM studios in New York, in front of about 125 people. Elton would record a few other live albums in his career but none were as great as this.
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