Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Empty Sky is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 6 June 1969. Recorded during the winter of 1968 and spring of 1969 in a DJM 8-track studio, Empty Sky is the only album in the early part of his career not produced by Gus Dudgeon, instead helmed by friend and DJM staffer Steve Brown. John plays harpsichord on several tracks, including "Skyline Pigeon", which John has described as being "the first song Bernie and I ever got excited about that we ever wrote." "Skyline Pigeon" is the most popular and best known song on the album, and is the only one which John, albeit infrequently, performs as part of his live shows. Although John has since called the album naive, he does have fond memories of making the record. These include walking home from recording at 4 a.m. and lodging at the Salvation Army HQ in Oxford Street, which was run by Steve Brown's father.
The 1996 reissue of EMPTY SKY includes four songs that were issued as two singles prior to the album's release: "Lady Samantha"/"All Across The Havens" and "It's Me That You Need"/"Just Like Strange Rain." The album has been digitally remastered by Gus Dudgeon, using original master tapes and digital processing equipment at 20-bit resolution. According to Dudgeon (ICE newsletter, January 1996), the results are "100% better" than the two previous American CD issues.
Not released in the U.S. until 1975, after he'd achieved superstardom, Elton John's first album is as much a part of late-'60s blues-rock and the burgeoning singer-songwriter movement as it is part of the grandiose pop catalog that would soon follow. The eight-minute-plus title song includes a long flute-harmonica-piano jam that wouldn't have been out of place on a Traffic album; the closing "Gulliver/It's Hay Chewed/Reprise" connects a waltz-time requiem with an acoustic-jazz instrumental and (rather audiciously for an unknown singer's debut) a reprise of bits from every song on the album.
Personnel: Elton John (vocals, piano, organ, electric piano, harpsichord); Caleb Quaye (electric & acoustic guitars, congas); Graham Vickery (harmonica); Don Fay (tenor saxophone, flute); Tony Murray (bass); Roger Pope (drums, percussion); Nigel Olsson (drums).
- Format: Vinyl
- Genre: Rock
- Gatefold Sleeve
- Remastered
- 180 Gram, black vinyl
- Remember, for our lowest prices, always order directly from our official JocoRecords website!
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Tracks
| A1 | Empty Sky |
| A2 | Val-Hala |
| A3 | Western Ford Gateway |
| A4 | Hymn 2000 |
| B1 | Lady What's Tomorrow |
| B2 | Sails |
| B3 | The Scaffold |
| B4 | Skyline Pigeon |
| B5 | Gulliver-Hay Chewed-Reprise |
