The past couple of weeks have found me spinning a disc comprised of the following Elton John session (from July 1970) in which the artist lays out, among other tracks, a selection of Nick Drake covers. Yes, you read that correctly. Let’s first address the 800 lb gorilla in the room: on paper the often gregarious bombast of Elton John coupled with the work of the introspective Drake looks rough. But it actually works. As a fan of both artists, the session provides a not only interesting but equally entertaining look at the Drake material. This was just prior to John’s mega-stardom, and prior to his parading around on stage dressed as Donald Duck. Below are some notes a friend gave me along with the tracks (note: they may have been culled from elsewhere).
“Apparently Joe Boyd arranged a recording date to showcase some new songs, including some other material from Mike Heron and John Martyn (among others). The future Linda Thompson,then known as Linda Peters, handled backing vox and then sang lead on a few more songs. Possibly some people from Fairport Convention and/or Traffic were in the band.”
Personnel: Elton John– Piano/vocals, Linda Peters– vocals, Jim Capaldi or Gerry Conway – Drums, Pat Donaldson- Bass, Simon Nicol or Caleb Quaye – Guitar
Download:
MP3: Elton John :: Saturday Sun (Nick Drake)
MP3: Elton John :: Sweet Honesty (Beverley Martin)
MP3: Elton John :: Stormbringer (John Martyn)
MP3: Elton John :: Way to Blue (Nick Drake)
MP3: Elton John :: Go Out and Get It (Mike Heron)
MP3: Elton John :: The Day is Done (Nick Drake)
MP3: Elton John :: Time Has Told Me (Nick Drake)
MP3: Elton John :: You Get Brighter (Mike Heron) Linda Peters-vocals
MP3: Elton John :: This Moment (Mike Heron) Linda Peters-vocals
MP3: Elton John :: I Don’t Mind (Ed Carter) Linda Peters-vocals
MP3: Elton John :: Pied Piper (Ed Carter) Linda Peters-vocals
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Bravo! Magnificent find
1 | Bruce June 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pmEqually worth tracking down are the Elton John Dick James demos from the same era. There are three volumes of early material out there floating around…
http://eltonography.com/imports/dick_james_demos_volume_1.html
2 | Hippies Are Dead June 5th, 2009 at 8:50 pmhttp://eltonography.com/imports/dick_james_demos_volume_2.html
http://eltonography.com/imports/the_unsurpassed_dick_james_demos_volume_3.html
Indeed, this is killer. Though Elton is far from sounding county, these songs suddenly sound vaguely country, or at least prime for a proper country voice covering them. Go find Merle Haggard covering Time Has Told Me. And whileyou’re at it, find Elton John covering Silver Wings.
3 | m June 5th, 2009 at 11:50 pmtime has told me is incredible.
4 | aaron June 6th, 2009 at 1:23 amAwesome…Thanks for sharing!
5 | dalillamma June 6th, 2009 at 1:44 ami’ve got that limited edition 7″ of the drake covers – good buy if you see it anywhere….
6 | duke June 6th, 2009 at 2:43 amLinda is a favorite vocalist of mine, and Joe Boyd a favorite producer: I am thrilled to get to hear these recordings – thank you!
7 | Eliza June 6th, 2009 at 7:11 pmWhen posting multiple tracks, or ‘albums’ can you post a link so can dl the whole thing? takes while to do one at a time. Could rock through mediafire, sendspace, rapidshare or many others.
8 | Ice Cream Man June 7th, 2009 at 12:07 amgroovin’ now
m
Get to know: http://www.downthemall.net
9 | Satisfied '75 June 7th, 2009 at 12:56 amI found this site through Fark.com…I’m trying to play these songs and they won’t play.
10 | Allan June 8th, 2009 at 11:16 amwow! so good! thanks for posting.
11 | Lisa June 9th, 2009 at 2:23 amI love Nick Drake’s music. Thanks so much for this — there’s always something great when I visit!
12 | Chris June 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am[...] To download tracks from this session visit the great Aquarium Drunkard [...]
13 | Cover Story – Elton John and Nick Drake « Helpless Dancer June 9th, 2009 at 7:40 pm[...] Cover Alert: Elton John tackles Nick Drake [...]
14 | Hidden Track » Bloggy Goodness: Monsters Of Folk June 18th, 2009 at 4:00 pmThe topic is quite hot in the net at the moment. What do you pay attention to when choosing what to write about?
15 | Watch Year One June 20th, 2009 at 2:54 pmp.s. Year One is already on the Internet and you can watch it for free.
wasn’t aware of this collection.. so cool to hear new old stuff.. thx for the heads-up
16 | ELTON COSTELLO June 21st, 2009 at 7:16 amThank you for this. Found this posting via Hype Machine.
17 | Kai Carver August 13th, 2009 at 2:50 pm[...] site…and 4 Nick Drake covers done by a young Elton John which I picked up this morning from Aquarium Drunkard. I’m just sitting here….waiting for 12pm to roll around, so I can head to Cheapo and [...]
18 | R.I.P. Jeff Hanson « Sarcastic Tears January 20th, 2010 at 3:22 pm