Come Down In Time
“TUMBLEWEED Connection came about because we heard The Band’s Music From Big Pink, which changed our lives,” Elton John tells Uncut as he reflects on the genesis of his third studio album, October 1970’s Tumbleweed Connection. “It changed the way we wrote songs, the way we listened to songs. We’ve always loved Americana, but The Band gave Americana a new twist; it was like Bob Dylan with funky soul. …Big Pink was just an amazing record.”
“Come Down In Time” was a highlight of Tumbleweed Connection – although its airy, jazzy feel is a stark contrast to the dusty songs that made up the rest of the record. Fifty years after the record’s release, a previously unheard ‘jazz version’ of the song has just appeared as one side of a limited 10”, finding John and his musicians extending the song into a riotous jam even as producer Gus Dudgeon tries to call a halt, presumably in an effort not to waste either tape or time.
“I was blown away when I heard it recently,” says John, who’s also readying the release of a rarities boxset, . “I honestly can’t remember it at all – I’m not like Neil Young, I don’t go through everything with a finetooth comb and listen to my own stuff, I
