In 1973, Elton John and Bernie Taupin capped one of pop music’s most epic periods of sustained creativity by writing, recording, and releasing the 10-track single disc Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player and the 17-track double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, both of which are now celebrating their 50th anniversary.1 As two of the strongest entries among the many classics that make 1972–73 the peak years for rock albums, both went #1 in the US and UK and arguably stand as the dual highpoints of John’s recorded legacy.
At the center of both records is the unusual way Bernie was written and recorded in 14 days with four tracks captured on their first take. That breathless feat was surpassed when, other than “Grey Seal,” which was written in 1970, Taupin wrote the lyrics to every song on in two weeks before Elton wrote all the music, 22 tracks of which 17 became the album, in an astonishing three days.
