Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by English musician Elton John. The album is an autobiographical account of the early musical careers of Elton John (Captain Fantastic) and his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy). It was released in May 1975 by MCA Records in America and DJM in the UK and was an instant commercial success. The album was certified gold before its release, and reached No. 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first album to achieve both honours. It sold 1.4 million copies within four days of release, and stayed in the top position in the chart for seven weeks.[4][5]
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
23 May 1975[1]
August 1974[2]
Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado
46:32
MCA Records (US)
DJM Records (UK)
Though they would all appear on later albums, this was the last album of the 1970s with the original lineup of the Elton John Band (guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson). Murray and Olsson, who had formed John's rhythm section since 1970, were fired prior to the recording of the follow-up album Rock of the Westies. Johnstone would remain in the band for that album and tour, and John's 1976 double-album Blue Moves, after which he only appeared on one track for A Single Man, for the most part playing with other artists until rejoining John for his 1982 Jump Up! Tour. Until 1983's Too Low for Zero, this was the last album on which Elton John and his classic band played together.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 158 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[6]
Cover art[edit]
The intricate cover art was designed by pop artist Alan Aldridge, drawing fantastic imagery from the Renaissance painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.[10][11] The original LP package also included two booklets; a "Lyrics" booklet which contained an uncompleted lyric for "Dogs in the Kitchen" that did not appear on the album, and another booklet called "Scraps", which collected photos and snippets of reviews, personal diary entries and other memorabilia of John and Taupin during the years that are chronicled on the album. The original LP also contained a poster of the album's cover.
In 1976, Bally released a Capt. Fantastic pinball machine with artwork by Dave Christensen of Elton John in his "pinball wizard" character from the movie Tommy. In 1977, Bally released a "home model" version with artwork by Alan Aldridge.
Later releases[edit]
A deluxe 30th anniversary edition CD was released September 2005, containing the complete album and adding "House of Cards", the B-side to the 7" single of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." Recorded during the sessions for Caribou, "House of Cards" previously only appeared on CD on the 1992 Rare Masters collection.[15] Also included is a second disc containing the complete album performed live at Wembley Stadium on 21 June 1975.
In September 2005, Elton John and his band again performed the entire album (minus "Tower of Babel" and "Writing") in a series of sold-out concerts in Boston, New York City and the tour's final stop, Atlanta, in October. These "Captain Fantastic Concerts" were a part of the Peachtree Road Tour and were the longest concerts in Elton's career, many lasting at least three-and-a-half hours. The songs from Captain Fantastic were aired by Capital Gold Radio in a broadcast taken from 16 September 2005 performance in Boston.
"Curtains", among other songs from the album, was sampled in Pnau's 2012 album Good Morning to the Night.
"We All Fall in Love Sometimes" was covered by Jeff Buckley.[16] It was also covered by Coldplay for the 2018 tribute album Revamp: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.
Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.
Wembley Stadium, 21 June 1975