To be Elton John in 1974 was to be a character of pop music who could do absolutely no wrong. Every record he touched was gold, every song released a classic, and most importantly: the pop culture sphere was at his whim for the very first time, bending only further towards him throughout the year. Coming into 1974, Elton had just had the biggest album of his career with the genre defying, magnum opus Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and it’s four charting hits - anything he chose to follow it up with was destined to go gold, platinum in reality regardless of its worthiness as a follow up. That’s where an album like Caribou gets made, it’s a clunkier but only in relation to it’s status in Elton’s career, for anyone else this could’ve been a revelation. But as it stands, it’s okay.
The album was recorded in nine days during January of 1974 - six months before the album’s release - and was recorded under less than ideal circumstances. Recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado, the band was on a time crunch to get the album finished before an impending tour of Japan, with the band and Elton quickly recording there parts leaving producer Gus Dudgeon to finish overdubs and backing vocals. Speaking of the album, Dudgeon would say “[it’s] a piece of crap ... the sound is the worst, the songs are nowhere, the sleeve came out wrong, the lyrics weren't that good, the singing wasn't all there, the playing wasn't great and the production is just plain lousy". All of which is a fair critique - most of the album was rushed and resulted in being sloppy. Elton said that during those days at Caribou ranch was when he first did cocaine, and where he would ultimately overdose during the recording of the album. He was at a pivotal point in his career - being pulled every which way but everyone, feeling an inhuman amount of pressure to be the next Elvis - and there he was, disappointed in his art while surrounded by what felt like the world. The album reached number one in several countries, only pushing Elton further into the stardom that was isolating him. Caribou was more of a legacy than an album in some ways - it worked to prove and cement as opposed to be seen as a genuine effort like much of anything around it.
The album opens with what Elton considers his “theme song”: The Bitch is Back. The song came about from a phrase lyricist Bernie Taupins’ then-wife Maxine Feibelman (the inspiration for Tiny Dancer, the titular ‘seamstress for the band’) would use when Elton was in one of his bad moods. The song is more or less tongue and cheek, the chorus of I’m a bitch, stone-cold sober as a matter of fact attests to this, it was a dig at the man who seemed to becoming bigger than himself before his very eyes. Elton would reflect on this time in his book, stating he was acting like Elton but knew he was still Reg under everything. Elton, at this time, remained a character yet to be truly understood by his creator. He was a
mock-up of the star that would become, and it some ways The Bitch is Back examined this phenomenon: I entertain by picking brains / Sell my soul by dropping names / I don't like those, my God, what's that? / Oh, it's full of nasty habits when the bitch gets back. The song was banned from radio stations throughout America because of it’s use of the word bitch, but the song still hit top twenty in the charts of most countries. The song would be covered by Tina Turner for Two Rooms: A Tribute to Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and later be performed with Elton during VH1 Divas Live in 1999. Pinky follows, and is a sweet ballad that falls short in it’s own path. For when Pinky’s dreaming she owes the world nothing echoes Ruby Tuesday, but doesn’t stand out on it’s own beside that fact (though it is a good song, just not a notable one). Grimsby follows the same themes Taupin was tied to on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the idea of going back to the comfort of the well known, Take me back you rustic town / I miss your magic charm / Just to smell your candy floss - it’s an americana-tinged view of Taupin’s nostalgia for the comfort of home. It speaks to his talent that his words paint a picture so vivid of a place he had no real connection to, a childhood so different from his own that it seems more like a memory than a fable from his pen. Dixie Lily continues the southern themes started on Grimsby, sounding
like a Robertson/Fogerty collaboration. The river boat echoes Proud Mary, and Taupin has said numerous times how much he adores the writing stylings of The Band’s Robbie Robertson which becomes apparent here, sounding similar to Up on Cripple Creek with some of the wording choices (See her lanterns flicker in the gentle breeze / I can hear the crickets singing in the evening fits right in line to Robertsons writing style). Leaving the southern US, Taupin takes us… nowhere. Solar Prestige a Gammon came out of Taupin’s very own Lennon moment, giving those looking for the meaning in each word he wrote food for thought. Elton sings in a fake italian accent and the lyrics are largely nonsensical phrases, performing the duos very own I am the Walrus. It’s a fun number but just what Taupin wanted - meaningless. Side one closes with You’re So Static which is a really fun, jazz-pop number that sounded great live with the original iteration of the Elton John band (Dee Murray on bass, Nigel Olsseon on Drums, Davey Johnstone on guitar, and Ray Cooper on percussion). This was the first album of the completely line up being realized, and the music sounds amazing because of that. It may not be the band’s best work, but it’s certainly puts on display just how good this band was - never hired guns but a real, cohesive band.
The Elton John band in 1974: [L to R] Johnstone, Olsseon, Elton, Murray, and Cooper.
Side two opens with I’ve Seen Saucers a schmaltzy ballad about space, fulfilling Taupin’s fascination with science fiction. In most ways, it comes across like a half-baked Starman, losing the childlike wonder Bowie was able to pack in song. Tune in, wouldn't it be something/ Rumors spreading into panic/ I've seen movements in the clearing / Someone sent you something satanic. Stinker is similarly odd, a ballad from the perspective of a mole.
One of the many reasons to love Taupin’s writing is how unique he is with the stories he tells, oftentimes the unique nature is what makes his songs so timeless, but a ballad from the perspective of a mole shows how far an imagination should be allowed to run. It’s a testament to his talent and the trust held about his craft that he got a song about moles on an album so popular, but that will never make it good. The biggest hit on the album follows: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. Elton, true to ‘bitch is back’ form, claims he hated the song upon being handed the lyrics, saying Taupin would be better off giving it Engelbert Humperdinck - it went on to be the highest charting single on the album. The song would reach peak popularity almost twenty years after its release in 1992 when he performed the song with George Michael. Michael would release the song as a charity single to aid in AIDS research and give a new life to the song that was already widely beloved. Most of Caribou lacks Taupins signature stylings of a thoughtful lyric tied up in a hit song (take the wordy Tiny Dancer or the intricate and layered Candle in the Wind), yet Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me returns to this form, it’s opening line of I can't light no more of your darkness / All my pictures seem to fade to black and white / I'm growin' tired, and time stands still before me enriches some of the world introduced on The Bitch is Back - it showcases Taupins refusal to let fame overtake him in ways it’s trying too. Although I search myself, it’s always someone else I see / I’d just allow another fragment of your life to wander free / But losin’ everything is like the sun going down on me paints the same stage first present on the opening track, the sun can be viewed as the stage lights. There’s a urgency of the lyrics, Taupin’s heart seemingly on his sleeve (or maybe on his sleeve as much as his childhood in Grimsby is), his desperation to showcase the life it feels as though he’s leading not going away from his feelings expressed on this album's predecessor. While this song may seem like the clear lyrical standout, maybe even album standout, Caribou rips the rug out from under you and ends with one of the greatest lyrics in Taupin’s catalog: Ticking.
Ticking features just Elton and his piano, the lyric follows a troubled young man whose family bestows Catholic guilt and repression on him until he breaks, shooting up a bar. For 1974, the song was prophetic in many ways; how the world works today can largely be seen in the lyrics of this not even minor hit. Blood stained the young hands that never held a gun / And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son is a line out of place in it’s time - 1974 wasn’t a time when the “troubled” were examined in a way that could lead those to understand how they got where they are, it was a label designed to shun and point the finger at those who were outcast from society. Your childhood cried out into your head ‘They mean to do you harm’ showcases the protagonist's turmoil, how in the troubled mind there was a reason for the carnage, how the break in their head sounded in the crucial moments of the crimes being committed. The song's climax ends with the protagonist shot by police outside the bar, with the line You danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the Lord concluding the story. The line is one of Taupin’s best, his wordy style lending itself well to the poetry in the line and its meaning. For as lackluster as Caribou can be, Ticking makes it worth every raised brow and scratched head. The song ends a mediocre album in such a way that its inclusion could make the whole album seem like a masterpiece - seven and a half minutes of perfection. Seven and a half minutes of both Elton and Taupin at their best - one of their greatest songs in the eyes of any who hear it.
Elton performing Ticking in 1974
Caribou is typically padded out with bonus tracks within re-releases: Sick City and Cold Highway are fun, nonsense romps in the vein of You’re So Static, Pinball Wizard finds it’s inclusion after Elton’s role in The Who’s rock opera Tommy, and Step into Christmas was
recorded the previous December and remains a Christmas classic in many’s eyes. The duo was also writing for others at the time, take Snookeroo which was a hit for Ringo Starr from his album Goodnight Vienna that Elton plays piano on, or Let Me Be Your Car on Rod Stewart’s ‘74 album Smiler (also featuring Elton on piano, as well as vocals). While their craft may not have been entirely honed throughout the year (touring, overdoses, album cycles, movies, being the biggest star since The Beatles may have made focus a little difficult) there was no denying that there was a superpower within Elton John found within few others. While maybe only a few songs written stand out as truly great, none can be marked as bad. To release numerous hits for yourself and others during one of the biggest years of a brand new career is insane, let alone to release a history making album just the next year as fame only grows. But, that’s Elton John. And even his lackluster releases can fit a masterpiece or two as he galavants across the globe, a true superstar in true genuis fashion. (And who could deny the cover being his absolute best? No one in their right mind.)
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