I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Elton John Podcast

Episode 6 - Cool As Christmas - Collaborations That Make Elton Cooler

Elton's not always seen as a particularly cool musician to be a fan of. Lots of well-respected artists have no problem associating themselves with him though. In this episode, I go through those collaborations and connections, and pick out the ones, some more obscure than others, which, I feel, elevate Elton's position as an innovative creative force.

Episode 5 - Don't Say It With 'Diamonds'

This week, Elton released another greatest hits collection, to somehow celebrate his and Bernie's 50 year anniversary of writing together. In this episode I look at 12 'genuine diamonds' - products that would actually be essential purchases for anyone who already owns the mainstream EJ releases. In the end I just make myself a bit angry - there's so much not being released, and we get this basic greatest hits....

Episode 4 - It Was 40 Years Ago Today, Grumpy Elton Sacked The Band On Stage

This is the story of the band that Elton essentially sacked, live on stage, entirely out of the blue. 40 years ago, Elton played a charity gig at Wembley Pool. The band were expecting him to announce that he was going out on tour again, with them as his backing band. A very different announcement was made. In this episode we work out what led Elton to make that decision.  Here's a picture of the band in question. Here's the setlist.fm page for the night. Here's the full show on YouTube.

Episode 3 - Regimental Sgt Zippo - The Debut Album That Never Was

This episode skips through the 1968 almost-debut album, track-by-track. How good would this album have been if it had come out in 1968? How would it have fared? Actually that's a question I don't answer. I think we know the answer. There are some real surprises along the way, and some things that even the most ardent early Elton fan will probably be hearing for the first time.  The auction for the acetate took place momentarily here. The release was discussed on the Steve Hoffman forum here. Information about Bayons Manor, Tealby, can be found here.

Episode 2 - Buckmaster Before Elton

This episode takes you back to the 2nd of November 1969, to a Miles Davis gig, at Ronnie Scott's jazz club, where Elton met a 23 year old Paul Buckmaster for the first time. How did Buckmaster get to be the guest of Miles Davis that night? What was the musical background of this graduate of the Royal Academy of Music? This episode is a musical journey through Buckmaster's early arrangements and his earliest 'cello performances on vinyl.

Episode 1 - Elton's Buried Treasure

Welcome to the 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Elton John Podcast' podcast. Yes it is a rather unweildy title. In the first episode, Neil (your able host) takes some classic songs, and turns them upside down, until the vocals and bass fall out, and then invites you to listen to what's underneath. Hear the songs afresh from a whole new angle. There's also a general introduction to the series at the beginning of the episode. More episode are coming on a regular basis, there are so many great topics to discover together!