#48 - Elton John

If judged by success alone, Elton John would be among a handful of contenders for the top ten spots among Rock's all-time greatest; after all, his remake of "Candle In The Wind", for Princess Di, has sold more copies than any other single.

And when I was in high school I bought and listened to every Elton John record.  With "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", however, I left and never did come back.  I was listening to different music in college and had always found lyrics like "...saturday night's alright for fighting..." to be troubling when combined with the song's driving pace.  John's music--though consistently good (from '70 through '00 he had at least one top-100 hit every year)--lacks the focused messaging that would make it great, although there are of course exceptions.  For example, Tumbleweed Connection's 'western' theme, with songs like "Country Comfort" work well for me.

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)
  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

4/4/5/4 = 17 out of a perfect 40
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Interesting factoid: The Hollies' hit "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", which came out in 1969, has Elton John on piano.  This was his sideman period.

(Note: #48 was originally Marvin Gaye.  In comments, the case was made that my grade for "influence in my life", a zero, was questionable, since music like "What's Going On" had a profound impact in some quarters.  This is an excellent critique of the Mighty 55's mission (either leave off the part about being a 'typical American' or broaden the 'my life' concept), and I will take the offered pointer, rejiggering Marvin Gaye's score accordingly.)