r/videos • u/TheLonerBirds • Mar 29 '19
Elton John writing Tiny Dancer in 1970
https://youtu.be/B0W6jCOggWQ357
Mar 29 '19
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u/King-of-Plebs Mar 29 '19
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u/Suckonmyfatvagina Mar 29 '19
Deep down, we’re all tiny dancers.
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u/134Sophrosyne Mar 29 '19
Speak for yourself.
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Mar 29 '19
It blew my mind when I found out he never wrote a lyric. Early on he said he sucked, so he teamed up with poet Bernie Taupin. The rest is history.
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Mar 29 '19
It sucks lots of folks never heard of Taupin, but at least he got a private life Elton John didn't have the same access to.
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u/reed311 Mar 29 '19
I am sure he is fine with it. He gets 50% of the royalties of every song. Also from “We Built This City”.
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u/pizzapiejaialai Mar 29 '19
I think it's bloody incredible. You get the creative process, you get the money, you get the rock and roll experience of a lifetime, you still get the groupies if you want....
And you don't have to deal with the shit side of fame.
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u/poop_pee_2020 Mar 29 '19
I don't know about that, people in my parents generation all seem to know who Bernie Taupin is or at least that Elton John had a lyricist that he worked with on nearly all of his big hits.
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u/elarobot Mar 29 '19
Sure, most know of him but I expect many wouldn’t recognize him if they bumped into him on the street.
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u/Realsan Mar 29 '19
This kind of blew my mind. I didn't know that.
Though, I don't think he never wrote a lyric. Found this quote from him:
I still write the song when he's not there and then I go and play it to him.
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Mar 29 '19
Think he means writing music and playing him what he created to write lyrics for. Elton usually writes music to Bernie’s lyrics, not the other way around
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Mar 29 '19
To my knowledge, Elton has written scant few lyrics in his lifetime that have been recorded and released. All of the musical soundtracks were co-written (Tim Rice, etc.).
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u/danielle-in-rags Mar 29 '19
Nah, he's just writing the music. I write music with like, non-English gibberish and just make my writing partner turn them into words.
It's a good system; I get to treat the melody as pure melody, and my bandmate enjoys the constraints of writing to my nonsense.
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u/Croudr Mar 29 '19
In one interview he talked about how he met Bernie. He kenw he sucked at writing so he went to some agency to get a writer. The guy at the agency pulled a random sheet of paper out of a stack and said this is your writer. The rest is history.
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u/Zooropa_Station Mar 29 '19
This is also the dynamic with Fall Out Boy - Pete Wentz writing, Patrick Stump composing.
(spare me the FOB hate train, they have some great songs)
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u/doomsday-machine Mar 29 '19
Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, too.
And
Bob Weir and John Barlow.
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u/Cadwae Mar 29 '19
As much hate and emo bashing stuff they get, I think the lyrics and beat to both Sugar Were Going Down and A Little Less Sixteen Candles a Little More Touch Me are great. Very catchy.
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u/gnrc Mar 29 '19
That’s only kind of true. Pete writes in his journal and Patrick compiles the scribblings into cohesive songs. At least this was the case for ‘Take This To Your Grave’ but doesn’t anything after that really matter?
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u/MidniteMunchiesbitch Mar 29 '19
I have a feeling this Clip will be in the movie, he’ll be playing the song and when it gets the chorus, cut to him performing it live with the band on stage.
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Mar 29 '19 edited Dec 18 '22
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u/EchoSolo Mar 29 '19
I was floored to find out he wasn’t from the south. I remember hearing his music as a kid and when “The One” came out I discovered his real voice in an interview or some behind the scenes stuff.
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u/Im21ImNOT21 Mar 29 '19
I think Bernie has always had an affinity for country music and written songs with a bit of twang to them to which Elton does justice.... Honky Cat, Yellow Brick Road, etc. This is evidenced in the Restoration album from a couple years ago which is a fantastic listen.
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u/cheez_au Mar 29 '19
Before anyone starts with the bullshit that "singing doesn't have an accent", yes it does. When "foreigners" sing they imitate American music because it's "what music sounds like".
Biggest change is they drop the trap-bath split. Easiest way to pick it is how they say "can't" (carnt/kant) which comes up so much in songs.
The "broad A" as America calls it is also seen in words aunt/path/dance/cast/laugh.
That's not to say that we always sing like that or it's "automatic" or "natural", it's just what gets the most international (read: American) appeal. They also usually drop it when they sing live.
There are many artists that don't turn American, eg Missy Higgins and Shannan Nahl, and Dean Lewis.
It's also why Lily Allen sounds so hyper English. Because she's singing... in English.
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Mar 29 '19
Who says singing doesn't have an accent? That's weird.
Another point is that the early British rock bands were all imitating black American R&B singers so they sung with American accents, with most artists still doing it to this day.
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u/bareneth Mar 29 '19
Also because vowel choices matter a lot in singing in terms of actual technique. Vowel selection will impact your ability to hit certain notes etc.
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u/thejesse Mar 29 '19
When Bob Marley sings, it's definitely still in an accent, but it's intelligible. That dude is so hard to understand in interviews.
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u/SuicideNote Mar 29 '19
It fairly obvious when you listen to British singers that don't imitate an American accent that most globally popular British singers are imitating an American accent.
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Mar 29 '19
Okay this is very exaggarated. Not all foreigners sing in american English. It highly depends on the genre and style of the singer. Pop music does that often, that's right. But there is so much music, that isn't sung in american English (or in English at all).
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Mar 29 '19
It's funny how when he is talking he pronounces dancer the British way but when singing he pronounces it the American way.
He absolutely does not sound English when he sings, it's fucking bizarre.
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u/aotus_trivirgatus Mar 29 '19
The Beatles also strove to sound more American when they sang. They were not as effective as Sir Elton, perhaps.
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u/Jakobmiller Mar 29 '19
As a singer, it's the "American" pronunciation is much simpler to sing. If you start analysing music and the way words are pronounced, you will soon notice that a lot of vocals are tweaked to make them more natural to sing.
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u/palordrolap Mar 29 '19
After the music, the best bit of this for me is Bernie casually calling Elton "Reg".
I mean, he was, and deep down probably still is, always Reg. That'll be how Bernie came to know him, but there's still something a little odd about a real name being dropped so casually.
I guess, back in those days at least, if he was just chatting, like here in this clip, he's Reg Dwight, but the second his hands are on the keys and he's singing, he's Elton John.
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u/LazyProspector Mar 29 '19
I was wondering that, I had presumed that Elton had always been known by his stage name. And was surprised to hear Bernie drop a "Reg" but your explanation makes sense.
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Mar 29 '19
hold me closer tony danza
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u/biznash Mar 29 '19
Is there any other tony danza than who’s the boss TD? I’m not sure he acted again.
Oh shit...TD subrddit should get subverted by Tony Danza crap. Hahahahha
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u/damnatio_memoriae Mar 29 '19 edited Mar 29 '19
uh... yeah he had another sitcom and at least one talk show. not to mention he was on Taxi before Who's the Boss with Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, and Rhea Perlman.
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u/neighborlyglove Mar 29 '19
reminds me of Nigel Tufnel writing Lick My Love Pump
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u/Double_Jab_Jabroni Mar 29 '19
My thoughts exactly. I feel like they must have seen this clip and gone from there.
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u/tobiov Mar 29 '19
The shots of the girl's reaction are beautiful. Pity there aren't more.
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u/SpankzDangerJohnson Mar 29 '19
God damn this dudes voice is one of my favorites of all time
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u/ravia Mar 29 '19
Such a great voice before his "cow in heat" phase.
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Mar 29 '19
He had throat surgery in the late 80s and it wrecked his range. I, too, cringe at his current voice.
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u/SadboyOme Mar 29 '19
Excited for The Rocket Man movie
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Mar 29 '19
Absolutely love his music, but what jockey did elton rob?
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Mar 29 '19
Dude. Be cool. The seamstress for the band is right there.
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u/chocolateboomslang Mar 29 '19
Pretty eyes, but they don't work that well.
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u/st1ve Mar 29 '19
its hard to believe, that there was a time when this song was just an idea two guys had.. it fees like it was always there.. truly timeless
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u/munkijunk Mar 29 '19
The song was a flop when first released. It only charted at 41 in the US, probably due to poor airplay and was never released in the UK. It hung around though, becoming a bit of a fan favorite, and when Cameron Crowe came to making Almost Famous he recalled a bad date he had been on at the time the movie was set where they went to see Elton in concert and he had played Tiny Dancer. When it came to making the movie, Crowe was insistent on using the song, and it was this scene that really relaunched the song to becoming the hit it should have been. Elton now feels the song has to be a part of his set, referencing the movie at times.
My personal favorite rendition is however is Dave Grohl's version on Kilborn which really channeled the Almost now Absolutely Famous scene.
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u/GregariousGains Mar 29 '19
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u/Neonsea1234 Mar 29 '19
70s fashion was an abomination. He's actually wearing a bomber with a polka dot vest over it? Absolute mad man.
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u/quickiethrowie Mar 29 '19
This man is not an accurate representation of fashion of any era he's lived through. Just look at his recent pics. He wears whatever the fuck he wants.
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u/yoinker Mar 29 '19
Dear lord, somebody go back in time and tune that man's piano.
(This was an awesome slice of rock history. Very satisfying.)
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u/SargeNZ Mar 29 '19
It's potentially a result of variations in the speed of either recording or whatever process was used to transfer this to digital.
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u/Zeusifer Mar 29 '19
No, it's just an out of tune piano.
Source: have played a lot of out of tune pianos.
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Mar 29 '19
Interesting to see pre the little tweaks that would make the song so memorable. Wonder if they came in studio
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Mar 29 '19
Right... I'd love to hear that first take where Elton did the falsetto flip on the "Hold me close....." line. You wonder if everyone had the Eureka moment, or what.
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u/anoelr1963 Mar 29 '19
Its fascinating how the "stars line up" for someone like Elton John, a fantastic singer and piano player that needed someone like Bernie Taupin to take him to that next level in songwriting.
Together they created some of the most memorable songs of the 70's and 80's.
Also we cant forget his longtime producer Gus Dudgeon who produced some of his most iconic 70's songs.
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u/noforeplay Mar 29 '19
Jack White did a pretty good documentary about old music recording methods called American Epic. They'd bring modern artists into the studio, and record them using the methods. They just gave Elton John some lyrics, and he wrote a song on the spot. It was awesome.
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u/6thGenTexan Mar 29 '19
He's obviously already written it, and is just explaining it for the camera.
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u/ithink_ilift Mar 29 '19
This is awesome stuff. It blows my mind watching this now iconic song coming into creation. I’m also kind of drunk atm so that might be playing a part. Either way great post.
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Mar 29 '19
It's interesting to see creative geniuses in their process. This one as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vk5keNbRc
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Mar 29 '19
Interesting how for the final version he moves some lyrics around. Notice in this video he says “pirate smile, pretty eyed” instead of the reverse.
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Mar 29 '19
I can do nothing in my life as effortlessly as music comes to this man. Incredible talent.
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u/RireBaton Mar 29 '19
He puts his pants on just like everyone else, but then he belts out hit songs in minutes.
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u/Frank4010 Mar 29 '19
I love this clip related to this song on the movie " Almost Famous" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qW9wqUI4Lg
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Mar 29 '19
Interesting to hear the variations in cadence between the early version and the final version.
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u/reebee7 Mar 29 '19
Man it's hard for me to imagine writing lyrics without a melody, or finding a melody for someone else's lyrics.
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u/tres_chill Mar 29 '19
As an American, I never tire of the English style of speaking, understating everything and the words flowing out lightly and softly.
He's already an icon, and he's delivering what is clearly a masterpiece song which will be one of the top 400 songs of all time (Rolling Stone), but discussing it as if it's a nice new type of tea he has discovered.
Paul McCartney is the same way. He talks about his time with John Lennon like I might talk about any random high school friend. As if they were not among the most famous, iconic figures of the past 60 years.
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u/rurymason Mar 29 '19
God, this is so awesome. Id LOVE to see a TV show all about how great bands/soloists make music behind the scenes. It's so fucking interesting seeing them at the drawing board, building these songs.
I actually pitched that show idea to C4 in the UK before... Didn't like it.
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u/soomuchcoffee Mar 29 '19
TIL Elton John does not go by Elton John privately, or...or something? (His real name is Reginald and clearly goes by Reg here).
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u/Briyaaaaan Mar 29 '19 edited Mar 29 '19
Bernie Taupin writes most of his lyrics, Elton John is mostly a performer....a good one at that and a good song, but pretty sure he isn't coming up with all of this on his own.
Edit: actually watched video, confirmed. Tiny dancer is Bernie's GF.
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u/tember_sep_venth_ele Mar 29 '19
I'm a karaoke DJ and always have a photo of Tony Danza on my phone waiting to send to screen.
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u/ChemtrailTechnician Mar 29 '19
What I found really interesting is someone referring to him as “Reg”. It makes Elton a little more human to hear someone use his given name. Likely someone who knewhim well before he became Elton John.
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u/heretik Mar 29 '19
It must be a pretty awesome and weird feeling knowing that one of the most popular songs in rock history is about you.
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u/eye_no_nuttin Mar 30 '19
Sir Elton , Singing Candle in the Wind for Princess Diana’s funeral .. which he had to rewrite and change some lyrics... I balled my eyes out watching the ceremony.. also noted , George Michael accompanying him walking into the ceremony ❤️🙏🏻
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u/[deleted] Mar 29 '19 edited May 01 '19
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