| Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 October 1973 | |||
| Recorded | May 1973 | |||
| Studio | Château d'Hérouville,Hérouville, France; remixed and overdubbed atTrident,London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 76:20 | |||
| Label | DJM | |||
| Producer | Gus Dudgeon | |||
| Elton John chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | ||||
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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the seventh studio album by British singer, pianist, and composerElton John. Adouble album, it was released on 5 October 1973, byDJM Records. Recorded at theChâteau d'Hérouville in France, the album became a double LP once John and his band became inspired by the locale.[3] Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", US number-one single "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", along with the live favourites "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "All the Girls Love Alice".
The album was a strong commercial success, reaching number one on theBillboard Top LPs & Tape chart, as well as also topping album charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada (five weeks at number one); it has since sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John'smagnum opus.[4][5] It was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame in 2003,[6] and continues to be highly regarded in various rankings. It was ranked number 112 onRolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2025, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by theLibrary of Congress and selected for preservation in theNational Recording Registry.[7]
Under the working titles ofVodka and Tonics andSilent Movies, Talking Pictures,Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics in two and a half weeks, with Elton John composing most of the melodies in three days while staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel inKingston, Jamaica.[8] John had wanted to go to Jamaica, in part becausethe Rolling Stones had just recordedGoats Head Soup there.[9]
Production on the album was started in Jamaica in January 1973, but due to difficulties with the sound system and the studio piano, logistical issues arising from theJoe Frazier–George Foremanboxing match taking place in Kingston, and protests over thepolitical and economic situation in the country, the band decided to move before any productive work was done.[8]
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was recorded in two weeks at the Studio d'enregistrementMichel Magne, at theChâteau d'Hérouville nearPontoise, in France, where John had previously recordedHonky Château andDon't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. While a version of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" was recorded in Jamaica, that recording was discarded; the released version of the song came from the sessions at the Château. The band plays on all the songs except "This Song Has No Title", on which John performs all the piano, keyboard and vocal parts.
According to the album's producer,Gus Dudgeon, the album was not planned as a two-record collection. John and Taupin composed a total of 22 tracks for the album,[8] of which 18 (counting "Funeral for a Friend" and "Love Lies Bleeding" as two distinct tracks) were used, enough that it was released as adouble album, John's first (three more such albums followed up to 2011). Through the medium of cinematic metaphor, the album builds on nostalgia for a childhood and culture left in the past.[8][10] Tracks include "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road",[11] the 11-minute "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", and theMarilyn Monroe tribute "Candle in the Wind". "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" was inspired by memories of aMarket Rasen pub that Taupin frequented when younger. "Grey Seal", previously the B-side of the 1970 single "Rock and Roll Madonna", was re-recorded for the album.[12]
"Harmony" the album's final track, was considered as a fourth single, but was not issued at the time because the chart longevity of the album and its singles brought it too close to the upcoming releases ofCaribou and its proposed accompanying singles. It was, however, used as the B-side of the American release of the "Bennie and the Jets" single, and was popular on FM playlists of the day, especiallyWBZ-FM in Boston, whose top 40 chart allowed for the inclusion ofLP cuts and B-sides as voted for by listeners. "Harmony" spent three weeks at number one on WBZ-FM's chart in June 1974 and ranked number six for the year, with "Bennie and the Jets" at number one and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" behind "Harmony" at number seven. "Harmony" was released as a single in Britain in 1980 and failed to chart.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[14] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [15] |
| The Daily Vault | A[16] |
| Rolling Stone | (mixed)[17] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [18] |
| Slant Magazine | [19] |
The album was released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP, with cover art by illustratorIan Beck depicting John stepping into a poster. It debuted at number 17 on theBillboard 200[20] and quickly rose to number one on its fourth week on the chart, where it stayed for eight consecutive weeks.[21] It was the best-selling album in the US in 1974.[22] In the UK it topped the album chart for two weeks. The album was preceded by its lead single, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", which reached number seven on theUK singles chart and number 12 in the US. Its next single, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" reached number six in the UK and number two in the US. "Bennie and the Jets" was released as a single in the US, and it topped theBillboard Hot 100 for one week in 1974. Its final single, "Candle in the Wind", released in the UK, reached number 11.
The original 1973 LP was released on two discs, while the 1992 and 1995 CD remasters put the album on one disc, as it was slightly less than 80 minutes. The 30th anniversary edition followed the original format, splitting the album across two discs to allow the inclusion of the bonus tracks, while a DVD on the making of the album was also included. The album has also been released byMobile Fidelity as a single disc 24-karat gold CD. The album (including all four bonus tracks) was released onSACD (2003),DVD-Audio (2004), andBlu-ray Audio (2014).[23] These high resolution releases included the original stereo mixes, as well as 5.1 remixes produced and engineered byGreg Penny.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is widely regarded as one of John's best albums, and is one of his most popular.[8] It is his best-selling studio album.
In the US, it was certified gold on 12 October 1973 (just days after release), 5× platinum in March 1993, and eventually 8× platinum in February 2014 by theRIAA.
The album was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame in 2003,[6] and was included in the 2005 book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In 2003 and 2012, the album was ranked number 91 onRolling Stone magazine's list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time,[24] and re-ranked number 112 in a 2020 revised list.[25]Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked number 59 inChannel 4's 2009 list of 100 Greatest Albums.[26]
In 2023, Joe Lynch ofBillboard ranked the album cover, depicting the "bedazzled rocker – wearing ruby red platform heels and a bomber jacket with his name on it — step[ping] into a poster of the famedyellow brick roadDorothy and her coterie followed to theEmerald City ofOz," as the 74th best album cover of all time. Lynch dubbed the image career-defining, as it "came out three years beforeElton himself did – but if you didn't get that he was aFriend of Dorothy based on this, that's on you."[27]
The liner note illustration for the song "I've Seen That Movie Too", depicting silhouettes in front of a movie screen, inspired the staging of the comedy television seriesMystery Science Theater 3000.[28][29]
American parody artist"Weird Al" Yankovic has said the album was the first that he bought with his own money and was "probably the most impactful" on him, calling it "a masterwork."[30]
All music is composed byElton John; all lyrics are written byBernie Taupin.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" | 11:09 |
| 2. | "Candle in the Wind" | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Bennie and the Jets" | 5:23 |
| Total length: | 20:22 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" | 3:13 |
| 5. | "This Song Has No Title" | 2:23 |
| 6. | "Grey Seal" | 4:00 |
| 7. | "Jamaica Jerk-Off" | 3:39 |
| 8. | "I've Seen That Movie Too" | 5:59 |
| Total length: | 19:14 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Sweet Painted Lady" | 3:54 |
| 10. | "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909–34)" | 4:23 |
| 11. | "Dirty Little Girl" | 5:00 |
| 12. | "All the Girls Love Alice" | 5:09 |
| Total length: | 18:26 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Your Sister Can't Twist (but She Can Rock 'n Roll)" | 2:42 |
| 14. | "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" | 4:57 |
| 15. | "Roy Rogers" | 4:07 |
| 16. | "Social Disease" | 3:42 |
| 17. | "Harmony" | 2:46 |
| Total length: | 76:20 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" (B-side of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting") | 2:52 |
| 2. | "Jack Rabbit" (B-side of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting") | 1:50 |
| 3. | "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" (B-side of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road") | 4:42 |
| 4. | "Candle in the Wind" (2003 acoustic remix byGreg Penny) | 3:51 |
| Total length: | 89:35 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Candle in the Wind" (Ed Sheeran) | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Bennie and the Jets" (Miguel featuringWale) | 5:10 |
| 3. | "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (Hunter Hayes) | 3:09 |
| 4. | "Grey Seal" (The Band Perry) | 3:38 |
| 5. | "Sweet Painted Lady" (John Grant) | 3:57 |
| 6. | "All the Girls Love Alice" (Emeli Sandé) | 3:35 |
| 7. | "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)" (Imelda May) | 2:50 |
| 8. | "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (Fall Out Boy) | 3:44 |
| 9. | "Harmony" (Zac Brown Band) | 2:57 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Candle in the Wind" | 4:04 |
| 11. | "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" | 3:07 |
| 12. | "All the Girls Love Alice" | 7:18 |
| 13. | "Bennie and the Jets" | 6:09 |
| 14. | "Rocket Man" | 4:55 |
| 15. | "Daniel" | 4:17 |
| 16. | "Honky Cat" | 7:16 |
| 17. | "Crocodile Rock" | 3:56 |
| 18. | "Your Song" | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 77:25 | |
According to the album's liner notes. Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.
Production
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[51] original release | 10× Platinum | 500,000^ |
| Australia (ARIA)[52] re-release | 3× Platinum | 210,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[53] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[54] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[55] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[56] 1973 release | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[57] 2014 release | 2× Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[58] | 8× Platinum | 8,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
