After spending a number of years within the wilderness, Elton John loved a much-needed comeback along with his seventeenth studio album Too Low for Zero and its Top 5 single “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.”
John hadn’t loved a No. 1 album since 1975’s Rock of the Westies – his sixth in a row – and he’d collaborated with a number of musicians outdoors the classic-era Elton John Band within the interim, even breaking briefly with lyricist Bernie Taupin. Dwindling gross sales and lukewarm evaluations mirrored John’s personal distracted strategy to music: He’d misplaced curiosity in touring for a whereas and was admittedly extra occupied with being chairman of his soccer membership, Watford F.C.
After a sequence of misfires, John longed to strive one thing new – or outdated – on Too Low for Zero. He introduced stalwart guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, drummer Nigel Olsson and percussionist Ray Cooper to the island of Montserrat for studio periods, armed with an album’s value of lyrics by Taupin. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than they realized the outdated magic was nonetheless there.
“We each had a villa on the island, and then we’d all come down and meet at the studio and start work for the day,” Johnstone recalled in 2021. “I took to walking there every day … the couple of miles or whatever it was, and get to the studio just around the time that Elton’s getting there. And we’d sit around and talk about stuff, and this one day, he had said, ‘This track, I think, should be written with guitar.’ And he told me the title.”
The track was “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” and Johnstone had gotten a uncommon sneak peek at the lyrics on the flight from California whereas getting “very, very drunk” with Taupin, who wrote the tune as a love letter to then-wife Toni Russo. “It was like, ‘Wow, another killer. Another brilliant, moving thing,'” Johnstone enthused. “And that was before any music was written. So I hadn’t been thinking about the music until Elton said, ‘Let’s do a guitar-based song.’ So we sat down in the studio and we wrote it in 20 minutes, I think.”
Watch Elton John’s ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ Video
John additionally satisfied Stevie Wonder to carry out a harmonica solo on “The Blues,” marking one among a number of collaborations between the pair. “That was the run-through, by the way,” John instructed Billboard in 2021 of the take that made the document. “When Stevie plays harmonica, you break into a smile, because Stevie’s music and his soul is all about joy.”
Released as the primary single off Too Low for Zero in April 1983, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” turned John’s largest hit in a number of years, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album’s subsequent two singles, “I’m Still Standing” and “Kiss the Bride,” reached Nos. 12 and 25 on the Hot 100, respectively, and helped push Too Low for Zero to eventual platinum standing.
Decades later, John nonetheless spoke fondly of the album and its lead single, which he selected as one among his 20 most significant songs. “Bernie was back on Too Low for Zero – we wrote everything on the album,” he instructed Rolling Stone in 2013. “Also, it was the first time I met Renate [Blauel, later to be his first spouse], because she was an engineer on that record. It really was a return to form. Even though ‘I’m Still Standing’ was kind of an anthem, ‘Blues’ is the one for me because it’s just a great song to sing. It’s timeless.”
Elton John Albums Ranked
Counting down each Elton John album, from worst to finest.
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