The Captain and the Kid Review

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The Captain and the Kid ReviewHaving grown up with the radio during Elton John's reign on top of the American charts in the early-to-mid 1970s, I've always had a soft spot for his music, even after moving on musically in college in the 1980s. Especially since I learned to play piano by butchering his songs from this period, and was lucky enough to see him live at his famous Dodger Stadium gig in 1975 (my first rock concert) and in intimate shows like his pre-"Unplugged" tour with Ray Cooper in 1979. His classic albums from Madman through Capt. Fantastic were always within reach in my collection even when I more often listened to the Clash or R.E.M., and despite the lack of radio hits, Captain Fantastic was always my favorite, due to the strength of the highly personal songs and the superb production by the late Gus Dudgeon. I still recall listening to the album while poring over the "scrapbook" included in the packaging in my bedroom in southern California, wondering what a "Bank Giro Credit" and other Britishisms meant, and marvelling at how the flashy showman and his writer started out as a shy musical dreamers composing in his mother's living room.
So it was with some trepidation that I ordered The Captain and the Kid, given that a less-than-stellar outing from the Rocket Man would leave me with the feeling that they were trying to cash in on the old magic with longtime fans like me by releasing something not worthy of the connection to the great original. Like Paul McCartney, Elton is a musical genius who bears the curse of artistic survival and longevity, so that any new material released inevitably pales next to the timeless output of his peak years. Some will no doubt recoil at the McCartney comparison, as Sir Elton has clearly had more shining moments past his prime than has Sir Paul. But these are relatively few and far between when you look at the 1970s catalog, and we are all a lot older now. As Bernie notes so succinctly in the final track, "You can't go back, and if you try you fail..." But sometimes you have to try anyway, and the results can be deeper and richer than ever imagined.
The album opens with "Postcards from Richard Nixon," highlighting the wide-eyed wonder of the English-country and London-suburb "pale kids" as they hit America and their careers rocket to the stratosphere, with name-checks of Brian Wilson and Walt Disney to boot. A fun way to open the retrospective ride, picking up where Capt. Fantastic left off.
The debauchery of rock-star tour life is the theme of "Just Like Noah's Ark," a swampified southern R&B raver with a nifty organ solo and some dirty slide guitar from Davey, (the only time) cranked to an appropriate level. Living in Atlanta so long, it sounds like Elton has absorbed a lot more of the authentic feel of New Orleans R&B, Memphis blues and even Lynryd Skynyrd than in his previous English pastiches, like "Dixie Lily" off the Caribou album.Lyrically, the song shares a close connection to "Tower of Babel," which was superior in my view, but the infectious music pushes this one forward -- you can tell the band are enjoying themselves as this one winds down.
Things quiet down for "Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)", Bernie's awkward paean to New York. Not his best lyrics, perhaps reflecting his reported ambivalence to the city over the years. In that uncanny way they have always managed, Elton matches this uncertainty with a musically unresolved verse that meanders down through minor chords and numerous key changes, before sliding into a celestial chorus. The meter of the words don't seem to fit Elton's tune in the chorus, but he moves the melody around in such a way to leave a poignant ache in the heart like the memory of an old girlfriend.
"Tinderbox" is another piano-driven song that reflects the strain of their close partnership toward the end of their chart-topping days, with a gorgeous chorus that echos "Harmony" off of Yellow Brick Road, and features the trademark backing vocals of Davey and Nigel in his classic years. This one really grows on you with repeated listening.
Next it's time to ramp it up again with the fevered, clipped R&B piano of "...And the House Fell Down." Bernie's most honest and evocative portrayal of Elton's drugged-up years is matched again with music and a vocal performance that perfectly suits the lyric, showing how all the hard work and they success they earned almost collapsed around them. As noted in another review, the musical resemblance to "I'm Still Standing" is no coincidence, and this song is also notable for Elton's jumpy, agitated R&B piano solo that is undoubtedly his best since "Bennie and the Jets."
While earmarked as a single, I did not love "Blues Never Fade Away," with its lugubrious piano and "We Are the World"-type vocals. It documents the loss of some of their closest friends, such as Gianni Versace and John Lennon, with a nod to Ryan White and an unidentified young woman. While no doubt sincere, the lyrics border on trite in spots ("All that matters is they came around and brightened up our lives"), and the overall feel is too charity-proceeds single for me -- sorry to be such a cynic. More typical of his recent work musically, it sounds like something he would have written for the stage or screen. I appreciate his talent in branching out that way, but it's not my favorite.
"The Bridge", the other rumored single, follows, and is another piano-only song that is much better in several ways. One, the music is stunningly beautiful, matched with his best vocal performance on the album. Secondly, Bernie's lyric is far more metaphorical than the previous track, and stronger because of it. Its mystery is part of the appeal -- is the bridge their career, their success where so many others failed? Or is it about overcoming other challenges in life and being a survivor? The choir-like coda concludes this beautiful song with echoes of the final track on Capt. Fantastic. Simply a gorgeous song.
It's back to a southern hoe-down with the bluegrass-tinged "I Must Have Lost it On the Wind," a close-harmony toe-tapper with a nostalgic look at their loves and losts, and some nice mandolin.
The album closes with two of the strongest and most personal tracks, wistfully and perfectly summing up their long career and friendship, with all of the ups and downs. "Old '67", referring to the year they met and started their long, hard climb to the pinnacle of the music world, is a nostalgic reflection of those simple, deprived days. You can see them shaking their heads and laughing at where they've come, set to another relaxed R&B piano tune. Davey contributes some nice slide guitar and steel guitar fills in something that sounds like it could have been recorded by The Band or Bonnie Raitt. The album then closes (perhaps too soon?) with the country/western twang of "The Captain and the Kid". Another simply perfect pairing of lyric and tune, this reprises the opening lines of Captain Fantastic before easing into a chugging brush-drum beat and the kind of hook-laden major-minor chord progressions that sold this guy about a billion albums back in the day. Just a song you could listen to over and over even if he was singing the phonebook. Bernie's lyric pretty much suffices as the entire summation of their brilliant career -- witty, sardonic, appreciative, sentimental -- it is all of these things without be cloying or predictable. If they had done nothing more than this song, it would have been a worthy cherry on top of the career cake. How nice that instead it can close the book on a fine album that more than lives up to the expectations of "completing the cycle," as Elton remarks in the liner notes.
A few minor quibbles. Clearly, Elton's soaring vocal range of the 1970s, epitomized by songs like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," is long gone. This is not surprising, but I tend to associate some of his recent vocal sounds as much with the "Lion King" songs as with the occasional gem like "The One" or "I Want Love." But he opens it up a bit on the R&B/blues-tinged songs and reveals a much richer vocal sound than he had back in the day.
Second, the production quality is a big departure from Captain Fantastic's tremendous sound -- Nigel's booming drums, spacious instrumentation, and the soaring vocal mix. Many of the songs are recorded quite "dry" on the new album, giving one the impression having Elton in your car or living room (the beginning of the first track especially), but in turn losing some of that wall-of-sound quality that Gus Dudgeon created. He was truly an under-rated contributor to Elton's career and body of work during that period.
Finally, I would have liked to have heard more guitar from "Musical Director" and longtime collaborator Davey Johnstone. His subtle fills with acoustic guitar, mandolin, and slide guitar are great, but we're missing the recognizable electric guitar sound he created with rockers like "Meal Ticket" and "Saturday Night's Alright...", or the chunky Fender-Strat blues fills he brought to "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows." While Elton's piano work is as inventive as ever (bringing to mind songs from Tumbleweed and Madman), more electric guitar would have been welcome. Of course, the point was not to re-create Capt. Fantastic, but Johnstone's guitars were almost always a critical aspect of Elton's hit songs and classic album cuts like "Funeral for a Friend."
But these are minor complaints. Every Elton fan should have this CD, to me it is far better than Songs From the West Coast, and the personal, affecting lyrics are poignant and meaningful to anyone with the slightest appreciation for their remarkable career and the body of musical work that has enriched our lives. Thanks to the boys for saddling up one more time before they ride off into the sunset.
The Captain and the Kid OverviewMore than 30 years after its release, Elton John really HAS become Captain Fantastic and Bernie Taupin is most definitely The Brown Dirt Cowboy and they have made a sequel to that landmark #1 album.The Captain & The Kid tells the tale of not only their lives, but also of the fantastic records of the '60's & '70's when music was the most important voice of our culture and the was its prime vehicle.With Elton's 60th birthday coming up, its only right to reflect on a life he has lived to the fullest yet continue to push the musical boundaries forward.Whatever you favorite Elton album may be, after listening to The Captain & The Kid, you will transported back to that place in time when music mattered most and alsobelieve that it still does! Thirty- five years later Elton & Bernie are as passionate about the music as they have ever been and any proof you need is in these 10 tracks known as The Captain & The Kid.

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