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BERNIE TAUPIN INTERVIEW Continued from page EJ -76 "I actually met Bernie before Elton, when Gus Dudgeon, E.J.'s producer, was doing a 'poetry in England. I think it starts previews next Ma}. with music' type of album, with Taupin speaking Let's talk about some of the other classic albums. When his lyrics over music we were composing on the you think back to "Honky Chateau," that album and that period, what comes to mind? spot. Caleb Quaye and I were doing an acoustic Working at the Chateau in Paris. It was fun. I guess that version of 'Greatest Discovery,' which was really was the first album we did there. That was a real commu- nal kind of situation. Again, I love that place, but it's sup- beautiful, but when Bernie's line 'This is your posed to be haunted by Chopin. So you kind of get that brand new brother' ended the piece, I almost vibe. Fleetwood Mac had a really weird experience there too. melted. It's still one of my favorite E.J. /B.T. It was the first record where we had that situation where compositions. Obviously, my other favorite song we were sort of living and working in the same place, like "Caribou." would have to be 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues,' since I helped write it. How about "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road "? "Probably the most excited I've seen Elton and We were supposed to do it in Jamaica,. but the studio basi- cally fell apart, so we flew to New York from Jamaica and Bernie was at the 1974 Madison Square Garden show, when John Lennon got up with us to play a short set. John was unbelievably nervous before the show and came to my tune -up room asking me to tune his guitar, which I did gladly. He then came up with the immortal line 'We used to get a bit of fanny around about now!' God bless rock 'n' roll. ON BEHA.F OF THE GLASS ARTISTS, PAINTERS, "I feel privileged to have worked with the best musicians, engineers and producers because of SCULP -O 2S AND FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHERS my relationship with Elton and Bernie." -DAVEY JOHNSTONE WHOSE WORK YOU HAVE SO JOYOUSLY COLLECTED, WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON then flew to Paris and went back to the Chateau. 30 YEARS OF MUSIC WITH BERNIE TAUPIN. I know Elton is a big fan of R &B and soul music, and that is reflected in the music and performance of "Bennie And The Jets." What inspired the lyrics? I don't remember what I wanted "Bennie And The Jets" to be. For me, it was a real throwaway lyric. That was very much Elton's creation. You mentioned "Caribou" was also done with that sort of communal atmosphere. "Caribou" and "Rock Of The Westies" were a bit drug - induced. I don't really remember those albums too well. They were sort of up -all -night jobs. We just lived in these cabins, did too much of everything, and made rec- ords. The only thing I remember about that was Stevie Wonder driving me to the studio one day and me going into the studio and then suddenly realizing I was driven there by a blind man. He drove me from one of the cabins to the studio, but I'm sure for two days beforehand he had someone doing it continually with him and he just did it to freak me out. He used to do things like that. The funny thing was that I didn't question it. Let's get back to the present. "Live Like Horses," which was recorded by Elton and Luciano Pavarotti for the "Pavarotti & Friends For War Child" benefit CD, is featured on the new album? Yeah, it is. And we re- recorded it. Did you write that with Elton and Pavarotti in mind? No, no. That was Elton's idea. He had Pavarotti sing in Italian. Have you ever heard an Italian try to say "horses "? Is it strange for you to hear a voice other than Elton's sing your songs? No, not at all. It was flattering. I really like [ "Two Rooms "]. I like the fact that it was kind of at the beginning of the obsession with doing those kinds of [tribute] albums. Now everybody does them. At least that was somewhat in the beginning. THE FAY GOLD GALLERY Like Elton, you've also been involved in some AIDS- OF CONTEMPORARY ART related causes. 247 BUCKHEAD AVENUE Well, I did the two "Commitment To Life" concerts. It ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30305 was fun as well, working with all those artists, as well as doing something I had never done before, producing a TELEPHONE 404.233.3843 FAX 404.365.8633 show. It's something that is very difficult. I don't want to do Continued on page EJ-80 EJ-78 BILLBOARD TRIBUTE BILLBOARD OCTOBER 4, 1997 www.americanradiohistory.com.