Blue Moves

Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
Oct 22 1976

Overview Edit

Blue Moves is the eleventh studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1976. It was also his second double album, and his first album released by his own Rocket Records Ltd. While giving a concert at Wembley Arena to promote the album, he spontaneously announced "That's it, this is the last one." He didn't say for how long, but he was serious and temporarily left the touring/live performing scene.

Despite the album's darker tone and experimental song lineup, it has held up well with critics and in its initial release made it to #3 on the album charts, partly on the strength of the album's biggest hit single "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word." (A single version of "Bite Your Lip" also made it as a Top 40 hit.) Something of a fan favourite, John has played several songs from "Blue Moves" live. Versions of "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word," "Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)," "One Horse Town," "Tonight" and "Idol" have surfaced in various concert appearances through the years.

John has stated that Blue Moves is one of his favourite albums he has ever recorded. It was Gus Dudgeon's last album produced for almost a decade. The cover art for the album is from a painting by British artist Patrick Procktor.

Interesting notes about some songs: "Cage the Songbird" was a tribute to legendary French songstress Edith Piaf, and a year or so later was covered by Kiki Dee on an unreleased Rocket album, which finally was issued in 2008. ("Songbird" originated as part of the Rock of the Westies sessions, but wasn't completed during them, probably since the song's more acoustic, delicate sound didn't fit with the more rock 'n roll approach to the rest of the songs that made the Rock of the Westies final lineup.) The Beach Boys turned down "Chameleon," but members of the group (including Bruce Johnston and Toni Tennille) turned out to sing backing vocals on Elton's version. And "Idol," which describes the bittersweet fall of an Elvis-like star who was popular in the 1950s, ended up being an almost eerie narrative for the sad state of "the King," Elvis Presley, who wasn't in good health mentally or physically in March 1976 when the song was written and recorded. (Elvis would have little more than a year to live, his untimely and mournful death coming in August 1977.) An excerpt from "Out of the Blue" was used for the closing titles on Top Gear up until the end of that Top Gear format (in 2001). This was one of two albums in which Davey Johnstone does not provide backing vocals. 1997's The Big Picture would be the other.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moves. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
unknown
Catalog number:
unknown
Release dates:
  • Oct 28 1976 in United States

Genres

Classic Rock, Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars Blue Moves Beautiful
For Elton John, this was his final full length collection of songs with Taupin in the 1970's. I really enjoyed this collection with all of its heart. I feel sorry that they stopped selling this record in stores. The collection marks standards Tonight, Someone's Final Song, and Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. Any Elton John fan would adore this collection.
Written by Michael Kerner "Michael Kerner"
1 stars Doesn't include all of the songs of the original
I plan on buying this album on CD (to replace my old vinyl copy), but I noticed this version only has half of all the songs on the original. I'm going to make sure and order the more expensive 2-disk CD. Just a warning if you plan on buying the cheaper CD.
Written by L. Monahan

Track listing Edit

  • CD

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Your Starter For
    ?:??
    2
    Tonight
    ?:??
    3
    One Horse Town
    ?:??
    4
    Chameleon
    ?:??
    5
    Boogie Pilgrim
    ?:??
    6
    Cage the Songbird
    ?:??
    7
    Crazy Water
    ?:??
    8
    Shoulder Holster
    ?:??

Credits Edit

  1. performer

    1. Toni Tennille [vocals]

Other versions Edit

18 tracks format: 2 x CD
release dates: Oct 22 1976 in United Kingdom, Oct 28 1976 in United States
view details
15 tracks format: 1 x CD
view details
Blue Moves 18 tracks format: 2 x CD
release dates: May 7 2007
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