The usually-underrated album that Elton John made partly in one in every of his adopted houses, Atlanta, and named after a road within the metropolis, Peachtree Highway, was launched on November 9, 2004. It holds a particular place in his catalog not just for the a number of lesser-known gems it comprises, however for being the one album on which Elton is credited as sole producer.
The twenty seventh studio launch of what was, by then, a discography that spanned greater than 35 years’ value of recording, Peachtree Highway took its title from the huge Freeway 141 that crosses Atlanta from south-west to north-east. The native studios that Elton used have been Silent Sound, to the north, and Tree Sound, within the northeastern nook of town, a posh that has additionally performed host to Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, and scores of others. The extra acquainted File Plant in Los Angeles additionally hosted a few of the classes.
These dates featured longtime workmates comparable to guitarist Davey Johnstone and drummer Nigel Olsson, in addition to later band members Man Babylon, Bob Birch and John Mahon. However there was one notably absent good friend, as mirrored in a particular entry within the album credit: Elton devoted the album to Gus Dudgeon, his early producer and trustworthy champion, and Dudgeon’s spouse Sheila, who have been killed in a automobile accident in 2002.
Amazed to be round
Peachtree Highway was removed from being one of many singer-songwriter’s largest discs, nevertheless it has a deservedly devoted following amongst his fanbase, with its positive mix of Elton’s common pop-rock fashion and a definite flavour of the American south. The album’s first single outdoors North America was “All That I’m Allowed (I’m Thankful),” a UK No.20 hit which typified the serene and reflective nature of lots of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics for the set.
“Answer In The Sky” took the lead because the flagship monitor within the US, its opening strings seemingly a nod to the Seventies anthem “Philadelphia Freedom.” The non secular sentiment sounded one other notice of optimism, enhanced by a gospel-style choir of some eight singers. When Peachtree Highway arrived, that positivity shone by means of on the opening lower, “Weight Of The World,” on which Taupin, as so usually, managed to seize the voice of his longtime collaborator on a music about private salvation. “Fortune and fame is so fleeting these days,” Elton sang. “I’m happy to say I’m amazed that I’m still around.”
The recurring southern taste got here by means of on “Porch Swing In Tupelo” and the upbeat, playful “They Call Her The Cat.” Additionally of nice notice was “Turn The Lights Out When You Leave,” a particular nod to the country-music custom that Elton and Bernie at all times liked so effectively. So authentically did it seize the nation temper that John went on to carry out the music with Dolly Parton on the following yr’s CMA Awards.
Peachtree Highway additionally included the darkish, atmospheric, bluesy ballad “My Elusive Drug,” which recalled the late-night supper-club temper that the star has typically used, notably on tracks from Blue Strikes, such because the equally spectacular “Idol.” The affirmative contemplation returned on the love music “I Stop And I Breathe,” and elsewhere there have been A-list contributions from the revered horn part who co-founded the nice American band Chicago, Walter Parazaider, James Pankow, and Lee Loughnane.
An announcement of survival
Critiques of the album have been optimistic, largely noting that Peachtree Highway maintained the positive type of its predecessor, 2001’s Songs From The West Coast, and a few tracing a musical line all the best way again to Tumbleweed Connection. Robert Hilburn, within the Los Angeles Instances, avowed: “There’s such a candy, melancholy edge to the CD’s finest songs that they might function an interesting centerpiece if John needed to boldly replace his reside exhibits.
“‘Weight Of The World’ is a statement of survival in the ‘I’m Still Standing’ tradition, only more subdued and, ultimately, more human,” Hilburn continued. “‘Turn The Lights Out When You Leave’ is such a wry and wacky country breakup song that George Jones ought to record it as soon as he can get into a studio, while ‘Answer In The Sky’ is one of [John and Taupin’s] rare spiritual reflections.”
Peachtree Highway made it to No.21 in Elton’s dwelling nation and No.17 within the US, the place it was gold by the top of 2004. A four-DVD field set entitled Dream Ticket was launched across the identical time because the album, containing three concert events and a brand new documentary overlaying 4 many years of Elton’s illustrious profession.
The album itself had one thing of a lap of honor in 2005, when it was reissued with a unique cowl, and with three bonus tracks from Elton’s subsequent songwriting undertaking, Billy Elliot: The Musical. An accompanying DVD supplied 9 reside tracks from the album, as carried out, appropriately, in Atlanta. The Billy Elliot ballad “Electricity,” a kind of songs added to the album, turned a No.4 UK single that summer time.
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