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22 Feb 2008

Unforgettable People (X): Gary Osborne



Elton met Gary Osborne is late 1960s, when Elton was playing the Cromwellian Club with Bluesology and Gary was stll a teen. In 1973 Gary began writing lyrics for Kiki Dee’s albums, but remainded an Elton’s friend, playing poker in the evenings. Once, Elton confessed to Gary that they would work someday together. And so they did it in 1978, with the “A Single Man” album.

Gary Osborne wrote a great deal of the lyrics on Elton's "A Single Man" album, and provided lyrics for "21 At 33", "The Fox", "Jump Up!" and "Leather Jackets", including the hit "Blue Eyes", this had led to him writing a lot of the lyrics for 1978 Jeff Waynes classic album "War of the Worlds".

“I was only known as the poor man’s Taupin , the guy who wrote some of the lighter things for Elton” remembered Gary. Elton always had defending him, saying that this method to writing music before lyrics gave him a complete freedom. It was Gary’s personality that appealed to Elton: his blond hair, his big coats and his longer fingers.

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