An Interview With Elizabeth Rosenthal: author of "His Songs: The Musical Journey of Elton John" (Part One)

Hello Eltonites. I've been behind this interview since a long time ago. I thought about dedicating The Weekend Of... to her maybe one year ago, more or less. She's one of the most fantastic persons I've ever met. If she taught me what I needed about Elton when I bought her book, the preparing of the interview made me "discover" Peterson and the most incredible world of "Birdwatchers". That's really interesting, believe me. Bernie's "Birds" lyrics come to mind time after time: "These words can't explain what I feel inside". Old Rabbit get ready! Ladies and gentlemen, get up and stand up to receive one of the bests eltonites out there: Elizabeth J. Rosenthal!!!!

Welcome Liz, so happy to have you here, thanks so much for the acceptation.

Thanks to Miquel for a great opportunity to chat about Elton!

It’s really an honour to have you here. What are your most beautiful memories of your childhood? How was it growing up in Manhattan?

Although I was born in Manhattan, I grew up in the Bronx (one of the other New York City boros) and Rockland County, a suburb of the city. The Bronx was full of bricks and concrete – an ugly place. But it was home! And we could go everywhere by subway. It was the 1960s, and the golden era of American TV. Every week, I enjoyed some of the best TV ever – The Jackie Gleason Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and Star Trek (the original, with William Shatner). In Rockland County, we were far from shopping and movies, but it was safe, quiet, and picturesque.

You have said, “During most of middle school and high school, I refused to listen to contemporary music, limiting myself to the big band tunes of my parents’ generation.” Why was that so?

I was a weird kid! Also, most young people have a difficult time adjusting to adolescence. I responded by escaping into the popular music of a different generation.

Hahahaha Do you remember the first time you heard Elton’s music? What made you become an Elton fan?

I first heard Elton’s music in early 1974 when I was about 13, in Chorus – a class in which we learned to perform songs as a group. Anyway, one day, before the class started, the radio was on, playing “Crocodile Rock.” Kids had a great time singing along to it. I wasn’t interested. Then, the next year, in high school, my English teacher asked us to bring in lyrics to popular songs – and recordings of the songs – so that we could analyze the lyrics. A classmate copied the lyrics to “Philadelphia Freedom” onto a sheet of paper and brought that in plus the record so we could listen. Again, I was not impressed! All through high school (1974-78), one wall of our social studies classroom was decorated with a giant Elton John poster. But it wasn’t until later on in high school that I began listening to rock (after years of listening to big band music). By then, Elton had come out with his bisexual statement. His current single, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” was appealing, but didn’t dominate like his earlier hits. Other people had risen to the top. My favorite singer became Barry Manilow. However, by the time I was in college, at Syracuse University, I had acquired a copy of Elton’s first volume of greatest hits – a magical record for the casual fan! It was one of my favorite albums. I recall hearing the infectious “Honky Cat” blaring from someone’s dormitory window on a spring afternoon. This lifted my spirits, as it would do for anybody. Ironically, I had a friend at Syracuse, also named Liz, who was a huge Elton fanatic. She showed me Elton’s latest album, A Single Man, and played some of it for me. I remember thinking that he looked strange without glasses. I remarked that Elton sounded different. “No, he doesn’t!” Liz exclaimed, defensively. (But he did – his voice was deeper!)

In ensuing years (early to mid-1980s), I mainly concentrated on the rock stars who were most popular at the time. Elton wasn’t one of them. I did like “Little Jeannie,” “Kiss the Bride,” and “Who Wears These Shoes?” but didn’t feel particularly motivated to buy any of his new records. Finally, in 1988, I was totally blown away by “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That.” It probably helped that the song was on the radio all the time. And I loved the video, in which Elton looked like a cool cat with his fedora hat, smart suit, and mode of playing his Roland piano while standing, spread-legged. “What a great piano player!” I thought. I resolved to see Elton in concert as soon as possible. My wish was fulfilled when he came to Philadelphia (near where I now lived in New Jersey) on September 30, 1989 for two shows. My husband and I attended the first one. I was hugely impressed - again – by Elton’s piano playing, so versatile and aggressive, and found his singing even better than I’d expected. That was it. I was hooked! Within a month, I had purchased Elton’s entire back catalog, including his latest, Sleeping with the Past.

You have one of the largest collections of Elton memorabilia. Which of your Elton items do you appreciate the most, either for being hard to find, or for the pleasure from owning it?

That’s a good question! I’ve come to the conclusion that my favorite pieces of Elton memorabilia tend to be magazines and newspapers featuring him on the cover (with content inside, of course). Collectively, they offer a chronicle of his entire career. And the earliest ones, from 1970-71, are exciting to have because they reflect the excitement of Elton’s rise to the top of the music industry.

I really enjoy old press photos, from UPI, the Press Association, Agence France Press, and other agencies, which do a great job of chronicling his career visually. I have an original print from a photographer who was at the Troubadour in August 1970, too, which may be my favorite picture.

Great!!! What is Elton like personally? Which people related to Elton have you met?

Elton is wonderful to meet, whether on the street, or backstage. I met him twice, once as an anonymous fan, and once as myself, the author of His Song. As anonymous fans, my friend and I were lucky enough to run into Elton in Atlanta in late 2000 when a collection of his photography was being exhibited at the High Museum of Art. Since we had gone to the exhibit, he asked us what we thought of it! We just mumbled self-consciously that we had really enjoyed it.

My second meeting was backstage at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Elton was very welcoming, affectionate, and ready with a quick quip. I was petrified, but only because of who he was. He could not have been friendlier. And he made a joke at his own expense. After Bob Halley had taken a couple of photos of Elton and me together, Elton remarked to my husband, who was standing nearby clutching my handbag, “You shouldn’t be holding that [handbag] – I should be probably! Ha-ha!” He invited Stan to be part of the third photo. I’m not sure who was holding my handbag at that point!

I’ve met members of the band – Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson, Bob Birch, and Guy Babylon, plus Gus Dudgeon – at Elton Expos I attended in 1994, 1996, and 2000. Davey impressed me the most, as a truly regular guy who happens to have amazing guitar skills. In 2000, he graciously treated us fans to a guitar-only concert of EJ hits in which various brave souls would take turns at the mike to try singing along.

While I have not met Elton’s Mum, I did hear an interesting story about her from a manager of the Elton John Store at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. As you may know, His Song was the only EJ biography sold at the Elton John Store. When I was in town for the Red Piano shows, I autographed all the copies of my book in the store. Apparently, Elton’s Mum was shopping in the store not that long afterward and purchased a copy of His Song that I had inscribed: “To one EJ fan from another.”

Fantastic!!! Well, His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John (Billboard Books, 2001) is the best reference book ever published, a perfect chronicle of Elton’s life and music, with reviews of his albums, performances, songs, everything. I highly recommend it. Where did the idea for the book come from?

Thanks for the kind words about His Song! I decided to write it when I couldn’t find any biographies of Elton out there that concentrated on his music – on record and in live performance. Since I have a background in journalism, and love to write, it seemed like the project for me to undertake!

His Song was your first book. Your second is a well-researched bio of one of the most interesting and famed ornithologists, Roger Tory Peterson, who died in 1996. Peterson changed the way people thought about birds and wildlife in general. Why did you decide to write this book and what impressed you the most about him?

Thanks for asking about my current book, Birdwatcher: the Life of Roger Tory Peterson (Lyons Press, 2008). It’s now out in paperback. I decided to do research about Peterson in 2005, after several years of watching birds myself. For some reason, I began to notice birds around 2001-2002 and became an avid reader of books about birds, a participant in field trips to look for birds, and a feeder of birds in my backyard! Noticing and admiring birds - of which there are nearly 10,000 species globally – really opened up a whole new world for me. Before, I had my nose to the concrete. Now, I always look toward the sky. It’s especially nice that, wherever you are, there are also birds, so you’re never without them! Anyway, my first field guide to birds was a Peterson guide. As you know, Peterson was an artist, writer, amateur scientist, and adventurer. He invented the field guide to birds in 1934. His various field guides to birds and wildflowers, and his editorship of a whole line of other Peterson guides to all forms of wildlife, revolutionized people’s appreciation of birds and nature around the world. The guides helped kick-start modern environmentalism. Peterson was at the center of conservation issues from the time he was in his 20s – helping to spur the growth of the National Audubon Society, co-founding the World Wildlife Fund, and bringing attention to such diverse wild places as the Galapagos, the Coto Donana in Spain, Lake Nakuru in Kenya, and the Antarctic. He was at the center of the pesticide controversy of the 1950s and 1960s and urged environmental activism wherever he went. For decades, then, he was the birdwatching, nature, and conservation guru for people on every continent, and he influenced and inspired a generation of field guide authors and bird artists.

As of 2005, there hadn’t been a biography of Roger Tory Peterson since 1977, when he was still alive, and that one was badly written and rather one-dimensional. So I consulted archives at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian, and the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, reviewed people’s personal papers, and interviewed 116 of Peterson’s friends, family members, colleagues and protégés from all over the world, to write a comprehensive life story of this multi-faceted man. People can find out more about Birdwatcher by going to http://www.petersonbird.com.

“And everywhere I look there's something to learn .... How come birds don't fall from the sky when they die? How come birds always look for a quiet place to hide?” For sure you know I am talkin’ about Bernie’s lyrics. Bernie’s love for nature is well-known. He’s a “Brown Dirt Cowboy,” the “country comfort’s in his bones.” His “Skyline Pigeon” is an imprisoned bird searching for open skies. And his “High Flying Bird” has flown out of his arms. Could he be a perfect birdwatcher?

Bernie Taupin clearly appreciates birds. There have been many, many references to birds in his lyrics over the decades: “Bad Side of the Moon” (hummingbirds), “Love Lies Bleeding” (bluebird), “Come Down in Time” (nightjars), “The Best Part of the Day” (mourning doves), “Philadelphia Freedom” (whippoorwill). I could go on and on. Taupin grew up in Lincolnshire, England, on a farm, and now lives on a ranch in southern California. He’s the “country mouse” to Elton’s “city mouse.” So it makes sense that Bernie would notice birds. I saw a recent photo of him sporting a tattoo of what looked like a falcon on one of his arms!

What do you think of Bernie as a lyricist? Which of his lyrics are perfect? And why were his lyrics misinterpreted in the early days? Old Jack Rabbit is Spanish and when he learned the English language, the first thing he did was translate Bernie’s lyrics. What surprised him most was to find that Bernie’s love songs don’t only say, “I love you, you love me.”

Bernie’s lyrics were likely misinterpreted in the early days because they were so cryptic. What in the world is “Madman Across the Water” about? Or “Border Song”? “Take Me to the Pilot”? Even “Levon” is mysterious. There are reasons that Taupin wrote the way he did, emulating his own favorite lyricists, evoking a mood or a scene from a novel he was reading, or choosing from phrases that he had earlier filed away for later use. So he left fans speculating on what the songs were about. His writing tended to be much more straightforward by the 1980s, often to the detriment of John-Taupin song quality. Bernie is at his best when he writes about life or whatever is on his mind, rather than something merely radio-ready. Unfortunately, the lyrics really sink an album like Breaking Hearts. “Slow Down Georgie” (“You’re just a steppin’ stone to someone else’) and “’Lil’ Refrigerator” (“Get away from my soul/Llil’ ‘frigerator, you’re so cold!”) feature some of the most pedestrian lines that Taupin has ever penned. Basically, Bernie went from writing lyrics that didn’t make sense to lyrics that made too much sense! What could Elton do with them but write pedestrian tunes to fit? Then again, maybe Elton could have shelved those lyrics and asked for something different. But he didn’t.

Taupin’s best lyrics? Among my favorites are “Nikita” (“I saw you by the wall/Ten of your tin soldiers in a row/With eyes that looked like ice on fire/The human heart a captive in the snow”) and “Jimmie Rodgers’ Dream,” which features perhaps Bernie’s best lines ever. “Carrie, don’t wait up for me/The brakeman’s going west/In this room all alone I dream of you/In this drawer I found someone I never knew/So I pop a top and stay up late with Gideon/And fall asleep to visions of Meridian.” They tell you an enormous amount about the song’s protagonist, the Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers. As a brakeman on the railroad, he’s away from his wife, staying at night in lonely motels along the route, occupying himself by quenching his thirst with beer and reading the house tome, the Bible, which nevertheless doesn’t alleviate his homesickness. Wow.

When Bernie is at his best, you can actually read his lyrics for enjoyment, without the music. I hope that he someday revisits the idea of a compilation of all of his lyrics in book form, and that this time he not permit its publication until he proofreads the contents. Back in the 1990s, a gorgeous book of his lyrics came out, called The Complete Lyrics, and fans snapped it up, only to find loads of typos and errors, and the lyrics weren’t even “complete”!

“After years that were long and lean / We're finally on our way,” Bernie wrote in “Postcards From Richard Nixon.” Elton and Bernie didn’t have an easy start in music, experiencing frustration and depression along the way. Did Dick James have faith in Elton from the beginning? I read that Elton recorded his songs because no one else did. Who was the most important person in Elton’s early career? Dick James? Gus Dudgeon? Steve Brown? Russ Regan? “Richard Nixon overseas”?

Without the support of Dick James, Elton wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. James, who published the Beatles’ catalog, was the first music publisher and record company executive to take a chance on the John-Taupin songwriting team and on Elton as a recording artist. James supported Elton and Bernie through three years of obscurity until they got their musical bearings, pushing Elton to take his trio, which included Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray, to the United States for a major opportunity at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles. The rest is history.

Of course, Gus Dudgeon produced the album, Elton John (and all of Elton’s subsequent releases, through 1976), that caught Russ Regan’s ears in California, but the main strength of the album was in the songs, and the reason that Elton became a star was because of his tremendous ability as a live performer.

The fall 1972 tour solidified Elton’s reputation as a flamboyant act. He explained, “90% of my act is music, but the 10% theatrics is fun.” His 70s concerts were a fan phenomenon, with girls screamin’ for Elton, although he was not physically a Mick Jagger or a David Bowie. Did the costumes detract from the music, or help get him attention? How has Elton kept his fans over the years?

A lot of rock snobs were extremely turned off by Elton’s wild and whacky costumes, and by his onstage antics. They preferred the less flamboyant Elton of 1970-71, and claimed that he didn’t take his music seriously, while he retorted that he certainly did take it seriously but was having fun, too. The costumes may have made his entire persona more accessible to his teenage fans, who responded very positively to the concert spectacle he created. On the other hand, you couldn’t see his costumes on the radio, and Elton’s songs, a perfect marriage of catchiness and intelligent originality, were all over the radio. I’m glad he stopped wearing the costumes. He’s proved that his vibrant presence and musicianship are enough to keep packing ‘em in, year after year, decade after decade.

In the 70s no one could go out without hearing Elton’s music. John Lennon told him: “When you die, I will have to throw my radio out the window,” because then EJ’s music would be played even more frequently. Bryan Forbes described Elton as the legend he had always wanted to become. Let’s talk about his then manager, John Reid, the fabulous “Beryl.” How do we value the importance of John Reid to Elton’s career? What was Reid’s relationship with Bernie and Dick James?

John Reid’s business acumen got Elton the record-breaking North American record deal that he signed in 1974. In general, Reid’s talents as manager were vital to Elton’s accumulation of great wealth. Reid also shielded Elton from the seamier side of the music business, and the hangers-on and wannabes. Dick James lost Elton as a management client to Reid, who eventually concluded that James had not been entirely honest in his contractual relationship with John and Taupin, leading to a lawsuit against James that was traumatic for all involved. Ironically, about 13 years ago, Elton faced a similar situation with John Reid himself, which led to Reid’s dismissal and Elton establishing his own management company.

Shown on the picture sleeve of the “Philadelphia Freedom” single, Elton’s former, classic band included bassist Dee Murray, drummer Nigel Olsson, guitarist Davey Johnstone and percussionist Ray Cooper. How important were they to Elton’s success? Were they the perfect band? It’s strange to see Elton calling them “The Elton John Band,” with even the single being credited that way, and then, months later, firing Dee and Nigel. Was that a bad decision? Also, is it true that Davey, Dee and Nigel recorded as a trio for Rocket Records but the work never saw the light of day?

Many people consider the Johnstone/Olsson/Murray combination Elton’s best band and the one most responsible for the classic Elton John “sound.” In particular, their backing vocals sounded unlike anything else out there and gave Elton’s 1972-75 recordings a certain wistful sheen that, combined with Elton’s liberal use of falsetto in those years, made for an unmistakable aural experience. Nigel’s drumming style was distinctive in providing some very interesting emotional accents to the songs. Elton once observed that he gets choked up when he hears Nigel’s climactic but restrained use of drums and cymbal on the recording of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.” Even so, Elton was entitled to change bands if he wanted to pursue a different musical direction, which is what he did after they recorded Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. But Elton himself would agree that he handled the firing of Nigel and Dee very badly. I don’t know of a recording featuring the trio of Johnstone, Olsson, and Murray, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

The new band of Rock of the Westies and Blue Moves may have been Elton’s most accomplished one, however. Roger Pope was a better technical drummer than Nigel. The combination of all the new musicians – Pope, Caleb Quaye (guitars), Kenny Passarelli (bass), and James Newton Howard (keyboards) – plus hold-overs Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper, produced a funkier, looser sound. Unfortunately, Elton reacted to their combined prowess by neglecting his piano playing.

I love the band Elton has now, with Davey Johnstone on guitars, Bob Birch on bass, Nigel Olsson on drums, John Mahon on percussion, and Kim Bullard on keyboards (replacing the late, great Guy Babylon). In a way, the current members give Elton the best of both worlds: excellent musicianship plus the fairly unadorned live sound that his original band provided. And Elton’s piano playing gets better and better, which is incredible considering the heights he has already reached.

In “Bitter Fingers,” Bernie perfectly described the stress and the pressure of writing songs: “So much to prove, so few to tell you why.” Recording albums in just a few days, promotin’ the albums, goin’ on tour, et cetera, seemed like so much to do in so little time. That’s a pity, because in that period Elton & Bernie penned their best albums, and the albums could have lasted longer in the public mind than they did. Songs like “Harmony” and “High Flying Bird” could have been released as singles and led to more chart success, maybe helping to turn Grammy nominations into Grammy Awards. How do you analyze the end of Elton’s golden career?

As Elton has pointed out, he was contracted to record two albums a year for most of the 1970s, which is the reason for the great volume of work. But he also loved writing new songs and had the tremendous energy necessary to put out as much superb material as he did. I’m glad the John-Taupin partnership was as prolific as it was. Who would want to be deprived of those songs? Given these circumstances, it would have been impossible for any one EJ album to be wrung dry through the endless release of singles as the record companies did with Fleetwood Mac and Michael Jackson in the late 70s and early 80s. And why do that, anyway? The less familiar songs are all the more precious precisely because they haven’t been pummeled to death on the radio. Having said that, it is a terrible shame that so many early songs, like “Harmony,” haven’t gotten the recognition they deserve. But the same can be said of songs from any period of Elton’s career. The modernistic jazz of “Too Low for Zero” could use an airing, as could the bluesy “Fascist Faces,” the funk of “Satellite” and the beauty of “Blue Avenue.” And those are just a few examples from the 1980s, Elton’s supposed lost decade. Meanwhile, his entire output of the last 10 or 11 years remains virtually unknown to the general public, which is an even greater tragedy, as they feature songwriting that most definitely rivals that of his 1970s oeuvre – and maybe surpasses it.

I don’t think that more hit singles would have translated into Grammys for Elton, given how the Grammys worked in the 1970s (they were essentially anti-British).

How was the songwriting process affected by Elton telling Bernie how and what to write? I am referring to “Philadelphia Freedom” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” whose titles were both suggested by Elton. Gary Osborne, Elton’s next lyricist, started with a title and a few words provided by Elton, as well as the melody coming first, which was the opposite of how Elton and Bernie’s creative process normally worked.

The title “Philadelphia Freedom” gave Bernie a lot of leeway. He didn’t have to write about Billie Jean King’s Philadelphia Freedom tennis team, and, in fact, he didn’t. He turned it into what seemed to be a patriotic American anthem and Elton, who did not have lyric input here, gave the words a quintessentially American feel, by paying tribute to the smoothly soulful, string-laden Philadelphia sound. The compatibility of music and lyrics here may be among the most perfect in the John-Taupin catalog, even if “Philadelphia Freedom” wasn’t reminiscent of tennis in the least.

Elton came up with the titles and a large quantity of the words in “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” and instructed Bernie to convert the nascent song into a duet. The result may have been somewhat saccharine, but it was flavorful saccharine. Then again, one John-Taupin song that is pretty hard to beat in quality is “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word,” and, there, too, Elton started out with a melody and a bunch of words before turning it over to Bernie to finish the lyrics. Also, this was the way Elton regularly worked with Gary Osborne, and some good stuff came out of it – for example, “Little Jeannie,” “Chloe,” “Blue Eyes.”

To Be Continued

"And away we go!", Liz Rosenthal

"I discovered Elton John in 1989. Over a decade after his commercial heyday. But better late than never. Besides, there was lots of music of his to discover. To this day, I keep discovering it." Elizabeth J. Rosenthal's passion for Elton is well-known. More than 70s concerts on her shoulders: "I act like a 13-year-old, climbing over seats to reach the stage at the appointed time". But more than this, she has knowledge enough to talk about Elton. The excitement of sitting down and reading about your favorite performer it's hard to explain, you have to be a fan to tell, and no one could write a biography book about him as she did. The book we're referring, her first book, "His Song: the Musical Journey of Elton John", was published in fall 2001 by Billboard Books, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications.

That's a very enjoyable and extremely informative book, a must have for dedicated Elton John fans who expected more than Elton's always explained highlights of his life. Focused on Elton's music, we could find everything about concerts, albums, songs, projects, ... but without refusing Elton's personal life: his “coming out” as a bisexual man and, finally, as a gay man or his problems with drugs, alcohol, bulimia, and sexual addictions. It's not casual that "His Song" is the only John biography to be sold in the Elton John Store at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Also, to date, it is the first Elton John biography to be sold in Russia. It's a book to be read twice or third times.

Today, on Elton's Birthday, I thought about dedicating "The Weekend Of..." sessions to Liz Rosenthal as my particular homage to her, and she kindly agree to do an interview with Jack Rabbit. And we found a very extraordinary person. Enrichment talk, always the right words, always discovering something new about Elton. The interview is promising. There will be two parts of the interview, posting on different dates. But, what else we should know about our special guest?

After graduating magna cum laude with a journalism degree from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1982, Liz Rosenthal attended Rutgers-Camden School of Law, from which she graduated With Honors in 1985. Subsequently, she was admitted to the bars of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For the past 20 years, Rosenthal has been a civil servant, writing regulations for New Jersey state government, testifying before the state legislature about pending legislation affecting the civil service system, and serving as liaison to the State Attorney General's Office.

In 2002, Liz became bewitched by birds, since then reading everything about them that she could get her hands on and going on field trips, with New Jersey Audubon and other groups, whenever is possible. "My separate passions for Elton John’s music and for wild birds have led to, respectively, a published biography of Elton John and a published biography of Roger Tory Peterson, the latter, for those who don’t know, being the man without whom birdwatching would have been impossible", she explained. In the "Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson", she explores the life of an icon of ornithology, the man who taught Americans the joy of watching birds and who invented the modern field guide. This is the story of a man who loved nature above all, a collection of fascinating stories told by many of the people whose lives were enriched by his passion for birds. The great thing is that you don't have to be a birdwatcher to enjoy this book, you just need to be interested and love nature. The book has received excellent reviews in the New York Review of Books, Birder's World, and Bird Watcher's Digest, as well as in such newspapers as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and been well-received by various natural history bloggers and birding club newsletters across the U.S.

Finally, Liz is married with Stan, they live in Burlington, New Jersey. Oh, and a favourite quotation, Liz?

"Another old prophet,
perched upon a fence"

Ladies and gentlemen, the open doors of AllSongsList are all wide open to receive one of us, one of us eltonites, but one of the bests: Ms. Liz Rosenthal!!!!

http://www.petersonbird.com for more information about the book

Backgrounds

We could find Dwight’s surfaces in Buckinghamshore. The Dwight family was comprised mainly of artisans and labourers. William Dwight, Elton’s great-grandfather was a shoe maker, of Waterside, Chesham. He married Janet Palmer and had one child: Edwin. The surname Dwight is a derivation of DeWitt, which originally comes from the Flemish for white or blond. Therefore, it is likely that some of Elton's earliest ancestors came from the Low Countries, and had blond or fair hair. Previously, this lineage was rooted in the land: William's father James was an agricultural labourer, living and working in Ashley Green, a hamlet in Chesham, throughout the mid-19th century.

Edwin, Elton’s grandfather, was a cable factory worker, who moved to join the cable firm of Callander in Belvedere, Kent. The firm had a name for music boasting a brass band that won many a silver cup and rosette in interfactory competitions. Edwin played soprano cornet in the company’s band. The company also offered good facilities for sport, specially football. Edwin married Ellen Shirley. The Shirley family were also agricultural labourers in the same area, although Ellen's father, George, spent some time making chairs in the 1870s and 1880s before returning to the land by 1891. Edwin and Ellen Dwight had six children: five sons and a daughter. The youngest son, born in 1925, was Elton’s father Stanley. One son, Tod, fell mortally ill with tuberculosis at the age of thirty-four. Two of his sons, Roy and Dave, increased Dwight’s family and regarded Stanley as an elder brother. Stanley, as the rest of the family, was keen at football, and realized that young Roy seemed a better than ordinary player; he’d finally played in the First Division with The Nottingham Forest. Edwin taught his son Stanley to play trumpet. Stanley performed with several local amateur swing bands and grew proficient enough to be asked to sit with classy professional outfits like the Lou Praeger Orchestra.

After leaving grammar school, Stanley had gone to work for a boatbuilding firm named Walkers, in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire and became personal assistant of the owner. The Second World War saw Stanley, at only 17, joinin’ up for the Royal Air Force Naval Reserve. Within only months he was selected for officier-training to fly on bombing missions. He also formed his own band in the service under the name of “Star Wight”. One night in 1942, he met Sheila Harris, she was delivering milk for the United Dairires company, as a wartime job.

Despite Stanley's chosen career, it was Sheila's side of the family that had earlier military connections. Her father, Frederick George Harris, served as a soldier and was still enlisted at the time of his marriage to Ivy White in 1921. Aged 22, he had escaped the worst ravages of the First World War and by the time his daughter was born, four years later, he had taken up the somewhat less stressful job of tennis groundsman at a club near the family home in Meeting House Lane, Peckham. Ivy's background, in contrast, is shrouded in mystery. She was born in the workhouse on New Year's Eve, 1899, and had two birth certificates dated 12 days apart. It appears that her father, a merchant seaman, abandoned her and her mother at the dawn of a new century, and this was something Ivy never forgot or forgave. On her marriage certificate, she renounced her real father and put down the name of her step-father, Robert Whatling, instead.

The Harris family home was 55 Pinner Hill Road, a semidetached council house in the row just south of the Victorian clock tower which looks over Metroland. Sheila Harris, Elton’s mum, joined the ATS, working as a clerk at Coastal Command’s complex at Northwood in Middlesex. She married Stanley at Pinner Parish Church in January 1945, when she was only 19, and Stanley, 20. They moved with Sheila’s parents at 55 Pinner Hill Road, because finding an own place in those postwar years was really a problem and, also, Stanley’s service duties frequently took him away from home, leaving Sheila with her parents, a younger sister, Win, and her brother, Reg.

Sheila, now pregnant, didn’t like Stanley’s frequent abscences and they thought seriously of leaving RAF and returning to his former job at Walkers, but discarted for the lower paid. By 1947, when the son was born, he had become a flight Lieutenant. It was well-known in the family that Sheila had really hoping for a girl but baby Reg nearly granted her wish. The baby possessed innmunerable changes of outfit and a Shirley Temple massed golden curls. In 1949 Stanley received a two-year posting to Basra, Iraq, and Sheila elected to remain in England. For their first Christmas apart, Stanley arranged a deliver of an expensive pedal car to Reg. With his father away, Reg lived in an almost wholly femenine atmosphere until he was four.

In 1953, Stanley was promoted to Squadron-leader and posted as service suply office to Lyman, Wiltshire. They moved to a four-bedroom house provided by RAF but that didn’t suit Sheila, and within a shorter time, returned back to Pinner. Stanley was a strict, old-fashioned parent, requiring the same order and discipline in his home as he did as a senior supply officer. Sheila, overprotected him, not allowed to run riot with other children, playing in the garden by himself. Reg loving family circle comprises his nan Ivy, his uncle Reg and two cousins, Joan and Cath, and auntie Win with her child Paul. For the Dwights, his grandparents, still living in Beldevere, Kent, delightin’ them by his skills on the piano.

Like his father, Reg became a passionate supporter of Pinners’ local team, Watford FC. He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School and then left for GCE A Level examinations for the career in music industry. The first thing Helen Piena, piano’s sub-professor, noticed was his astounding natural ear: “I remember once playing him a prelude by Handel four pages long, as soon as I’d finished, he played it straight back to me just like a gramphone”. She remembers him as a model pupil, hard-working, punctilious and polite: “he’d send me letters with kisses at the bottom” she said. But one Saturday, Reg told her that he might have to give up his scholarship at the Royal Academy for the divorce of his parents.

Sheila had met a local builder and decorator named Fred Farebrother during the war. Stanley quickly married his new love, Edna, and had four sons with her in rapid succession. He was quick to reassure Reg that there was no question of his leaving the Royal Academy and that he could still have his piano. Reg chose to live with his mum, he was only 15: “My father never came to hear me play. Not ever,” said Elton. “He was a tough and unemotional man. Hard. In the RAF. He was dismissive, disappointed and finally absent. I just wanted him to acknowledge what I’d done. But he never did,” he added. Stanley had wanted his son to have a more conventional career and steered him towards banking. Elton said it was their shared love of football that enabled them to "make peace" at last, before Stanley's death in 1992: "I made my peace with my father in the end. We were still awkward with each other. That awkwardness never goes. But he was very proud of me in the end and I was the chairman of Watford, so when I went up to Liverpool and watched Liverpool and Watford, or Everton and Watford, he used to come. (...) I didn't hate my father. I was afraid of him because he was a very strict disciplinarian and he didn't approve of me doing what I did at all."

Reg’s stepfather Fred was more like and elder brother, enthusiastic about pop music and unfailingly amused when Reg addressed him as his name spelt backwards “Derf”. They moved to Frome Court, one of the colonies of maisonettes on the long road between Pinner and Northwood Hills. With the help of Sheila and "Derf", Reg became a weekend pianist at the nearby Northwood Hills pub, playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. He played everything from Jim Reeves country songs "He'll Have to Go" to Irish tribute numbers "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", old pub favourites such as, "Roll Out The Barrel", hits of the day, "King of the Road", and songs he had written himself. He received a modest, steady income and substantial tips. "During that whole period, I don't think I ever missed a gig", he said later. A stint with a short-lived group called the Corvettes rounded out his time. The Corvettes, name inspired by the Chevy Sport car driven by two American TV heroes on the Route 66 serie, played a mixture of blues and rock’n’roll. Founders were Stuart Brown and Geoff Dyson, but they disbanded after a few unspectacular months.

Reg efforts at the Royal Academy, his classical trainer, his love to rock’n’roll and pop music, his involvement at a more succesful group, Bluesology, and finally, the New Musical Express advertisement, let Reg to fulfill his dreams, with a Lincolnshire local poet called Bernard Taupin. Changin’ his name for Elton and John, “Reggie Jackson” could sounded different he said, he started to go straight at his yellow brick road of success. The roots, for sure, influences our personality. After all, no one could discuss Elton’s love for music could come for a long time ago family member who played the trumpet. And without Elton’s mother love for rock’n’roll music, this legend never could have been the same. It’s funny enough to see how Elton’s passionate of shoes could start with an old family branch of shoe makers, the unforgettable glasses coming from a “desmesurado” love for a Buddy Holly’s look alike, and, maybe, only maybe, his outrageous costumes for his various change of outfits in his childhood. Genuine Elton. Happy Birthday, Sir Elton.

Sources:
Sir Elton, Philip Norman
Family detective: Elton John, Nick Barratt, 26 Nov 2006, Telegraph family history
I'm so proud of Elton ... but I can't forgive him for missing our, David Powles, 23 Jan 2000, Sunday Mirror

Illustratin' Elton: The Weekend Of Jason Seiler

Welcome Eltonites to "The Weekend Of...". This is a very special weekend for the blogsite. February is the month of cartoonin', illustratin', paintin', portraitin', drawin', well, everything, related to Elton, obviously. We had great artists here, from Brazil, from France, Italy, Australia. I thought about inviting someone to the weekend, someone very special. He's one of the most talented guys I've ever seen. He's so young, but he has good experience in his profession. He also teaches. Most of you know him for his covers, his artworks. Extremely talented and gifted, his illustrations have been featured as covers and interior pieces for TIME, Business Week, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, MAD magazine, GOLF magazine, KING magazine, Revolver, Guitar Player, The Village Voice, Penguin Group, Disney, The New York Observer, D Magazine, The Bloomberg Market, New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures, Aardman Animation, and Sony Image, among a long list. Ladies and gentlemen, the doors of AllSongsList are all wide open to receive the fantastic, incredible, the genious... Jason Seiler!!!

First of all thank you very much for your valuable time to give us for this interview. Let’s start. How did you become an illustrator? How you started your career?

I have been drawing my whole life and have been serious about it as long as I can remember. I never had a set plan as to what I was going to do with my art. All I knew is that I wanted to be an artist, that I wanted to draw and paint every day until the day I die. I have always been good at drawing people and eventually I started drawing caricatures between the ages of 10 and 12. As I got older I started doing small commissions for people, drawing wedding and birthday gifts, retirement gifts and so on. But what I really wanted to do was illustrate for magazines. I began by sending my work to little publications that know one ever heard of, and eventually a few of them started hiring me for covers and inside illustrations. As time went on I got better and better, and the jobs got better and better. My career is built on one job leading to another. I never know where or who the next job will be for, but so far the jobs keep on coming in, and thankfully, I'm always booked.

Great! Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?

Yeah, well sort of. I collected Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. I read some of them, but mostly I collected them for the art. I would copy page after page. My parents have sketch books of mine that are filled with Batman and Spider-man, they were my favorite for sure.

Right! What is your main source of inspiration? Do you have some favorite character? When designing a character, do you do a lot of research first?

I don't really have a main source of inspiration. I'm inspired by artists, such as, James Jean, Jeremy Geddes, Sean Cheatham, Sam Weber, John Singer Sargent, Richard Schmid, Lucean Freud, Jenny Saville and much more. I'm not inspired by caricature art. There are caricature artists who I think are good, but for me there's much more to what I do than just caricature. As far as designing characters, and researching, yes, if I'm designing a character or caricature, I will gather as much reference as I can and from there I usually do quite a few sketches before settling on a final design.

Once you said: “Caricature is not only about how much you can exaggerate a person, there’s so much more to it than that”. What’s your definition of a perfect caricature?

I'm not sure if there is a "perfect" caricature? There are so many ways that the same person can be drawn. I think what makes a caricature great is if the artist has captured the person's character. I feel this is more important than how much the artist has exaggerated the person's features. If you look at a caricature and it "feels" like the person, than I think you can call that a successful caricature.

How important are the sketches in you work? You released a DVD talking about the importance of sketching as a means of practice and preparation for finished works.

It's very important. I don't do tons of sketching for every job that I work on, but the more you can sketch and experiment, the stronger the final will be. Sketching is like working out, like preparing for a marathon. Knowing how to paint and finish an illustration is of course important, but if the foundation is weak, then what's the point? So, focusing your energy on the sketching is key to having solid finished pieces.

Perfect! What hardware and software you prefer for your painting work, in case you do? Or you prefer the traditional way?

Well, I prefer painting traditionally but most of my work these days is done digitally. I love painting in oils, acrylics and watercolors. Painting digitally helps me meet deadlines, and it's also easier to make adjustments or changes if needed. For my digital work, I use Photoshop mostly using the paint brush tool. I work on a 21" Cintiq made by Wacom.

You are an instructor of a correspondence course on schoolism.com. How it works?

I have 9 lessons which are each 2 hours in length, pre-recorded. The students are given an assignment with every lesson. Once they're finished with their homework, they upload it to the Schoolism site along with any questions or comments that they may have. I download their homework and comments and record a personalized critique for each student. I will draw and paint on top of their work sharing with them my opinions and techniques. If the students work hard, they'll leave the course much better artists. It's encouraging and exciting to see students growing before my eyes. I take on anyone who wants to learn, beginners to seasoned professionals. Currently, one of my students is in his 70's and he's amazing too, one of my best students! My next class starts February 18th, check out
http://www.schoolism.com for more info.

Fantastic job! How did you fall into the world of Wonderland and Tim Burton? And how did you adapt to his style?

My friends Bobby Chiu and Kei Acedera at Imaginism Studios were hired to work as character designers on the film. They asked if I wanted to help out and so I did. It was a great experience and was very exciting to see characters that I worked on alive on the big screen. I didn't try to adapt to Tim Burton's style, I just did what I felt would fit the feeling of the story. There were a few designs already finished that were really nice, so I think those pieces probably influenced style a bit too? I did a few designs of my own, but mostly what I did was give life to sketches that Bobby did. I would get a sketch that was good, but basic, no real detail or anyhthing and from there I would paint it. I was given total freedom to take it where I wanted. Bobby and I designed the Tweedles and for their look, I was influenced by the evil twins in "The Shining" as well as by kids that I saw a park that I took my daughter too. There were these kids with thin transparent skin; you could see blue veins, I took a mental note of how cool that looked and as soon as I was in my studio next, I painted blue veins on my tweedle character. It was cool sitting in the movie theatre and seeing the blue veins on their foreheads, and knowing where the idea originally came from brought a smile to my face.

Sure! How do you promote your work?

I don't do much for promotion. I try to post regularly on my blog and I enter all the major competitions. The most important thing that I do is work hard. Never miss a deadline and always put in 150% into what you do. Make sure you're workable that you're a pleasure to work with.

I really like your official website, specially the Portofolio and the store section. Could you explain us, please, what we fans could find there? That’s on www.jasonseiler.com

Sure. In my portfolio section, I have a nice collection of my favorite pieces, some from publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone to name a few. And others that I have done for myself, or for self promotion. I also have a sketches section which I feel is great for art directors, they always like to see an artists sketches. I have a character design section which features work that I did for Alice in Wonderland. I also have a "case study" section which shares some of my technique and thought process. In the store section you can order my first book, "Caricature, the Art of Jason Seiler" and my second book, "SEILER 2008-2009" as well as my first DVD, "Sketching with Jason Seiler". If everything works out how I'd like it to, I am planning on having two more DVD's out this next year.

Wow, fantastic!!! Do you have any recent favorite projects or anything coming up you’re excited about?

I am working on a book that I can't say much about at this time because I want to keep it secret. What I can say now is that it will be nothing you would expect. I'm pushing myself, trying to create something really special, almost re-inventing myself if you will. But no worries, it will still be 100% SEILER. I'm currently working on concept designs for costumes for Kung Fu Panda on Broadway. It's great to work on and I hope it get's picked up so I can continue to work on it. As mentioned earlier, I'm planning on putting out two more DVD's this year. I'm also working on new techniques for my illustrations. I'm trying to develop and expand my portfolio, adding more non-caricature work, more portraits, I think you'll like what I'm working on? Right now I'm developing ideas in my sketch book and once I have what I want worked out, I'll begin to add these new pieces to my portfolio. I recently painted Donald Trump for the cover of a well known magazine. I can't say much more at this time, but it will be on news stands and in book stores in about a week. I'm very excited about this cover as I believe it's one of my best pieces yet. What's even more exciting for me is that I know Donald Trump will see it. I wish I could see his face when he see's it!

Let’s see! I am absolutely impressed about your Elton’s cartoon with Leon. How difficult it is to caricaturate Elton?

Thank you. Well, it's actually not difficult to caricature him, but this particular piece is not a caricature. Rolling Stone wanted a realistic portrait. I'm used to seeing Elton John with crazier hair and glasses, but for this, they wanted him to look a certain way and actually provided me with their own references which they wanted me to paint from. I was told that the owner of Rolling Stone and Elton are good friends, so I felt a lot of pressure to really get this piece right. I was relieved when I heard that everyone at Rolling Stone loved the painting. I love working for Rolling Stone, I'm really into music, so painting musicians for the biggest music magazine is a perfect and exciting fit for me.

Could we define you as an eltonite? In case, what fascinates you most about Elton John?

UM? Well? I'm not really that into Elton John to be honest. I do like some of his older music, and I think he's insanely talented. As a person, Elton is a great guy, I know he does a lot of good for a lot of people and I think that is awesome, but as far as music goes, I'm more of a Muddy Waters, Rollingstones guy. :)

Hahaha ok! But could you tell me your five favourite Elton's songs in running order, for my AllSongsList? Thank you.

Sorry, don't really know what they would be, but I do like "Crocodile Rock", that's a great song!

Would you want to add some observation or suggestion, or something you want to say to eltonites?

Not sure? Let me think . . . . . OK, I got it. Long live Sir Elton and long live the Eltonites and while I'm at it, long live the Beach Club at Jimmy Johns, because that is a damn good sandwich!

Thanks so much, Jason, you've been so kind with us eltonites. You are acknowledged for your determination and your fearlessness for hard work, for honestly assessing your work where it is, where it needs to go. For this undying hope that all such efforts in the end pay off. Go on with your great work, I wish you all the best in life and be ready for the surprise. Old Rabbit have someone here...

pictures courtesy by Jason Seiler

More info: http://www.richardsolomon.com
http://www.jasonseiler.com
http://www.jasonseilerillustration.blogspot.com

Like Father, Like Son: Larry and Jason

Jason reminds "Every time I get together with my Dad, I try to get out of him as much as I can. I love painting with him, but I love watching him paint even more". His dad, Larry is an art instructor, workshop painting teacher, has written a 307 page book on painting landscapes, "The Art of Seeing & Doing"... numerous videos on YouTube demonstrating painting, a DVD on painting a waterfalls, and moderating eight forums on a virtual artist's community of over 120,000 artists... Wetcanvas.com. "I have been painting professionally for over 30 years now, the first 17 years I was more career driven with reputation in the wildlife art genre. My renaissance from 20 years in studio came after taking my paints outdoors. Several things happened- I saw color as only an artist can see (painting being the deeper way of seeing)" explains Larry.

Thanks Larry. We invite you as our special guest for the Jason' Weekend Of... as a kinda surprise for him. Just with the pretention to make him smile.

What about Jason?

Jason, and his younger brother were introduced to the concepts of hard work, a work ethic quite young in life... six & nine years of age helping with yard work, filleting fish, tossing wood I cut and split down the shoot for our woodburning stove. They saw me put in a day's work teaching art, followed with many late nights in my studio painting or wood carving. Jason used to frequently sit at the kitchen table and sketch birds landing upon a feeder just outside the window. He sketched many things, super heroes, Star Wars characters... but always drawing.

About his talent?

So many people tend to think the secret behind such talent, is to have a special calling out or privilege to be given a talent, perhaps by Providence or God... or to some's thinking, the chance of good fortune or luck. There may be a propensity to have a greater desire and thus clarity of understanding with someone that develops a talent early, but for many artists of Jason's stature... writing his work off (so-to-speak) as a tribute to talent is somewhat akin to insulting.

I know speaking for myself as an artist, folks at exhibitions of my work might say, "oh...it must be so nice to be born with such talent!" and the sound of it is something like nails running across a blackboard. When someone says such to me, I envision a person that easily gave up on things when found frustrated and challenged. Much easier then to simply lay a mantle of a special gifting upon that indivdual called the "artist" than look in the mirror and confess one has not the patience nor the will to live the life of sacrifice and hard work required.

As with all my art students, I work to eradicate such notions... and grow a vision of what is possible if one is only will to work very hard, focused as if on a mission. That all things are possible... to be found alive, filled with a mission for such a time as this.

I know my son's talent, and it is an incredible talent he possesses, but I know firsthand his commitment to work, to sleeplessness. An never ending, never quick to be satisfied quest to improve, to learn, to push. Some see Jason's work, and think he has arrived. He sees his work quite differently... believing we have not yet seen the best to come. It would be very hard for someone in their adult years to decide suddenly, "I want to paint like Jason" for they would have to somehow return to the age of seven and start where Jason started. The credit I should like to see granted to my artist/son is that he has believed in himself enough to invest time and the effort to do whatever it would take to succeed and become one of the best. Minute by minute, hour by hour there is hardly one that works more disciplined that Jason at those things which should catapult and gurantee one's success in the arts. When one invests time with mundane activities like endless television, pining away socially... one is demonstrating lacking vision of one's potential, and certainly the lack of value in one's calling out.

The future?

Now... as I myself get older, I see that it becomes my son's turn to encourage and push his father. As I feel the effects of gravity take its toil over my own flesh, my eyes beginning to fail me, and my sense of time running out with the inevitable discouragement that follows, I find in my son a young man, an artist... who refuses to quit believing not only in himself, but also in the me; priming and pumping me to never quit... to keep pushing. The faith and knowing I held for him, now found to be returning. Its funny how things in life seem to run and come about full circle.

Thanks so much for accepting the invitation on the Jason Seiler's Weekend.

More info: www.larryseiler.blogspot.com

Portraitin' Elton

In the Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Greek and especially Roman sculpture, celebrity sitters demanded individualized and realistic portraits, just a way to become immortals. But it was the Renaissance, the period which the genre of painted portraiture flourished above all, becaming the most expression of art. Modern times found photography as an expression of portraits, and it's the most popular and faster action in taking portraits. But photography is not a replacement for drawing and painting. There are severals artists out there very good in painting genre. Searching how many portraits of Elton could it be out there, the list is endless. So Jack Rabbit made a first selection of those artists with their artworks. Just enjoy them and take time to meet them

Giselle

In the south-western shadow of Mount Tamborine, Gold Coast Hinterland, the gateway to National Park rainforests and some fabulous wineries, emerges a true Australian artist. "Paintings are ranging from stylish decadent acrylic art-deco to bold watercolours, and anything inbetween" she reads. Giselle has been an artist all her life and now inspires creativity in others. She uses intuitive teaching techniques, including "alpha brain wave music", to coax out the creative side of her students. "Gallery Giselle" is her real brick and mortar gallery and studio, as well as a comprehensive art information web-site. The "Sir Elton John" portrait is an acrylic by Giselle, a canvas sized 46cm x 61cm. "Creativity is life in action, without it, there would be nothing new - ever...." she concludes.

More info on: www.gallerygiselle.com

Tekkamaki

"Artworks are an infinite solitude. There is nothing worse than to address critical. Only love can grasp them, keep them and be fair to them" she explains. It's very strange to find a faster career than hers: only two years. "A way to find a new sense of life", as she likes to explain. Originally from France, Tekkamaki only paints what she feels: "just a self-taught artist". Her style leaves no one indifferent and she made a name in the best and well-known french galleries, until the first exposition in ArteNimes, before reaching Paris. "Elton's portrait? oh, it's not quite difficult to do, drawing his music... it makes itself. Do not worry about technique. I only paint what I feel ... the rhythm of the music :-))" she asserts.

More info: http://www.artmajeur.com/tekkamaki/

Vividec

Vivi De Candido, Vividec, a swiss living in Tuscany. Someone who declares "I'm a "Portraits-adict!". And so she is. And endless list of celebrities' portraits, including Elton, of course. "To draw Elton? ... well, the secret is to "study" a face before you draw it. You have to identify the very special and unique features of a face. In Elton's case it's the gap between his front teeth and his smile..." explains Vividec. "I chose that photo of little Elton (I think he's about 9 years old) because of the unique features I mentioned before that make him easily recognizable". Yes, without question. "If being an eltonite means loving his music and his performances throughout all these years, than, YES, you can call me so!" she says. Welcome to the club.

More info: vividec@hotmail.it

portraits courtesy by their authors

Caricaturing Elton: Eduardo Baptistão

The word caricature comes from an Italian verb caricare that means "to load", "burden", or "exaggerate", so that it means exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics. Leonardo Da Vinci drew caricatures. So did Monet, and Daumier. In the United States in the years after World War I, caricature enjoyed its Golden Age. Although the political cartoon still remains popular, the art form also become fun, colorful, and complimentary. The most important celebrities of the world has been caricatured becoming an art growing in demand, specially in magazines and, also, in newspapers. Elton didn't escape from being caricatured and there are several artworks about him floating around the world. "The Weekend Of..." is dedicated to some of those who succeed in their work becoming legends of this art.

Our guest this weekend is well known. His works are so excellent, and so many people like them. He has worked as an illustrator for the Estadão newspaper since 1991 and for Jornal da Tarde since 2003. He is also a collaborator of the Carta Capital Magazine since 1995. His spectacular illustration of soccer star Ronaldhino a few months before the 2006 World Cup in Germany won an excellence in Journalism Awards in the cartoon category in 2007. Ladies and gentlemen, the doors of AllSongsList are all wide-open to dedicate the Weekend to... Eduardo Baptistão.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1966, he has a degree in Publicity and Marketing. He has worked as an illustrator in the press market since 1985 when he published his first work in the "Folha de São Paulo" newspaper. He has cooperated with many publications like "GloboCiência", "GloboEcologia", "Imprensa", "Vogue", "Bundas", "República", "Quem", "Sexy", "Playboy", "Veja", "Placar", "Voce S/A" among others. He has also done illustrations and covers for books and CDs, and he is so kind to share his time with us.

Hi, Eduardo, thanks so much for being here, it's really an honour to have you here. How did you become a caricaturist? How you started your career?

Since I was child, I’ve always liked to draw person’s portraits. Because my talent for drawing, I tried to work as an illustrator. Specially after start to work at O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, in 1991, I started to enjoy caricatures, that were the portraits that I always used to draw, but with a very personal and peculiar distortion.

Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?

I read comics a lot when I was a child. Later, I gave up this habit. My favourite stories were Captain America’s one.

Wow! And what is your main source of inspiration? Do you have some favorite character?

My main inspiration is the own pleasure for drawing. As I work mainly for the press and editorial market, the great majority of my drawings are ordered. I have special pleasure for drawing artists of Brazilian Popular Music.

What’s the essence of caricature, exaggeration? Not Distortion? Some caricaturists can stretch the exaggeration to extremes, while others gently create kind cartoon portraits. Which is your style?

More than the distortion or the exaggeration, I search the elegance of the forms. The distortion can be lither or more exaggerated, it depends on the context.

Right! What is the key point to capture the characters’ characteristics do you think?

The ideal is to try to capture the character’s personality, through the gestures or expressions. Surely, this is more or less possible in the proportion we know more or less about the character.

There’s the traditional painting tools, such as pencils, watercolor, for one side, and modern digital painting tools, Photoshop or other painting software for example. Which way do you prefer?

I like to work as with color pencils as with Photoshop. The choice of the technique depends on the destination of the drawing and how I imagine it. But I think the traditional techniques are more beautiful and spontaneous.

Would you have any objection to being caricatured if that would happen?

On the contrary. I receive caricatures from everywhere, and I always enjoy them a lot.

Hahaha Great!! I am absolutely impressed about your Elton’s cartoon. How difficult it is to caricaturate Elton?

It wasn’t very easy to caricature Elton. It’s not always that we can identify where the difficulty is. The fact is that some persons are easier to caricature than others, and we only note it when we start to try drawing it.

Could we define you as an eltonite? What fascinates you most about Elton John?

I’m not a fan, properly. I like some songs very much, mainly of the 70’s, because of the affective memories. They are songs that I heard when I was a child. I confess I don’t follow his recent works. But he is a singer and composer that I like very much. He has very beautiful melodies. I love music, I am an amateur musician. I prefer Brazilian music, but Elton is one of the international artists that I most appreciate.

And could you tell me your five favourite Elton's songs in running order, for my AllSongsList? Thank you.

1 – Bennie and the Jets
2 – Skyline pigeon
3 – Rocket man
4 – Goodbye yellow brick road
5 – Your song

It’s important to say I have been studying English, but I still understand just some words of the lyrics. I’ve always liked that songs by the melodies, even without understanding all what they say.

That's a way to learn the language, Eduardo. Where we could find your works? And also, what other projects do you have for the future?

Well, here in Brazil my works are regularly published at O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper and at the magazines Veja, Carta Capital and Você S/A. I also have a blog that works as a virtual portfile: http://baptistao.zip.net. My eternal project is to publish a book with a collection of my caricatures. I hope to get it someday.

Oh, that's really expected!!! Would you want to add some observation or suggestion, or something you want to say to other eltonites?

I am very happy by your invitation, because I have a big affinity with Elton John. His songs are part of my history. Here I send a big hug to all eltonites around the world.

Thanks so much Eduardo. It's been a priviledge for me to have you here. Keep going with your great work, your success. I wish you all the best in life. You're really a talented person and, also, a very beatiful human kind. God bless you.

All pictures courtesy by Eduardo Baptistão.

Cartooning Elton / Animated Elton

Video Clip
Club At The End Of The Street

“As soon I saw (it) I knew the flavor of the lyric screamed the 50’s and 60s, so the first thing that came to mind was “At The Club” by The Drifters, I loved all those sort of records I grew up with” declared Elton John on the Billboard Magazine Tribute in 1997. The song describes a night on the town between two lovers at a disclosed nightclub. John also describes about the music of Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye being played. Surprisingly the video was animated, due to Elton's involvement with the family of AIDS victim Ryan White: the record company demanded a video, but Elton was dedicated to spending time with Ryan. It was produced by Animation City, an animation company in London, England, and directed by Derek Hayes.

South Park
"Chef Aid"

Aired on October, 7, 1998, Season 2, Episode 14. Alanis Morrisette has recorded a hit single with "Stinky Britches," a song that Chef wrote twenty years ago. When he asks for songwriting credit, the record company sues him for copyright infringement. They hire Johnny Cochran and win, now Chef owes them two million dollars. He refuses to raise money for the suit; instead Chef tries to raise two million to hire Cochran for his appeal. Meanwhile the boys put on a concert "Chef Aid," to raise the money, to their surprise, various famous rock stars, like Elton or Meat Loaf, turn up.

The Simpons'
"I Am With Cupide"

Aired on February 14, 1999, during the tenth season, Elton John has a cameo, as Apu's valentines to his wife, when he holds a private concert for them. "My gift is my song, and this one is from Apu" he sings.

Apu decides to show how much he loves his wife, Mamjula, by giving her a romantic surprise every day leading up to Valentine's Day, what make the rest of Springfield's men pale in comparison. And neither the men nor the women like it. Homer puts together a team of men to stop Apu. On Valentine's Day they follow Apu to the airport. When they see Elton John, they think Apu has hired him to serenade Manjula, and they lock him in a dog carrier.

Celebrity Deathmatch
"The Laser Pointer"

Aired on thursday, July 29, 1999 on MTV. It consisted in a claymation parody television show that pitted celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. The queen watches as Sir Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne battle. Elton stamps on Ozzy and everyone thinks he's dead. Then Elton attacks the queen so that he can have her crown and be queen, but then Ozzy recovers, and bites off Elton's head and attempted to swallow it. The head failed to go down his throat, so the Queen of England saved Ozzy by giving him the Heimlich Maneuver.

VideoClip
Someday Out Of The Blue

"I write music for everybody. I don't just write for one set of people. I'm always a kid at heart anyway" declared Elton at the premiere of the film, back in 2000. "I'm not a great lover of doing videos, so it was great to spend three or four hours at the piano and the rest of it was done by the animation crew," he said. So the video consists in a DreamWorks animation blending Sir Elton into the movie scenes. Despite The Lion King, with its African feeling, the music on The Road to El Dorado never quite evokes the South America of the film.

Bob The Builder
"A Christmas To Remember"

In the Christmas show, Sir Elton joined Bob on a rendition of "Crocodile Rock". Bob, Wendy, and all of their machines celebrate the holiday season. The story finds Bob's twin brother, Tom, visiting the crew just as Bob's team must build a stage for a Christmas concert by Lennie and the Lazers. A version of the song is featured on "The Album" by Bob The Builder and friends, released in 2001.

Gnomeo And Juliet

After 11 years in the making, Gnomeo and Juliet, the first animated picture released by Elton John's Rocket Pictures, will premiere on Feb 11th. The movie is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which tells the story of forbidden love between two sets of garden gnomes. The movie includes some of Elton's greatest hits, including "Tiny Dancer", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" or "Your Song", and also a selection of new songs that Elton has written with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin. ""Love Builds A Garden" is my favourite song in the film because it's such a dramatic scene and a very wistful scene full of love, and that's the way a garden grows and when love goes the garden just disappears" Elton told STV's Grant Lauchlan, very proud of this song. Nelly Furtado also collaborated in this soudtrack with the single "Crocodile Rock" and Lady Gaga stars on "Hello, Hello". The film score is composed by James Newton-Howard, a former band member.