The new Elton John movie Rocketman never pretends to be a traditional biopic. It’s a fantasy musical told from the perspective of a burned-out, drug-addled Elton reflecting on his wild life from a rehab facility in the early 1990s. Characters frequently burst into elaborately choreographed song and dance routines, songs are played long before he wrote them, the timeline is off much of the time and facts are disregarded in favor of creating a compelling narrative and capturing the emotional truth of Elton’s life.
“What I care about...
“What I care about...
- 6/1/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Elton John is one of the biggest names in music, but of course, Elton John’s name wasn’t always Elton John. He was born Reginald Dwight, and the biopic “Rocketman” suggests that Dwight got his stage name from his bandmate Elton Dean and Beatles singer John Lennon.
Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. In an interview for his CD box set “To Be Continued…” (1990), John explained where he got the idea for his stage name.
“I was in Bluesology, and we were coming back from a Long John Baldry gig somewhere, and we got a bus from London airport to London and someone said, ‘We’ve made it now, so what are you going to call yourself?'” he explained. “The saxophone player in the band was called Elton Dean, a very good jazz sax player, and the only other Elton I could think of was Elton Hayes,...
Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. In an interview for his CD box set “To Be Continued…” (1990), John explained where he got the idea for his stage name.
“I was in Bluesology, and we were coming back from a Long John Baldry gig somewhere, and we got a bus from London airport to London and someone said, ‘We’ve made it now, so what are you going to call yourself?'” he explained. “The saxophone player in the band was called Elton Dean, a very good jazz sax player, and the only other Elton I could think of was Elton Hayes,...
- 5/31/2019
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Elton John is such an icon, it's easy to forget that his birth name is something entirely different. But his biopic Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton, reminded us that he actually changed his moniker early on his career. So what's the story? Who was he before Elton John (and before Sir Elton John)?
The backstory is quite simple, actually. The 72-year-old musician was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, and he kept that name while he was a pianist for the '60s band Bluesology. However, as he was preparing to embark on a solo career, he realized he'd have to change his name to something more interesting.
In a 2002 interview on CNN's Larry King Live, the singer explained how the title switch came to be. "I was making a record, and I had to choose a name, because they said, 'You can't make a record under the name of Reg Dwight,...
The backstory is quite simple, actually. The 72-year-old musician was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, and he kept that name while he was a pianist for the '60s band Bluesology. However, as he was preparing to embark on a solo career, he realized he'd have to change his name to something more interesting.
In a 2002 interview on CNN's Larry King Live, the singer explained how the title switch came to be. "I was making a record, and I had to choose a name, because they said, 'You can't make a record under the name of Reg Dwight,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Brea Cubit
- Popsugar.com
With some bands it’s a little difficult to understand how they started or how they got their names. Some of them are straightforward and not at all difficult to understand while some are based off of personal preferences of band members or something else that people never really knew. Here are several that you might not have known about. Elton John As a musical legend Elton John still has a lot of people thinking that this is real name. His real name is Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He took his stage name from the combination of Elton Dean and Long John
15 Cool Origins of Famous Rock and Roll Bands...
15 Cool Origins of Famous Rock and Roll Bands...
- 7/4/2018
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Sex Mob: Cinema, Circus & Spaghetti: Sex Mob Plays Fellini: The Music of Nino Rota (Royal Potato Family)
Call me crazy, but I feel a connection between Rota's themes for Fellini's films and the melodic styles of Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman. Granted, what each did once past their respective themes became wildly different, with Rota never abandoning harmony, Ornette twisting it in new directions, and Ayler abandoning it altogether, but before that happens, their themes share an effulgent earthiness and overflowing humanity. And who better to bring out the jazz side of that earthy humanity than the great recontextualizer Steve Bernstein and his longstanding quartet with Briggan Krauss (alto and baritone saxes), Tony Scherr (electric bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums, gongs, log drum, waterphone, vibraphone).
Bernstein's slide trumpet in particular has the microtonal relationship with pitch that Ayler and Coleman each cherished to varying degrees, including a wide...
Call me crazy, but I feel a connection between Rota's themes for Fellini's films and the melodic styles of Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman. Granted, what each did once past their respective themes became wildly different, with Rota never abandoning harmony, Ornette twisting it in new directions, and Ayler abandoning it altogether, but before that happens, their themes share an effulgent earthiness and overflowing humanity. And who better to bring out the jazz side of that earthy humanity than the great recontextualizer Steve Bernstein and his longstanding quartet with Briggan Krauss (alto and baritone saxes), Tony Scherr (electric bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums, gongs, log drum, waterphone, vibraphone).
Bernstein's slide trumpet in particular has the microtonal relationship with pitch that Ayler and Coleman each cherished to varying degrees, including a wide...
- 7/2/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
From Tori Amos's dad chaperoning her at her first paid gig, to Don Letts DJing with only one deck, a host of stars recall the formative moments that kicked off their careers
The first time I was paid to play live Tori Amos
I'd been kicked out of the Peabody conservatory in Baltimore at the age of 11 and lost my scholarship because I wasn't Peabody stock any more. I had real issues that they weren't teaching contemporary composers. They said the Beatles would be gone and dead within 30 years, and no one would care. It was 1974, I was 11, and it was good to be right! My minister father was really distraught. He had these dreams of me being a concert pianist and then going into religious music. I just looked and him and said: "Dad, this music is just not moving me." He said: "Well, if you're going to go into that world,...
The first time I was paid to play live Tori Amos
I'd been kicked out of the Peabody conservatory in Baltimore at the age of 11 and lost my scholarship because I wasn't Peabody stock any more. I had real issues that they weren't teaching contemporary composers. They said the Beatles would be gone and dead within 30 years, and no one would care. It was 1974, I was 11, and it was good to be right! My minister father was really distraught. He had these dreams of me being a concert pianist and then going into religious music. I just looked and him and said: "Dad, this music is just not moving me." He said: "Well, if you're going to go into that world,...
- 1/13/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
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