Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 23 May 1975 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Elton John Greatest Hits1974Rock of the Westies1975studioCaptain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt CowboyElton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.jpgElton John23 May 1975August 1974<ref>10 Things You Need to Know About Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy Template:Webarchive Retrieved 8 April 2018</ref>Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado, Marquee Club Studio, London, England (mixing)* Rock<ref name= "Larkin 1999">Template:Cite book</ref>

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Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by British musician Elton John, released on 23 May 1975<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> by DJM Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US. The album is an autobiographical account of the early musical careers of Elton John (Captain Fantastic) and his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy). An instant commercial success, the album was certified gold before its release, and reached No. 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first album to achieve both honours. It sold 1.4 million copies within four days of release, and stayed in the top position in the chart for seven weeks.<ref name="Murrells 1978">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="billboard.com">"Elton Expands 'Captain Fantastic' With Live Tracks" Template:Webarchive. Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2014</ref>

Though they would all appear on later albums, this was the last album of the 1970s with the original lineup of the Elton John Band (guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson). Until 1983's Too Low for Zero, this was the last album on which Elton John and his classic band played together.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 158 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.<ref name="Rolling Stone">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

History

Written, according to lyricist Bernie Taupin, in chronological order, Captain Fantastic is a concept album that gives an autobiographical glimpse at the struggles John (Captain Fantastic) and Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) had in the early years of their musical careers in London (from 1967 to 1969), leading up to John's eventual breakthrough in 1970. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that would otherwise be rare in John's music. John composed the music on a ship voyage from the UK to New York. The 8 track tape was the first to have the songs in the same order as the LP. This resulted in a fade-out/fade-in in the middle of several songs.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight", the only single released from the album (and a number 4 hit on the US Pop Singles chart), is a semi-autobiographical story about John's disastrous engagement to Linda Woodrow, and his related 1968 suicide attempt. The "Someone" refers to Long John Baldry, who convinced him to break off the engagement<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> rather than ruin his music career for an unhappy marriage. It was viewed by Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau as the best track on the album: "As long as Elton John can bring forth one performance per album on the order of 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight', the chance remains that he will become something more than the great entertainer he already is and go on to make a lasting contribution to rock."<ref name=RS19750717 />

In a 2006 interview with Cameron Crowe, John said, "I've always thought that Captain Fantastic was probably my finest album because it wasn't commercial in any way. We did have songs such as 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight,' which is one of the best songs that Bernie and I have ever written together, but whether a song like that could be a single these days, since it's [more than] six minutes long, is questionable. Captain Fantastic was written from start to finish in running order, as a kind of story about coming to terms with failure—or trying desperately not to be one. We lived that story."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

John, Taupin and the Elton John Band laboured harder and longer on the album than perhaps any previous record they'd ever done to that point. As opposed to the rather quick, almost factory-like process of writing and recording an album in a matter of a few days or at most a couple of weeks (as with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), in August 1974, the team spent the better part of a month off the road at Caribou Ranch Studios working on the recordings.<ref>https://www.eltonjohn.com/stories/captain-fantastic-and-the-brown-dirt-cowboy-inside-the-studio?utm_source=USA+%26+Canada+Rocket+Club&utm_campaign=02961d9662-Captain+Fantastic+OUT+NOW+US+%26+CA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-e3c50797d8-53754712&mc_cid=02961d9662&mc_eid=ed9e6414a0</ref> Producer Gus Dudgeon was apparently also very satisfied with the results. The album's producer was quoted in Elizabeth Rosenthal's His Song, an exhaustive detailed accounting of nearly all John's recorded work, as saying he thought Captain Fantastic was the best the band and John had ever played, lauded their vocal work, and soundly praised John and Taupin's songwriting. "There's not one song on it that falls below incredible," Dudgeon said. <ref> https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/gus-dudgeon/6669</ref>

The album contains an "Easter egg" in the form of lyrics to an unperformed song, "Dogs In The Kitchen," which was included in the Lyrics booklet accompanying the album. According to John's official website, in addition to the album tracks and singles, and the lyric for "Dogs in the Kitchen," the following songs were written but not recorded during the sessions: "You Know Me—Jealousy" (for which Elton and Bernie wrote both music and lyrics), and the instrumentals "Golden Boy" and "Passing Phase."<ref>https://www.eltonjohn.com/stories/captain-fantastic-and-the-brown-dirt-cowboy-inside-the-studio?utm_source=USA+%26+Canada+Rocket+Club&utm_campaign=02961d9662-Captain+Fantastic+OUT+NOW+US+%26+CA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-e3c50797d8-53754712&mc_cid=02961d9662&mc_eid=ed9e6414a0</ref>

Sequel

The 2006 album The Captain & the Kid is the sequel, and continues the autobiography where Captain Fantastic leaves off.

Cover art

The intricate cover art was designed by pop artist Alan Aldridge, drawing fantastic imagery from the Renaissance painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The original LP package also included two booklets; a "Lyrics" booklet and another booklet called "Scraps", which collected photos and snippets of reviews, personal diary entries and other memorabilia of John and Taupin during the years that are chronicled on the album. The original LP also contained a poster of the album's cover.

In 1976, Bally released a Capt. Fantastic pinball machine with artwork by Dave Christensen of Elton John in his "pinball wizard" character from the movie Tommy. In 1977, Bally released a "home model" version with artwork by Alan Aldridge.

Release and critical reception

Template:Music ratings The album reached number 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first ever album to do so, reportedly selling 1.4 million copies within 4 days of release, and it stayed in that position in the chart for seven weeks.<ref name="Murrells 1978"/><ref name="billboard.com"/> It was certified gold based on pre-release orders in early May 1975, two weeks before it was even officially released, and was certified platinum and triple platinum in March 1993 by the RIAA.

In Canada, it also debuted at number 1 on the RPM national Top Albums chart and only broke a run of what would have been fifteen consecutive weeks at the top by falling one position to number 2 in the ninth week (31 May–6 September).<ref>Library and Archives Canada. Top Albums/CDs - Volume 23, No. 14, May 31 1975 Template:Webarchive</ref> On the UK Albums Chart, it peaked at number 2.

Reissues

A deluxe 30th anniversary edition CD was released September 2005, containing the complete album and adding "House of Cards", the B-side to the 7" single of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." Recorded during the sessions for Caribou, "House of Cards" previously only appeared on CD on the 1992 Rare Masters collection.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Also included is a second disc containing the complete album performed live at Wembley Stadium on 21 June 1975.

In September 2005, Elton John and his band again performed the entire album (minus "Tower of Babel" and "Writing") in a series of sold-out concerts in Boston, New York City and the tour's final stop, Atlanta, in October. These "Captain Fantastic Concerts" were a part of the Peachtree Road Tour and were the longest concerts in Elton's career, many lasting three-and-a-half hours. The songs from Captain Fantastic were aired by Capital Gold Radio in a broadcast taken from 16 September 2005 performance in Boston.

"Curtains", among other songs from the album, was sampled in Pnau's 2012 album Good Morning to the Night.

"We All Fall in Love Sometimes" was covered by Jeff Buckley.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> It was also covered by Coldplay for the 2018 tribute album Revamp: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.

A 50th Anniversary edition was released on 24 October 2025, featuring session demos and live recordings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Note: On the original DJM Records CD version, "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" and "Curtains" are both combined into one track, making it a nine-track album. On all other CD versions (MCA Records, Polydor and French label Carrere Records), the two tracks are separated.

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

Musicians

• Elton John – lead vocals, acoustic piano (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10), Fender Rhodes (1, 4, 5, 8), clavinet (4, 6), ARP String Ensemble (5), harmony vocals (7, 8), harpsichord (9, 10), Mellotron (9, 10)
• David Hentschel – ARP synthesizer (9, 10)
• Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar (1, 5–10), electric guitar (1–4, 6, 9, 10), mandolin (1), backing vocals (3, 5–10), Leslie guitar (5)
• Dee Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals (3, 5–10)
• Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals (3, 5–10)
• Ray Cooper – shaker (1, 5, 8), congas (1, 3, 4, 9, 10), gong (1), jawbone (1), tambourine (1–6, 9, 10), bells (3, 9, 10), cymbals (5), triangle (7, 8), bongos (8)
• Gene Page – orchestral arrangements (4)

Wembley Stadium, 21 June 1975

• Elton John – lead vocals, acoustic piano
• James Newton Howard – keyboards
• Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – electric guitar, steel guitar
• Caleb Quaye – electric guitar
• Kenny Passarelli – bass guitar
• Roger Pope – drums
• Ray Cooper – percussion
• Donny Gerrard – backing vocals
• Brian Russell – backing vocals
• Brenda Russell – backing vocals

Production

• Producer – Gus Dudgeon
• Engineer – Jeff Guercio
• Assistant engineer – Mark Guercio
• Remixing – Gus Dudgeon and Phil Dunne
• Remastering – Tony Cousins
• 5.1 Mix - Greg Penny
• Digital transfers – Ricky Graham
• Art direction and graphic conception – David Larkham and Bernie Taupin
• Cover design and illustrations – Alan Aldridge and Harry Willock
• Booklet illustrations – Alan Aldridge and John Hair
• Package design – David Larkham
• Inner sleeve photography – Terry O'Neill
• Booklet photos – Sam Emerson, David Larkham, Anthony Lowe, Michael Ross and Ian Vaughan.
• Liner notes – John Tobler, Paul Gambaccini (Deluxe Edition)

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Template:Awards table |- | style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1976 || rowspan="2"| Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy || Album of the Year<ref name="1970saoty">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Template:Nom |- | Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male<ref name="Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Template:Nom |-

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Charts

Weekly charts

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Chart (1975–1976)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref name="FINchart">Template:Cite book</ref>	10
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Elton John".</ref>	12
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="Jachart">Template:Cite book</ref>	20
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	3

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Chart (2025)	Peak position

Year-end charts

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Chart (1975)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart" />	5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	16
UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="UKYearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	12
US Billboard 200<ref name="USYearend75">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	6

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Chart (1976)	Position

External links

• Template:Discogs master