Elton John-Caribou (1974)
Artist: Elton John
Title: Caribou
Year of Release: 1974
Country and Year of Edition: US 1974 white shell
Sell Price: $2.89
Sell Date: 1/14/25
Condition: VG/VG untested with generic slipcase
Discogs Last Sold: 1/10/24 VG+/VG+ $3.00
Low: $1.99
Median: $2.95
Average: $2.72
High: $3.00
Current low price: $1.50
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 5
Have/Want: 98/41
Where Sold: Annandale, NJ
Time It Took To Sell: 1 month
Where and When Bought: ebay 8-track lot
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B
Sad To See It Go: No
The Elton John catalog was something I always ignored beyond having the first Greatest Hits and a dollar bin copy of Captain Fantastic in the pre-CD era. In the last few years I've picked up various titles from vinyl lots and my recent 8-track obsession. A couple weeks ago I got around to listening to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road for the first time overall on 8-track since it came back refurbished. I had to say on first blush I didn't like that one much outside of the hits "Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting" and "Bennie and the Jets." I felt the same way about Honkey Chateau when I gave the vinyl a spin a few months back.
This leads to a surprise. I always thought Caribou came later in the 70's without really looking at it closely beyond constantly flipping passed it if the used bin didn't give Elton his own section to skip over. I guess it's just the way Elton looks all decked out in his flashy peak popularity style. It has a song on it called "Stinker" and I always assumed Caribou stunk without hearing it. 1974 of course was the year John Lennon got up on stage and did "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" which was a collaborative single that was a huge hit. On Caribou, you can't hear a little of Lennon rubbing off on Elton in a song like "Grimbsy" which is my next favorite track on the album. The song was actually influenced by Randy Newman because he wrote a town tribute song to Cleveland.
The album leads off with "The Bitch Is Back." I recently saw an Austin cowpunk band from the 80's called the Hickoids that included this song in their set. It primed me to enjoy the original. Another track I liked here is Elton's countrified number "Dixie Lily." On the flip side, I never really liked "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I find it to be the worst kind of elevator music ballads. Constantly heard over the years in the background. I don't hate every Elton piano ballad--"Empty Garden" I always liked to hear and even something like "Daniel" I don't mind.
"Solar Prestige A Gammon" and "I've Seen The Saucers" seem a little slight, "Ticking" is a bit better. It reminds me a bit of Dylan's "Lily, Rosemary and The Jack Of Hearts" which came out after this on Blood On The Tracks by a few months. Everybody steals from everybody John Lennon once noted. That one closes out the vinyl AND the 8-tracks otherwise shuffled order.
A pleasant surprise if not overwhelmingly great.
FOR FURTHER REVIEW:
The Wedding Present-Hit Parade 2 (1992)
Guns 'n Roses-G 'n R Lies (1988)
The Hickoids @ Bowery Electric 10/22/24
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