This Is Your Song: The Elton John Interview
Vancouver, April 22, 1971
By Mike Quigley, Tracey Lee Hearst & Rick McGrath
Rick:
What do you think of all this [flack cocktail party routine] ... doing this
kind of stuff?
Elton: I'm used to it, believe me, I'm used to it. First time I came
over to Los Angeles when it all sort of happened, as I said before I just met
so many people like this. I'm immune to it now. I go through it all with all
"Oh well, it must be done," and that's it. I really couldn't come
down here and say fuck off ... it's not me. We've been through this
before, in the interview before, that if I was a Mick Jagger person I'd just
come down here and tell everyone to piss off, but that's not me. I can't do it.
They're a necessary evil, I think.
Rick: How much are we going to overlap here? What did you go through
before?
Elton: We went through a variety of things. Television programs. How
Bernie and I got together, which is a stock question on all these meetings.
Mike: So we won't ask you...
Elton: We just went through a lot of things. It was quite thorough. It
was quite good actually. I just said I wish somebody would attack me, as I
thought you might be a good person to attack me.
Mike: Oh really? Why?
Elton: Well, as I was saying ... everyone's so nice to me, usually. A
young college kid came into New York and I hadn't met him and I was doing this
college thing and he said, "I think your music's rubbish," and I
really quite appreciated that. We fought hammer and nail through the whole hour
and a half that I spoke to him, and he ended up going out and buying a couple
of my albums ... no, it wasn't like that. People write about me in print but
they never have the nerve to say it in front of my face. If they really have
any genuine feelings, they should tell me, because I respect their points of
view.
Mike: OK, on your latest album, which I reviewed this week...
Elton: Friends ... it's not my "latest album." It's a
film soundtrack album which we contracted to do before Elton John was
ever released. As a film soundtrack album, I think it's probably the best film
soundtrack album ever released. Put that down in print.
Mike: (laughs) Do you think it represents you, though?
Elton: Yes ... no, it represents what we had to write for the film. The
whole story behind the film was they contracted us to do three songs. There's
two bits in the film where they have a tape recorder sequence for 20 seconds or
whatever it was, where everyone's leaping up and down, and a radio sequence for
30 seconds, and they said "You're going to have to write two songs that
last for 20 and 30 seconds, and put them on the album." I thought well
that's ridiculous. Bernie and I said, "We can't do that," so they
said, "We want three songs -- the title song". They were going to
call the movie The Intimate Game, and Bernie and I said "No, we
will not write any songs named for a movie, and we suggested Friends, so
we'll settle for Friends." And we had to write another song, which
was Michelle's Song. They wanted another song, which was to last a
minute and ten. And for film writing, if they want a song that's a minute and
ten seconds long, then you're supposed to write a song that's a minute and ten
seconds long. You have to time it, and all this rubbish. So we all got
together, and we were panicking like mad, and Bernie said write a song that's
very short, and we did, and it was a minute and ten seconds long, and I don't
know how, by the grace of God, that it was a minute and ten seconds. So that was
Seasons. And then they said, "We want a soundtrack album," and
I said, "That's awful," because there's very little music in the
film. And we said "it's terrible, we've only got three songs." You
can't put an album together with all that on. You know, with soundtrack albums,
you get bits with motorcars that beep, and horses galloping. So we said, right,
we're going to do this thing with the 20 and 30 second songs, then we'll write
two songs and re-record the whole album. So we recorded the whole album once for
the film, and then went back into our own studio which we always use studio and
recorded the whole soundtrack album... so people would at least get a bit of
value for their money. They get five songs instead of three and horses
galloping. It was recorded and written in four weeks, in between the first song
when I came to the States, which was a three-week promotional trip and my first
major tour, so it was recorded in between September and October, in September
in fact, as a soundtrack album ... ah ... the record company are promoting it
as a new Elton John album, and kids will probably think it is a new Elton John
album.
Mike: Especially since the Elton John name is bigger than the title of
the film...
Elton: Yeah, which is pissing me off somewhat. That's 'cause the guy in London (who's a complete idiot) who runs
Paramount Records, said that he said he wanted a really great sleeve. So the
people that produced the film and made the film were really great -- it was
independently produced film from Paramount -- they said right, and they took
the Tumbleweed Connection sleeve up
and said to this guy, "Isn't this great? Look, it's got a booklet. We'd
like something like this for Friends."
And like the guy who designed it, this friend of ours, said yeah, this is a
great idea. And the guy said it was rubbish -- the worst thing he'd ever seen,
and he said "Wait till we come up -- we'll come up with something that'll
sweep this off the board." And they came up with that strawberry coloured
rubbish. I suppose I can't blame the Paramount Record Company for putting my
name on it in big letters, cause I would have probably done that ... I don't
know ... I don't want to get into that anyway. It's not an Elton John album,
believe me. The album was gold within three weeks, so that's ... it's amusing; I'm knocked out, I'm very glad that it is a
gold record. But it's not an Elton John album. We've got a live album coming
out in three weeks.
Mike: Somebody said you wanted that to be coupled with Empty Sky.
Elton: Yeah, I did. I've had these hassles the past week. We've got two
things that have been released in England -- the live album and the Empty
Sky, which hasn't come out here yet anywhere, and I wanted Empty Sky
and the live album to come out for $5.98, both albums. The fact really is, that
all my albums have gone up to $5.98, which I found out. So I wanted the live
album to be a free album ... you know, "Thank you very much, America,
there's a free album -- Empty Sky." And, of course, all the
hierarchy that I'm concerned with said no. And I get so pissed off with
fighting. Everyone had a different idea. They wanted the live album to come out
in July, which would have been ludicrous, because so many people are importing
it, it would have been dead. And other people wanted it not to come out at all
(the live album). And some other people wanted Empty Sky to come out
first. Ah, you wouldn't believe it. So we settled for Empty Sky not to
come out yet, which is all right. They say that it's better for my
"mystique" that it should remain on import. And the live album will
come out in three weeks. And the live album is different than the one in
England because it's got a different mix and time. Much better mix and time. So
that's the situation. I'm going to get criticized for that album, because
everyone will say. "Oh, fuck, not another Elton John album!" But it
has to come out now, because it has been released and people are playing it. So
I'm just going to have to face the criticism. It's a bloody good live album.
What decided for me that it was a good live album was the CSN&Y, which I
was eagerly awaiting, and I thought it was a disaster...a total and utter
disaster. I thought, "Well we can't go much more wrong than that". I
hear that the CSN&Y live album is a gold record before it comes out... it's done two million dollars worth
of sales. There's two or three really nice things on it, but I think it's an
unmitigated disaster. I thought well, ours is so much better than that. It's
not fair to point that out, but that's what decided that it really should come
out. I don't know your opinion on the Crosby, Still, Nash & Young album is.
Mike: It hasn't come out here yet.
Elton: No...that's right, I went to a record shop today and I couldn't
believe it. I said to the woman, "Have you got Brown Sugar by The
Rolling Stones? And she said yes, and then she said no, we've ordered some and
they're coming in next week and she had only ordered ten of it (laughs).
Mike: One of the things that bothered me, that I sort
of hinted at in my review, was that I have a lot of respect for you as
an artist, but there's also this thing about mystique. I mean, Rick and I were
one of the first people in this area to hear your album because we got it from
MCA in the States, before it was released here, and now there's a lot of, what
you call hype, behind you. And what do you think of all this?
Elton: I know there's a lot of hype. I'm over in England and I'm not
really aware of what's going on. I have somebody who's trying to control it,
one person. There's hype, but there's hype with everybody. Record companies,
believe me, no matter what record company you're with, they're going to try to
hype you, because, really, all record companies are interested in is making
money. We have a very good relationship with MCA, a really fantastic
relationship. I'd rather be hyped in the way I am than to be hyped in the way
that Warner-Reprise hype their artists. I think their ads are so hip they're
actually revolting. And there's no new artists to break through on Warner Reprise
Kinney Group Records, that I can think of in the last two or three years. I
mean, they've just managed to break Gordon Lightfoot, which I thought was
tremendous of them. I think that kind of hype is more revolting. I'd rather be
saying, "Here is the great Elton John -- buy him!" than, "Well,
fellows, do a very clever advert." I'm not into that at all. It's just a
very snobbish way of saying "We're trying to be hip" and most of the
people at Warner Brothers aren't hip. I really don't mind. It's up to me to
prove it, whether I'm worth it or not, or whatever it is. I mean, people have
to decide for themselves. It's wrong for a person to decide that you're a hype
just by listening to the adverts. They should go out and buy the records,
discover whether you're a hype or not, or go and see you live. If then you've
failed, if then they've seen or heard you and they think you're a hype, then
that's fair enough -- they've had a chance to listen to you. I don't think you
can avoid it, can you? I mean, how can you possibly avoid being hyped? It's
impossible. Some people don't get hyped enough, people like David Ackles, who could well be hyped as much as I've been. But
once you're successful, they're going to try to get as much hype going as
possible. And you have to live with that -- it's a fact of life. Right?
Rick: Yeah...I'm just listening...trying to keep up with you. And asking
you a question.
Elton: I'm glad we've had this opportunity to talk about this. (To Mike)
I read your article last night, and I was very impressed by it. No, I really
liked it... there was a review of Friends in Rock Magazine
which took about twelve lines and really slated it, and it amused me ... not
amused me, but I'd quite like to meet the person who wrote that review and talk
to him, because I get so bored with people saying, "Oh here we are
Wonder-Dog of 1973." The whole magazine [Georgia Straight] was quite
interesting. I read a lot of that sort of thing. "Mikey Muzak" quite amused me.
Mike: (laughs) That was a step down...it used to
be Mikey Music.
Elton: I actually heard Your Song on Muzak
the other day and it freaked me out. I thought to myself, you have arrived. But
wait till The Supremes album gets to the shops. And Rolling Stone reviews that
with my [unintelligible] but I really do like The Supremes and no one believes
me.
Mike: I like Henry Mancini and nobody believes me...
Elton: You like Henry Mancini? I was on the Henry Mancini Show in
America about four weeks ago. It was a special. They just filmed a bit of me
playing live. We have the same Agency, so, you know...
Tracey Lee: It's like Andy Williams...
Elton: Oh, Andy Williams is a joke. We were hanging around L.A. -- I
wanted to get home, it was Christmas, and I wanted to get home. We hang around
for a week, and we get a rehearsal every day, and they say, right, you do two
numbers. We pre-record the backtrack, fine, and we do a big thing at the end
which originally started by Andy Williams wanting to do Love The One You're
With, which is OK by me, and it's going to be Mama Cass, me, Ray Charles
and Andy Williams. Ray Charles didn't come -- I can't blame Ray Charles, he's
probably been through all this before, he didn't come to any of the rehearsals,
and he didn't want to sing Love The One You're With, so then it was gonna be My Sweet Lord, and he didn't want to sing
that, they got down to Heaven Help Us All, and he didn't want to sing
that, but they said it was that or nothing, so we all sang that. Ohhh, and they cut one of our numbers off. We spent all day
and I did my "Goodbye, Andy" bit and they never showed it which was a
real drag because I was quite good in it.
Tracey Lee: Didn't they show the one where you sang...
Elton: In England we saw with Heaven Help Us All, and Mama Cass
stood in front of me, which was most annoying. I had no chance, that was my big
moment and Mama Cass just goes (makes elbowing move).
Tracey Lee: You were lucky you weren't there the night Ike and Tina were
on and Andy Williams sung with her (laughs).
Elton: Oh, I've got a lot of respect for Andy. For a start, he was very
nice to me, but he was really trying to think of all these ..
.he was really more aware of things than I thought he was. He was reading off
all these albums that he wanted to choose things off to sing, and the guy could
still be singing.
Tracey Lee: Moon River…
Elton: On The Street Where You Live .. and
he does set himself up, which I like.
Mike: I think he produced the latest Everly
Brothers album.
Elton: No. On the Barnaby label? No, those things are on the Warners label.
Mike: I'm sure he had something to do with that.
Elton: No, I mean, like, you could be a Tony Bennett ... I've got no
respect for people like Tony Bennett because they're just bores. Andy Williams
has got a very pleasant voice. He sends himself up.
Tracey Lee: I don't really like him.
Elton: No, I wouldn't watch his show by choice, but the guy's aware, at
least he's aware of what's going on. He's into modern music. He has a lot of
quite good guests on his show: Ike and Tina Turner, Smokey and me (laughs). And
that's my last and first time on the Andy Williams Show.
Mike: And how do you like Canada, Elton John?
Elton: I dunno. It was pissing with rain all
day. The first thing I noticed was that the air was fresh. It really was. It
was cold, but it's not like England. And Elizabeth is on the coins, isn't she?
There you go. It seems English to me. That could change, yeah. But it does seem
English to me, and I think that's nice. Some people in the hotel are English,
and you get people saying [unintelligible] because we get so many hassles
travelling. No, I just had my hair cut. I had my hair cut 'cause
it was in terrible condition. I was going to Hawaii and I was going to swim
every day and it was long, really, down to there
(gestures).
Mike: Well, Elton John, what's coming up for you in the way of albums?
Elton: I have a live one with Mae West coming out in four years time … if we can both get on the same microphone ...
she's put on a little weight (laughs). There's a new album coming out, I hope, there's
going to be this bloody live album -- get that out of the way -- and then there
won't be anything from me for about six months. By that time we should have two
albums ready. I still don't want there to be anything after the live album for
a long time because I think people are going to criticize the live album coming
out, and they are going to cut me up, and they are going to say it's being
rammed down their throats, and I'm getting fed up with it.
Mike: Is it being rammed down their throats as much in Britain as it is
in North America?
Elton: It was ... well, no ... 'cause there's
only one radio station. So you don't get it rammed down your throat so much,
right? No, the English people sort of reacted to me after I was a success in
North America. The albums both went zooming up the charts...the new one's come
straight in at 20. They've been very nice to us over here and the English sort
of reaction has been very understanding and we have more criticism ... it's
funny ... you get criticized for different things over there than you do over
here. The Friends album has got to be criticized more over here ... but in
England, it's got rave reviews. So you can't win in both territories. I don't
mind. You can't please everybody. I never intended to try and please everybody.
I can't believe this is happening anyways. I can't believe we've sold one
million albums of Elton John. It seems ludicrous. Because at the time we
made it ... we were knocked out when it came into the British charts at 47 ...
Live is very strange ... very strange ... I don't think it's affected me as a
person -- I used to be equally outspoken ... or the same sort of person I was
before it happened. I've seen so much hype and I've had so much hype and I've
had so many interviews that it's all really gotten over my head, and I've been
able to handle it, because I'm sort of ... if I'd have been 17 years old and
just fresh out of college, I would probably been sort of ... oh ... I just
don't want to think about it. So I ... what does it all mean? I'm quite happy
the way things are. I'm happy just to make music ... what a great ending ... I'm
just happy to make my music, he said, and we left him sitting there, crying. (All
laugh) And tomorrow night it's going to be echoesville
at the Agrodome...
Mike: Agrodome ... we did a fake commercial
for the Agrodome once ... it was something like:
"Get together with the cows" ... you know, it's a cow palace.
Elton: Yeah, they've got the plastic cows on it. Yeah, we've got a
lighting man, because I think lighting is very important, and he said he just
couldn't believe it ... he went in there today and saw these eight-foot papier maché cows hanging from the ceiling, which I thought was
very nice .. .that appeals to me very much.
Tracey Lee: Well, it's the place where they hold all the horse shows.
Elton: Yeah, cow palace ... so we'll be playing with piles of horse
manure
Tracey Lee: I went and saw Liberace there and they didn't even cover the
floor and all these dolls in their spikey heel shoes were sinking three inches
into the mud floors.
Elton: I like Liberace very much. He appeals to me.
Tracey Lee: It was one of the best concerts I ever attended.
Elton: He's just so outrageous. He's like a middle-aged Mick Jagger. It
freaks me out. Well, what else? You must have some more questions.
Rick: Speaking about the music, you know ... with the last three albums
(Quigley and I actually do have copies of Empty Sky), we've noticed that
the piano work and the melody line and the rhythms are starting to repeat
themselves, and we were wondering if it's just because you happen to do these
albums in a relatively short time.
Elton: This is always amusing ... "the melody line"... Such as
what? I mean, this guy in Rock Magazine said Honey Roll sounds like Burn
Down the Mission, which I thought was vaguely
amusing -- the guy should be put into an institution.
Rick: Well, you've got to admit that it's starting to … like, it might
be because you've just got a heavily stylized way of playing and you pick it up
really easily, therefore whenever you keep playing these things, the style
comes out ... it's very predominant. Your songs really remind me of each other.
Elton: Well, which ones?
Rick: Well, I don't know which ones offhand. That's what I mean about
the style thing.
Mike: That's what I was sort of saying in my review ... like some of the
songs in there reminded me of earlier things ... and I wondered if you were
going to branch out into something else like, you know, cut out the piano have
some sort of orchestra or what…
Elton: No, well, you see none of these need an orchestra. They need a
piano ... like we could have had piano on Love Song ... (unintelligible)
but some need piano more than others.
Rick: I was just wondering, the fact
that it all did happen in a relatively short space of time. … like if you were composing things all the time, instead of
having earlier things already written, it would tend to…
Elton: Well, all the new songs we've done are going to be on the next
album. Elton John, Tumbleweed, all the songs on both albums were
all written before the albums were recorded. We had two albums worth of stuff.
And by the next album comes out, we'll have two albums worth of stuff. I can
see that you must repeat yourself, in a way. A lot of people ... I suppose I
always defend myself, it's pretty natural. I know what you mean about the beat,
a lot of our songs...
Mike: Like the dum-de-dum-de-dum [beginning of Your Song] riff happens a lot.
Elton: Well, I like that. But if you listen to a lot of Leon Russell's
stuff, who's my idol, and I won't have a word said against him, a lot of his
piano playing sounds similar. It's just a style you get into. I hope I can
branch out ... that's got me worried.
Mike: You're going to start playing (unintelligible) riffs next.
Elton: It's just a style you get into ... I copied Leon Russell, and
that was it. I did. I heard the Delaney and Bonnie album on Elektra and I just
went through the roof. I nearly retired at that point. I figured there wasn't
much point in playing anymore. And the first time I ever met him, he was in the
front row of the Troubadour in Los Angeles. It was the second night we were
there and I thought aww ... I was great until the last number and I saw this ...
this great bloody most incredible looking person in the world ... and I saw him
there and my knees went zzzippp! ... and he invited
me up to his house and I thought he's going to invite me up there and tie me to
a chair and whip me and say "This is how to play the piano!" ... and ohhh ... I was really scared ... and I've never been scared
of meeting anyone ... like I've met Dylan and everybody and I really haven't
given a fuck ... excuse me.
Mike: We'll cut that out.
Elton: Cut the French out, yeah ... this is the western part of Canada ...
and I was petrified meeting him ... but aww ... he's so sweet ... he's really
great. A lot of people got the wrong idea ... interviewers think he's a big,
moody so-and-so because he doesn't say anything, but that's Leon. He just sits
there and goes "Yeaoh". I grant you that
some of the songs may sound the same, but if they do, that is very deceptive. I
can't tell, because I never listen to my own recordings. Perhaps I should.
Mike: (FM announcer's voice) Tell me, Elton John, for all the classical
fans out there ... who are your favorite classical composers?
Elton: Tchaikovsky and Sibelius.
Mike: Are you being esoteric?
Elton: No, I really like Tchaikovsky ... I'm very romantic as a rule ...
I like Tchaikovsky and (unintelligble) I'm not really
into Mozart. He's too twiddley. I like Bach ... the
only Bach I really like are his organ pieces … you know: ta-dah! If I really
play, I like Tchaikovsky ... and the only reason I said Tchaikovsky is because
I've seen a film called The Music Lovers which is about his life ... has
it come here?
Mike: It's been here.
Elton: It's the most amazing film I've ever seen ... I've seen it about
8,000 times. The music is core. It's a drag that he's so popular because the
music's really good. I mean, everyone's heard the 1812 and no one will now buy
an 1812 record because it's the classical record that everybody has. But it's
just amazing.
Mike: They played that here last night.
Elton: The 1812? Beautiful! Unbelievable. The guy was a genius. I like
Stravinsky as well. I like lyrical composers and I think Sibelius and Stravinsky
are really good. And I like Terry Riley, (unintelligible) John Cale … he's only ever had one album ... (unintelligible) ...
I like Turkish street music, there's no end to what I like ... you put it on ...
there's a woman singer, an Indian singer called Subbalakshmi…
Mike: How do you spell that?
Elton: S-u-bb-al-a-k-s-h-m-i. If you can get
any of her albums -- there's about four -- she's amazing! You wouldn't believe
it. You wouldn't think such things were possible with the human voice. And
Dionne Warwick's good. There you go.
Mike: OK ... I think we had better wrap this up very shortly ... do you
have any final questions, Tricky Rick?
Rick: No...
Elton: Tricky Rick? You sound like a Top 40 DJ...
Mike: It is ... we've got a thing called Radio H-Y-P-E.
Rick: It's a mythical radio station and we're the two disc jockeys ...
AM and FM
Elton: (speaks fast) Tricky Rick … Tricky Rick...
Mike: The FM disc jockeys talk like ... (lowers voice, speaks very
slowly) hmmm, well ... hmmm ... stoned ... Elton John ... far out ... yeah…
Elton: Yes, you're perfectly right ... FM disc jockeys always speak like
... (slows down) ... "and now we have some Carole King..." (speeds up) "and that was
Stevie Wonder ... we can work it out … on the Boss Top 40 ... yeah, groovy"...
(We all do various voices)
Elton: And the FM ones always try to sound stoned ... and you go and
visit the radio stations and they're all 88 year old people with beards!
(All laugh)
Elton: It's all a laugh, isn't it? That's what it is … a laugh. It's the
best thing in the world. It's the greatest high in the whole world to just sit
down and kill yourself laughing. God's natural high ... apart from other
things.
This is the original 1971 Georgia Straight interview introduction by
Mike Quigley
We enter the Holiday Inn on Howe Street through its Southern-fried colonnade
and up its Harlequin Romance staircase into the Columbia Room with its
Christmas tree light candelabras. There we meet the Head Canadian Flack from
MCA-Uni Records, who are throwing this little
cocktail party-reception for Elton John. A stereo set on a table hums out Elton
John Muzak, in contrast to the tinny string goop in
the lobby outside.
Other radio people, promoters, photographers, newsmen, and assorted sycophants
surf in and circulate. I meet one reporter, a friend I haven't seen since high
school five years ago. I also run into deposed CKLG-FM jock Bob Ness, who
remarks on the unfairness of my Laura Nyro review to
the folksinger on the programme with her. A pant-suited woman from CHQM looks
at me and says, "I don't believe I've met this gentleman". I look to
a flack beside her. He's forgotten my name, so l introduce myself, which is the
total extent of our conversation for the evening.
Elton John finally arrives, sporting a short-cropped Julius Caesar shag
haircut, his Tumbleweed Connection sunglasses, yellow and green velveteen
trousers, a white ruffled Liberace shirt with a blue
serge-ish midicoat, white
patent leather boots, and a large Donald Duck button on his right lapel. A
cheap champagne glass of warm, flat Faisca is thrust
into his hand.
Province reviewer Jeani Read, attired in buckskin hot
pants and a matching midicoat, quickly nabs the Star
and drags him off to a corner for a private interview. This gets the MCA-Uni flacks uptight. They want him to circulate among the
forty or so people in the room, and then Meet The
Press in a group session. They glide through the crowd, whispering, "Cool
it, cool it."
Elton John finally works his way into the crowd after some polite edging from
the flacks. I'm introduced to him and he says, "Oh, you're the guy who
gave me shit," referring to my review of his Friends album and my remarks
on the Agrodome. We rap about Penderecki,
the Polish composer (the opening cello riff on Sixty Years On is taken from P's
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, and EJ's arranger, Paul Buckmaster is a "real Penderecki
freak"). But I can sense the
"lets-get-moving-cause-there's-all-these-other-people-for-him-to-meet"
feeling from the flacks and his Agent Man, so we part for the moment.
I approach EJ's clean-shaven Agent Man when he's alone for a second. He's an
older guy -- in his forties, I'd say. He's outfitted in brown shoes, beige
pants, a brown shirt with white stitching, a blue blazer with a silk
handkerchief in the pocket, and a large ruby ring on his left little finger.
After some introductory trivia, I ask him if it's possible for me to get in to
see the show the following night.
He doesn't seem very interested. He tells me he's got no control over comps. He
tells me to go and see the MCA-Uni flacks. Strange
thing is they were the ones who referred me to HIM on this matter. They've had
to lay out sixty-six odd bucks for tickets to see their own artist.
By then it's interview time, and the TV men with their
blaringly bright lights get first crack. A reporter I know asks, "Is this
going to be a disaster?" referring to the general disorganization.
Then another group of radio, newspaper, and rock magazine reporters sit down
and rap with the Star. By this time I don't feel much like doing an interview,
though the flacks keep asking me if McGrath and I would. So we sit down and
wait and wait.
Roy Hennessey, uniformed in a flame-colored Harry Belafonte shirt and black
pants, strolls over to where we're sitting. He says hello to me. He ignores
McGrath. McGrath turns to me and J.B. Shayne and says, "Do you think we
should tell him that Hallowe'en isn't till October?" Hennessey walks away.
Finally, it's our turn to talk. A flack says, "We'll cut in now because
these guys have been going on too long." The Agent Man now addresses me by
my first name, motioning me to come over into the other part of the divided
room. I grab my tape recorder and McGrath, Tracey Hearst and I sit down and
talk for a good thirty minutes.
It's not a very good interview, though. Elton John talks like a madman -- I
wouldn't have believe he could still have so much energy after all he's already
gone through. But then, as he says, he's practically "immune" to
these affairs by now.
We finish, and then the TV men say they want to shoot another short sequence.
Elton John sits down at the grand piano in one corner of the room and plays
"The Great Discovery." A baby appears out of somewhere and is placed
as a prop atop the piano. The TV cameraman slinks around, capturring
the impromptu event in a manner which suggests the opening sequence of Blow-Up,
where Verushka was photographically fucked over by
David Hemmings. The baby waves its arms and legs about. The TV lights beat
down.
There's not much of an audience at this point. It's almost three hours since we
arrived. When the song is over, and we're on our way, the Agent Man wanders
through the dispersing crowd. He says, smiling for the second time this evening
(the first being when he called us over to do the interview), "The song
really fits -- "The Greatest Discovery."