Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Sydney 1982

[@studiodlux]

Surprisingly not a well known song among his fans. So great.

[@Libera_nos_a_malo]

After getting Dee and Nigel back in late 1979 for some recording and then the 1980 tour, Elton realised what he had been doing was not working. He called Davey Johnstone up (he’d been working with Alice Cooper) and asked if he would come back and re-join the original band of John / Johnstone / Murray / Olsson. They all got back together and went into rehearsals in Sydney for a snap 1982 tour. The set list included multiple Captain Fantastic songs which (my opinion only) seemed to make up for the fact that Dee and Nigel missed the tour for this album as they were sacked after they recorded it but before the tour. This song was recorded at the midnight concert in Sydney. Ticket demand was so high and the venue so small that a midnight concert was added. My mother attended this very show in 1982.

[@jack615]

Davey also was working with Meat Loaf/Jim Steinman at this time too

[@1982RMT]

"The set list included multiple Captain Fantastic songs which (my opinion only) seemed to make up for the fact that Dee and Nigel missed the tour for this album as they were sacked after they recorded it but before the tour" I always thought this too

[@JessePerkins-ce6we]

Thank you for posting! Great song, great live version!

[@pdarula]

Sounds so good - not sped up like some of the 80's live songs

[@Betowhyte]

Very good!

[@salvadorealiberto]

Peak vocal skills here.

[@staralchemy111]

Nope. A bit hoarse. Doesn't have the silky-smooth quality or range. His peak vocal period was 1970-73 before the partying. But later performances were not as good as here because he had a throat surgery and his voice changed and got deeper.

[@salvadorealiberto]

@@staralchemy111 Good analysis. I think what's missing in the voice in the early '70s is a certain dexterity and pretty much always being in tune. Elton himself said he could not have sung the songs of the mid 1970s in the early 1970s.

[@mobueh]

1979-86 was him at his best vocally!

[@gianlucaluchina9018]

Yessss Elton fantastico ❤️

[@randarmax]

This was Elton's best band in my opinion. Nothing against Caleb Quaye, James, Roger and Kenny. I loved those Rock of the Westies songs, but there's just no touching the backing vocals and musicianship of the Captain Fantastic lineup.

[@philliesphan9364]

Same day Randy died.

[@philliesphan9364]

@Bruh Randy Rhoads. Ozzy Osbourne's guitar player died in a plane crash that day.

[@randarmax]

Wow. Interesting. Not that Davey or the guys knew about Randy, especially being half-way around the world at the time. I had just seen Randy perform with Ozzy in Dallas a month earlier. When I heard the morning news on the car radio the following Saturday morning, I was so distraught I had to pull the car over and cried. Such a loss of talent.

[@philliesphan9364]

@@randarmax You are very lucky to have seen Randy live. I wasn't born until 11 years later so sadly I never got to see him. I was lucky enough to see Ozzy twice though. Once with Sabbath in NYC back in 2018 and solo in 2018 in Allentown. Best concerts I ever went to.