Elton John - Empty Sky (1969)

The uncanny ability that the young Reg Dwight showed for reproducing any melody on the piano made him a social gathering stopper and eventually won him enrollment into the Royal Academy of Music. (This is where Dwight met future collaborator Paul Buckmaster who also arranged the orchestration on Rupert Hine's debut.) Although Reg Dwight learned and showed an appreciation for classical music, his love of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and Ray Charles started him down a different musical road. He continued cutting his chops by working as a pub pianist and eventually starting Bluesology, an R&B band, with some friends. Bluesology was successful to the effect that it released three non-charting singles and mainly worked as a backing band on tour for minor recording artists.

While moving toward a lesser role in the doomed Bluesology, Reg Dwight teamed up with Bernie Taupin, and the duo earned work as songwriters for music publisher Dick James. At the same time, Dwight adopted the stage name "Elton John" and began cutting demos at the Dick James Studio. This led to the release of his first single "I've Been Loving You" in late 1968. In the dawn of '69, it was his next single "Lady Samantha" that made the industry take a second look and was quickly followed up with his debut album Empty Sky in June of that year.

Releasing his debut at the young age of 22, his demos, singles, and album paint a good picture of the natural talent that Elton John had for melody and the potential waiting to be fulfilled. It also reflects the uncertainty of his voice; unsure of his own sound. Affected by the the triumph of Sgt. Pepper and the emerging dominance of psychedelia, Elton furnished a unique but bland form of psychedelic pop. This and his own unpolished piano pop make up his debut album, a testament of the classic music to come.

Here is the discography surrounding Elton John's debut album:

Come Back Baby (1965 single with Bluesology)
Mr Frantic (1966 single with Bluesology)
Since I Found You Baby (1967 single with Bluesology)
Elton 1968 (1968 demos)
The Unsurpassed Dick James Demos, Vol. 1 (1968 demos)
The Unsurpassed Dick James Demos, Vol. 2 (1968 demos)
The Unsurpassed Dick James Demos, Vol. 3 (1968-70 demos)
I've Been Loving You (1968 single)
Lady Samantha (1969 single)
It's Me That You Need (1969 single)
Empty Sky





If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, feel free to speak up. Just remember that it has to be related to this time in Elton John's career, and the idea is to do an artist's discography in chronological order.

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