Elton: The Biography | 
| Author: David Buckley
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 197813
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1556527136
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.42166092
EAN: 9781556527135
ASIN: 1556527136
Publication Date: October 28, 2007
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Product Description
One of music’s true global superstars and most admired figures, Elton John has sold an estimated 200 million albums worldwide to date, and continues to appear regularly in the singles charts, thanks largely to a series of high-profile collaborations with new faces. But he is loved as much for his outrageous personality and witty outspokenness as for his music: recent memorable outbursts have included a public comment that “people who charge 75 and lip-sync should be shot” and calling some pushy photographers “rude, vile pigs.” He has even admitted that, in one of his more comedic cocaine-fueled moments, he phoned one of his management team “to tell him to do something about the wind outside my hotel room.” Such shamelessness and sheer silliness rivals anything uttered by punk rockers, yet it is so typically Elton: honest and wittily intemperate. Tragedy and heartbreak have played a large part in his life too. Behind the parties, the hedonism, the lavish stage costumes and silly glasses lies a more somber story. There have been disputes with managers, legal wranglings, splits with partners, and a divorce. Added to that there have been serious health problems, a very public battle with his expanding waistline and receding hairline, drug addictions, and spells when he wanted to quit the music business altogether. But now, at 60 years old, Elton enjoys a stable relationship with his husband David Furnish. His demons have been overcome. His commercial and critical stock is rising. With popular acts like the Scissor Sisters sounding more like Elton than Elton himself, Elton John is finally cool again. Drawing on many firsthand interviews with his associates and musical collaborators, this page-turning story of high drama and prodigious talent traces Elton’s astonishing journey through life as the colossus of camp, while also offering a critical history of his work and analyzing afresh his contribution to popular music. |
| Customer Reviews:
Behind the music February 16, 2009
B. Wilfong (Newark, OH)
In this fascinating biography Mr. Buckley delves into the man behind the music without reverting to gossip and tabloid theatrics. Although there are a few moments in this book where Buckley allows himself to falter into such territory (an unseemly discussion of anagrams with Elton's name for example) overall the text focuses on the music of Elton John and how it came to be shaped and formed.
After reading this text I have a new appreciation for the longevity of Elton's career and music, and also for Mr. Buckley's nice ability for demonstrating how a long career in the music world unfolds and is shaped by the personality, and demons, of the singer.
Although this is an unauthorized biography Mr. Buckley has kept away from the slanderous territory of many unauthorized bios, and he cites wide-ranging sources for his claims. The book also includes nice references and extensive notes about Elton's music, interviews, and television appearances.
This text is about Elton John and his music, and if you are looking for more personal and "juicy" insight into Elton's private life you might need to look elsewhere. However, as a source of many things Elton it is an invaluable resource.
Recommend.
 Elton: The Biography January 2, 2008
RaNaye L. Crawford
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This biography tends to mostly concentrate on highly detailed accounts of most of Elton's band members, singers, publisher's and PR. It touched on a little about Elton personally but mostly about the music business, labels and such. A good read for those who are interested about the music business, recording studio's, many other performers and their stories about Elton.
A good Elton biography December 29, 2007
Emilio Dreyer Pacheco (Porto Alegre, Brazil)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
David Buckley is the author of the best David Bowie biography ever, "Strange Fascination", so I was ecstatic when I learned he had written a book on Elton John. But there is a difference here. What made the Bowie book so special was the fact that Buckley was a long-time fan, so the knowledge he had accumulated over the years gave him a wide edge over the competition. In the case of this new book, he admits to not following Elton's career since the beginning, so now David Buckley has become a biographer by trade. Furthermore, the definitive Elton John biography has already been written by Philip Norman. So Buckley mentions Norman's book whenever any piece of information is taken from it (it would be foolish not to do it, as Norman uncovered new ground in many aspects), but adds a great deal of information obtained by himself. This book is especially strong on Elton's brief stint with Gary Osborne as his lyricist, which is a period of Elton's career which is generally overlooked by most biographies and documentaries. Gary contributed a foreword, so it's clear that he gave his full cooperation. All in all, this is a pleasant read and a nice complement to Norman's book. Elton John fans will not be disappointed.
 Insightful Portrait of a Pop Icon! November 4, 2007
Michael OConnor (Wausau, WI USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
In his 60-odd years on earth, Elton John has been, first and foremost, a gifted composer, spirited performer and recording star with worldwide sales of 200 million+ albums including 21 platinum albums; a workoholic; a drug addict; an alcoholic; a multi-millionaire whose shopping excesses have become legend; a hetereosexual; a homosexual;, an AIDS crusader and humanitarian of the first rank; a unbelieveably generous, caring friend who can throw hissy fits at the drop of a hat; and, in 1997, a knight of the realm. Author David Buckley details the life of this complicated, conflicted musical superstar in this entertaining, even-handed book from Chicago Review Press.
Pudgy, balding, gap-toothed, four-eyed piano player Reginald Dwight was probably the most unlikely candidate for pop superstardom ever when he began playing piano for the Bluesology group in 1962. Yet, within a few years, the now-rechristened Elton John, having mated his gift for memorable musical melodies with the lyrics of collaborator/ lyricist Bernie Taupin, would became a major force in the music industry, creating such masterpieces as 'Daniel,' 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting,' 'Your Song' and 'Crocodile Rock.'
The first third of Buckley's book covers the years 1947 to 1974 and detail the making of "Elton John, Superstar." Seeing Reg Dwight morph into Elton John, create the wonderful songs (and others) mentioned above and develop his larger-than life persona makes for fun reading.
Sadly, despite the ever-growing success of Elton the performer, Elton the person remained an unhappy man, hobbled by low self-esteem and uncertainty about his sexuality dating from his childhood. Those inner demons subsequently developed into deep self-loathing. In the early 1970s those demons combined with a cocaine addiction and alcoholism to set Elton on a ten-year downward spiral, as described in the at-times depressing middle third of the book.
The man and the music suffered in equal amounts until the death of AIDS victim Ryan White in 1990 showed Elton the insanity of his lifestyle. The years since, which form the final third of the book, have seen him rebound, creating new music, some of it the equal of "golden years" titles and finding a whole new audience via his 'Lion King' score. And it seems he has finally conquered those inner demons and found some peace of mind.
Buckley's book is an entertaining, incisive look at Elton's life and career. The author's comments on the music and the man are thoughtful, insightful and entertaining. Buckley has a marvelous way with phrases ("...the audience are clapping like seals at feeding time..."). Likewise he sprinkles the text with a number of quotes or observations from Elton and his contemporaries, business partners and friends that show us the person behind the legend. Elton, in particular, comes across as a witty, drop-dead honest and analytical individual, especially about himself. By book's end, you have learned a great deal about that pudgy, gap-toothed guy and you're happy he's "still standing after all this time."
Recommended.
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