Sean Callaghan
Bio
Neurodivergent, Writer, Drummer, Singer, Percussionist, Rock Music Star Wars and Disney Devotee.
Stories (113)
Filter by community
'The Union'
In 2008, on the debut episode of Spectacle!, a music and talk show hosted by the bespectacled and by now highly respected Elvis Costello, Elton John spoke highly of three of his primary piano-playing influences: Laura Nyro, David Ackles, and Leon Russell. At that time, only Leon Russell was still alive.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'The Captain and The Kid'
In 2005, Elton John celebrated the 30th anniversary of 1975's excellent autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy with a concert performing (almost) the entire album in sequence at Madison Square Garden. (Elton opted to exclude "Tower of Babel" and "Writing" from the concert.) It accompanied the release of a Deluxe Edition double-CD set that featured a 1975 performance of the entire album given with a brand-new band before a Wembley Stadium crowd. Now to say that playing an album to an audience unfamiliar with the songs nor the band was a challenge would be an understatement, especially as the bill was filled with hitmakers like the Beach Boys, Joe Walsh and the Eagles.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'Peachtree Road'
In January 2004, Elton John assembled his band at Tree Studios and Silent Sound in Atlanta Georgia to record his twenty-seventh album, By this point the Elton John Band had solidified, with longtime associates Davey Johnstone on guitars and vocals, and Nigel Olsson on drums and vocals, joined by Bob Birch on bass and vocals, John Mahon on percussion and vocals and Guy Babylon on keyboards. By this time, the latter 3 had worked extensively with Elton.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
The Tomorrowland Problem:Part 1
When it opened in 1955, Tomorrowland was one of the original four cardinal realms of Disneyland. (The others were Frontierland, Fantasyland and Adventureland.) Walt Disney's plan was for this land to represent "A vista into a world of wondrous ideas signifying mans achievements."
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Wander
'Songs From The West Coast'
In the Summer of 2000, in Nice, France, Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin convened at Elton's home there to address what they considered a debacle; Elton's most recent catalog LP The Big Picture. According to Elton, he'd been thinking and reading about the praise being heaped on the duo's Tumbleweed Connection, their Band-inspired third album and reappraised his career as getting away from the goal of producing sturdy songs and consistent cohesive albums. At this new millennium summit, Bernie and Elton agreed that future albums would need to be albums they would both be happy to be associated with, admitting they had spent too many years releasing albums of varying levels of quality.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'The Big Picture'
Considered by Lyricist Bernie Taupin to be the worst Elton John album who has dismissed it's production as abysmally cold and technical. The Big Picture came out during a difficult time for Elton. His good friend, fashion designer Gianni Versace whom the album is dedicated to was murdered earlier in 1997 and just a few months later another Elton friend, Diana Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris. In response to Diana's death, Bernie Taupin wrote new lyrics to him and Elton's 1973 classic "Candle in the Wind" which Elton performed at the Princesses' funeral at Westminster Abbey. He then recorded it with Producer George Martin and it was released as a single and became the best selling single of all time though Elton himself would later become quite dis-enchanted with it.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'Made in England'
Elton John went into the studio to record his 1995 album still riding high on the success of The Lion King, including his very own Academy Award. Armed with Bernie Taupin's latest set of lyrics, Elton brought in Greg Penny, best known as K.D. Lang's producer, to co-produce the album with Elton himself at George Martin's AIR Studios in London.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'The Lion King'
In the early 1990s, Walt Disney Feature Animation was enjoying its second golden age, and through a series of circumstances it enlisted the services of one Elton John, who was seeking a second golden age of his own. True, his star had not completely dimmed and his most recent albums, Sleeping With the Past and The One, had showed strong promise of an artistic rebirth. But no doubt, the agreement to write a songtrack for Disney's planned animated feature, The Lion King would prove a pivotal part of the second act for the Rocket Man soon to be known as Sir Elton John.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'The One'
Following a stint in rehab to overcome his drug and alcohol addictions, Elton John decided to record a new album in 1992 at Studio Guillame Telll in Paris, France. He brought with him many of the usual suspects: a set of Taupin lyrics, Chris Thomas as producer, and veteran Elton John band members Davey Johnstone and Guy Babylon contributing electric guitar and backing vocals and keyboards and programming, respectively. There are also vocals from not only Nigel Olsson, but also Kiki Dee.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
'Sleeping With the Past'
For Elton John, the 1980s was a decade that resulted in several albums, with varying tone, consistency, and quality across the albums and often within them. For his 1989 album "Sleeping With The Past", he and lyricist Bernie Taupin decided to make an album consistent in tone and quality, based on the classic soul and R&B Records they both loved. To start with, Elton hired a new rhythm section of Romeo Williams on bass and Johnathan "Sugarfoot" Moffet on drums, veterans of various soul records recruited by guitarist Davey Johnstone specifically for their R&B backgrounds. Also new to the band was keyboard player Guy Babylon, a Johnstone recruit who would be a key figure in the Elton story until his death in 2009. The album was recorded at Puk Studios in Denmark over a period of 6 months, under producer Chris Thomas.
By Sean Callaghan6 years ago in Beat
