Songs from the West Coast

Songs from the West Coast is the twenty-sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Many critics have said that this album brought John back to his piano-based musical roots.

Songs from the West Coast
Studio album by
Elton John
Released1 October 2001
Recorded18 September 2000 – 30 April 2001
Studio
Genre
Length54:06
Label
ProducerPatrick Leonard
Elton John chronology
Elton John One Night Only – The Greatest Hits
(2000)		 Songs from the West Coast
(2001)		 Greatest Hits 1970–2002
(2002)
Singles from Songs from the West Coast
  1. "I Want Love"
    Released: 2001
  2. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"
    Released: 2002
  3. "Original Sin"
    Released: 1 April 2002

Background

For this album, John once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, marking the first time the pair had written together in person. Patrick Leonard produced the album and played keyboards on several songs, as was the case for The Road to El Dorado soundtrack, released the year before. Drummer Nigel Olsson returned to the Elton John Band full-time and Tata Vega makes an early appearance as a backup vocalist, joining the band later. Stevie Wonder, who previously worked with John for the songs "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "That's What Friends Are For", played harmonica and clavinet on "Dark Diamond". Guy Babylon, Bob Birch and John Mahon, three of John's band members at the time, do not appear on this album.

It was the first non-soundtrack studio album from John to be released after PolyGram and Universal Music Group merged, consolidating distribution rights to his entire catalogue.

Rufus Wainwright sings backing vocals on the track "American Triangle", which is about Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was brutally murdered in 1998. The album was dedicated to Shepard and Oliver Johnstone, band member Davey Johnstone's late son.

John has said that the inspiration for many of the songs on this album came from when he listened to Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams.

In an interview with Jon Wiederhorn in 2001, John revealed that the album was recorded using analogue tape, as he believes "the voice and instruments sound warmer".

In 2002, the album was repackaged as a special edition containing a bonus disc with remixes, B-sides and non-album singles from the time of its release.

Singles

"I Want Love" was the first single to be released from the album, later going on to be nominated for a Grammy Award. It reached No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart, No. 110 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under chart and No. 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It reached No. 9 in Canada. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" and "Original Sin" also became hit singles. None of the songs from this album hit the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, which froze John's record of 31 years with at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100 (30 with at least one in the top 40). George Strait tied that record on the Country charts in 2011.

Album cover

The restaurant shown on the album's cover is Rae's Restaurant, which is frequently used as a location for many Los Angeles-based film shoots, including 1993's True Romance and 2005's Lords of Dogtown. John's partner David Furnish and his Director of Operations Bob Halley appear on the album cover: Furnish as a cowboy at the bar and Halley as the man getting handcuffed.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Advocatefavourable[1]
AllMusic[2]
The Christian Science Monitorfavourable[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
The Guardian[5]
Jam!favourable[6]
Los Angeles Timespositive[7]
Peoplefavourable[8]
Rolling Stone[9]

For the most part, Songs from the West Coast was warmly received by music critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was glad that John made a record that sounds like his classic albums from the early seventies, even though he still included some adult contemporary material. Erlewine went on to say that the record doesn't have all the "warmth" of his classic albums, but that it is still the best album he has made in years.[2] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly stated that the album effectively sounds like John's early recordings. He felt that Taupin's lyrics, such as "American Triangle", devalue the song, but at other times make John "liberated".[4] Jane Stevenson, writing for Jam! CANOE, felt glad that John returned to his roots, even if he doesn't quite make it there.[6] Barry Walters of Rolling Stone wrote that back-to-the-roots albums by artists rarely work, but John was able to make it work on Songs from the West Coast even if some songs, such as "American Triangle" and "The Emperor's New Clothes", miss the mark. Others, like "I Want Love", effectively manage to sound like his earlier work.[9]

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

  1. "The Emperor's New Clothes" – 4:28
  2. "Dark Diamond" – 4:26
  3. "Look Ma, No Hands" – 4:22
  4. "American Triangle" – 4:49
  5. "Original Sin" – 4:49
  6. "Birds" – 3:51
  7. "I Want Love" – 4:35
  8. "The Wasteland" – 4:21
  9. "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" – 4:52
  10. "Love Her Like Me" – 3:58
  11. "Mansfield" – 4:56
  12. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" – 4:39

2002 Reissue bonus disc track listing
  1. "Your Song" (with Alessandro Safina) – 4:21
  2. "Teardrops" (with Lulu) – 4:46
  3. "The North Star" – 5:32
  4. "Original Sin" (Junior's Earth mix) (Edit) – 3:55
  5. "Your Song" (with Alessandro Safina) (Almighty mix) (Edit) – 4:31
  6. "I Want Love" (Video)
  7. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" (Video)
  8. "Your Song" (Video)

B-sides
Song Format
"God Never Came There" (3:51)"I Want Love" CD (UK)
"The North Star" (5:28)"I Want Love" CD (UK)
"Did Anybody Sleep with Joan of Arc" (4:20)"This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" (UK)

Music videos

The music video for the song "I Want Love" was directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and features actor Robert Downey Jr. lip-synching to the song.[10] He is the only person to appear in the video. The entire video is one long shot where the camera follows Downey from room to room of a large empty house (Greystone Mansion).

The music video for the song "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" features Justin Timberlake portraying a young John.

The music video for the song "Original Sin" features Elizabeth Taylor and Mandy Moore. It also features John playing the father of Moore's character and the husband of Taylor's character. Moore was the centre of the video, who plays a huge Elton John fan from the 1970s who is transported by a dream (à la The Wizard of Oz) to one of his concerts, where she socialises with various celebrities of the period (Bette Midler, Sonny & Cher, Barbra Streisand, etc.) played by look-alikes. Then at the end she wakes up and John's character asks, "Who is this Elton John, anyway?" It also has more of an upbeat dance mix to the music.

Personnel

Production
  • Produced by Patrick Leonard
  • Mixed by Bill Bottrell with Alan Sanderson assisting.
  • Mixed at Cello Studios (Hollywood, CA).
  • Mastered by Stephen Marcussen[11]
  • Engineered by David Channing, Joe Chiccarelli, Brian Scheuble and Ralph Sutton.
  • Assistant engineers: Andy Green, Jennifer Hilliard, Steve Jones, Katrina Leigh, Johnathan Merritt, Alan Sanderson, Todd Shoemaker, Tom Stanley and Darrell Thorp.
  • Photography by Sam Taylor-Wood

Accolades

Grammy Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2002
[12]		Songs from the West CoastBest Pop Vocal AlbumNominated
"I Want Love"Best Pop Vocal Performance – MaleNominated
2003
[13]		"Original Sin"Nominated

Charts and certifications

References
  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=pmQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Songs from the West Coast by Elton John". AllMusic. United States. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  3. https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0111/p19s1-almp.html
  4. Tucker, Ken (1 October 2001). "Review: Songs from the West Coast by Elton John". Entertainment Weekly. ISSN 1049-0434. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/sep/28/shopping.artsfeatures2
  6. Stevenson, Jane (30 September 2001). "Album Review: Songs from the West Coast by Elton John". Jam! Music. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  7. Hilburn, Robert (28 October 2001). "Strong Selections From Worthy Voices". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  8. https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-songs-from-the-west-coast-vol-56-no-16/
  9. Walters, Barry (17 September 2001). "Review: Songs from the West Coast by Elton John". Rolling Stone.
  10. Rankin, Rebecca (2007). "Elton John: California Love". mtv.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. "Songs from the West Coast". albumlinernotes.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  12. "THE GRAMMY NOMINATIONS List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. 5 January 2002. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  13. "THE GRAMMY NOMINATIONS The complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. 8 January 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  14. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  15. "Songs from the West Coast – Elton John". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  16. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Danish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  17. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  18. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Les Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  19. "Chartverfolgung / JOHN, ELTON / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  20. "Archivum: Top 40 Album". MAHASZ (in Hungarian). Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  21. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Italian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  22. "エルトン・ジョン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Songs from the West Coast by Elton John] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  23. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  24. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  25. "OLiS: sales for the period 15.10.2001 – 21.10.2001". OLiS.
  26. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  27. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  28. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Schweizer Hitparade. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  29. "Chart Archive: Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive – 13 October 2001". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  30. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  31. "Elton John – Songs from the West Coast (Album)" (ASP). Finnish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  32. "The Official UK Albums Chart – Year-End – 2001" (PDF). Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  33. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 2001" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  34. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  35. "Canadian album certifications – Elton John – Songs from the West Coast". Music Canada.
  36. "Danish album certifications – Elton John – Songs from the West Coast". IFPI Denmark. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2002 to obtain certification.
  37. "Album Top–40: Uge 26 – 2002". Hitlisten (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original (ASP) on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  38. "Italian album certifications – Elton John – Songs from the West Coast" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Songs from the West Coast" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  39. "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  40. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2001" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  41. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Elton John; 'Songs from the West Coast')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  42. "British album certifications – Elton John – Songs from the West Coast". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Songs from the West Coast in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  43. "American album certifications – Elton John – Songs from the West Coast". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  44. "Elton John Strolls Down 'Peachtree Road'". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  45. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2001". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
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