Live from Moscow 1979 – Elton John with Ray Cooper

My appreciation for Elton John came at a young age, thanks to my mom, but I’ll admit I’m not very familiar with his deep cuts or anything like that. I love him as a person and really enjoy listening to him sing, as well as his piano playing. As I’ve mentioned before, I love live music, and this is just an absolutely outstanding performance. Sir Elton is accompanied by percussionist Ray Cooper on the back half of the album, who does some really nice work adding to it without overdoing it.

Per usual, I’ll highlight my three favorite tracks from the album with potential bonus tunes.

Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)/Pinball Wizard – My favorite song from Elton’s catalogue to listen to live versions of; the energy on this one is infectious. You can hear how much fun Elton has doing this one, and Ray Cooper adds some killer bongos to the fiery and aggressive piano playing. Both men are playing their asses off like they’re possessed. Then to make things even cooler and, because why not, Elton transitions into “Pinball Wizard” by The Who. Elton doesn’t miss a beat and flies back and forth between the two before settling on and closing with “Saturday Night’s Alright.”

Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjea1wywbeY

Crocodile Rock/ Get Back/ Back in the USSR – Interestingly, Elton intones this by saying that Crocodile Rock isn’t really one of his favorites, but he’ll play it anyway, which I’m guessing is due to how much he probably had to play this one up to this point, but it still sounds like he’s having a good time… but you can never go wrong with The Beatles. On my first listen to this album, I had no idea that he threw these two in there. I was pleasantly surprised, and since then I have always loved the idea of playing “Back in the USSR” to a Russian audience. (Billy Joel may have done it best)

Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmVqr71DpL4

Rocket Man – This is probably my all-time favorite Elton song; I love the lyrics and the imagery that it induces. I always think of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I love the way Elton sings this. He is able to extend the song without making it boring, adding roughly three minutes full of feeling and ambiance.

Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKho0KXpck

Bonus tracks

Bennie and The Jets – I think this is the first Elton John song I ever heard, or “Crocodile Rock.” One of the two. The lyrics in the first two verses are some of my favorites ever sung; something about the coolness that Sir Elton sings them with in this version is just too good not to point out. It’s almost impossible not to sing along, especially “Magazeeneeeeeeeee oh ho.”

Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1lnAfA07H4

I Heard It Through The Grapevine – One of the greatest songs ever written, and Elton’s cover on this album features some of my favorite electric piano work to listen to. His playing is absolutely on fire. Great arrangement.

Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQoLuq7BaQ