1979 saw Elton John in a period of transition. He'd dumped his band, and more crucially, ended (temporarily as it turns out) his partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The resulting album, A Single Man, had turned into the biggest dud of his career so far. But he had found solace on the road, running from demons, splits and failures. The Single Man tour saw him playing solo piano for one set, then joined only by percussionist Ray Cooper for the second. It had turned into the longest tour of his career, as he rediscovered the joys of being only the piano player, hammering out the hits and improvising on lengthy versions of favourite covers.
It was also an easy show to take on the road, pretty much anywhere. And since he was still the biggest pop star in the world, all the world wanted him. Surprisingly that including the Soviet Union, and in May of 1979 he became the first Western pop star to grace a stage in the U.S.S.R. It was a big deal, but still a safe bet for all. The normal Soviet citizen had no chance of gaining a ticket to the shows, and the audience was filled with ranking Communist party members and their families, plus British embassy types. Still, it was an early indication of Glasnost, and not to be dismissed as meaningless.
The BBC was allowed to broadcast one of the shows, and apart from a TV and DVD special which including bits and pieces, this is the first true release of the concert. The two-CD set includes about two-thirds of the lengthy concert, which offered a career-spanning hits set, covers and a couple of dips into the deep catalog of album tracks many fans knew by heart. So too did the Russians; although the applause was polite and reserved, songs such as "Daniel," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Bennie And The Jets" were greeted with lots of recognition, meaning they were hearing them somewhere other than official state channels.
Elton was used to a livelier crowd, and you can hear him working hard to get people out of their seats. A lengthy version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" goes on too long as he tries his best to build energy. It's really not until the second set when he hits them with sure-fire numbers such as "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and a "Crocodile Rock"/"Get Back"/"Back In The U.S.S.R." medley that everyone loosens up.
But the real value here for today's listeners is the chance to hear Elton return to old ballads and early tracks in this stripped-down performance. "Skyline Pigeon" and "Take Me To The Pilot" are as great or better than most of his big hits, and "Tonight" and "Better Off Dead" are welcome deep album cuts. As for the usual suspects, we've heard them so many times it's a relief to have piano-only versions of chestnuts "Rocket Man" and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." Plus, he could still hit all the high notes in the original keys.
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