A Single Man (album)

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A Single Man
Elton John - A Single Man.jpg
Studio album by Elton John
Released 16 October 1978
Recorded Autumn 1977, January – September 1978, The Mill, Cookham, Berks
Genre Rock, pop, disco
Length 48:46
Label MCA (US)
Rocket (UK)
Producer Clive Franks, Elton John
Elton John chronology
Greatest Hits Volume II
(1977)Greatest Hits Volume II1977		 A Single Man
(1978)		 The Thom Bell Sessions
(1979)The Thom Bell Sessions1979
Singles from A Single Man
  1. "Part-Time Love"
    Released: 4 October 1978
  2. "Song for Guy"
    Released: 28 November 1978
  3. "Return to Paradise"
    Released: 1979

A Single Man, released in 1978, is the twelfth official album release for Elton John. It is the first album where Gary Osborne replaced Bernie Taupin as lyricist.

Production

A Single Man is the first of John's albums to not feature long-time collaborators Bernie Taupin (lyricist) and Gus Dudgeon (producer). The only returning members of his band are percussionist Ray Cooper and guitarist Davey Johnstone; the latter only played on one song on the album. Paul Buckmaster would not appear on another Elton John album until Made in England. Unlike previous compositions in which lyrics came first, John began writing melodies at a piano and an album unintentionally became of it. This was John's first in which he started singing in a lower register. "Song for Guy" was written as a tribute to Guy Burchett, a young Rocket messenger who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

The album was recorded in Autumn 1977, and then from January to September 1978, at The Mill, Cookham, Berks.

The photo for the front cover was taken in the Long Walk, which is part of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire. The inside cover shows John in a Jaguar XK140 FHC.

Release

The album was released on 16 October 1978 by MCA in America, and by Rocket in the UK. Singles from the album were "Part-Time Love", October 1978; "Song for Guy", November 1978; and "Return to Paradise", 1979. "Song for Guy" was a near-global success, charting high everywhere except the US and Canada, where John's label, MCA Records, didn't feel that it had hit potential, due to the recent success of the instrumental "Music Box Dancer".

A Single Man was John's first album ever to be officially released in the former USSR, though his previous releases had been smuggled into the country in various forms. It was released following the success of his A Single Man in Concert shows in Moscow and Leningrad, though it differed in two ways from its release elsewhere. Firstly, the album was re-titled Poyot Elton John ["Elton John sings" in Russian]. Secondly, on some prints, both "Big Dipper" and "Part-Time Love" were removed, due to the subject matter of the songs. Curiously, John had performed "Part-Time Love" at the USSR shows without objection from Soviet officials.

Reception

In the US, A Single Man was certified gold in October 1978 and platinum in November of the same year by the RIAA.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau (C)[2]
Rolling Stone (not rated)[3]

Later releases

The 1998 reissue has five bonus tracks, the first two being the 1978 flop-single "Ego", and its B-side "Flinstone Boy". The next two tracks are the B-sides of "Part-Time Love" and "Song for Guy" ("I Cry at Night" and "Lovesick" respectively), and the last track, "Strangers", originally B-side of his 1979 disco-album title track, "Victim of Love". Some releases of his 1980 album, 21 at 33, also have "Strangers" as a bonus track.

Promotion and live performances

At the time of release, John performed some songs from the album on shows such as Bruce Forsyth's Big Night (performing "Part-Time Love"), Countdown (miming "Georgia" and "Madness"), The Old Grey Whistle Test (performing "Shooting Star" and "Song for Guy"), The Morecambe & Wise Show (performing "Shine on Through"), Parkinson (performing "Song for Guy"), Rockpop (miming "Return to Paradise" and "Part-Time Love") and Top of the Pops (miming "Part-Time Love" and performing "Song for Guy"). He performed two solo sets: one for MCA personnel at the Century Plaza Hotel on 14 October 1978 (performing "Shine on Through", "Return to Paradise" and "Song for Guy") and the other at a RTL studio on 20 October 1978 (performing "Part-Time Love", "Shooting Star" and "Song for Guy"). John's tour in 1979 included songs from the album ("Part-Time Love" and "Song for Guy").

Since that period, songs other than "Song for Guy" have not been performed.

Track listing

All songs by Elton John and Gary Osborne, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Shine on Through" – 3:45
  2. "Return to Paradise" – 4:15
  3. "I Don't Care" – 4:23
  4. "Big Dipper" – 4:04
  5. "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy" – 8:27

Side two

  1. "Part-Time Love" – 3:16
  2. "Georgia" – 4:50
  3. "Shooting Star" – 2:44
  4. "Madness" – 5:53
  5. "Reverie" (John) – 0:53
  6. "Song for Guy" (John) – 6:35

Bonus tracks (1998 Mercury reissue)

  1. "Ego" (John, Bernie Taupin) – 4:00
  2. "Flinstone Boy" (John) – 4:13
  3. "I Cry at Night" (John, Taupin) – 3:16
  4. "Lovesick" (John, Taupin) – 3:59
  5. "Strangers" (John, Osborne) – 4:46

B-sides

Song Format
"I Cry at Night" "Part-Time Love" 7" (US/UK)
"Lovesick" "Song for Guy" 7" (US/UK)

Personnel

Production

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[4] Platinum 100,000
France (SNEP)[5] Gold 100,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[6] Gold 50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[8] Platinum 1,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Charts

References

  1. ↑ A Single Man at AllMusic
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  10. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 February 2012
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