On Elton John’s new concert album, the songs steal the show.
Deep cuts from John’s rich catalog are given the spotlight on “Live From the Rainbow Theatre With Ray Cooper.” The 13-song set was culled from a six-show residency in London in May 1977, with John at the piano and his longtime percussionist, Cooper, joining him for the second half of the show.
The album initially received a limited release on vinyl for Record Store Day and will be available digitally and on CD for the first time beginning Friday.
While John, of course, performed his biggest hits during the residency, the album wisely focuses on often overlooked material, pointing to the astounding quantity of quality songs John produced early in his career.
That includes “Cage the Songbird,” a lilting tribute to Édith Piaf from the underrated 1976 LP “Blue Moves.”
Another highlight from that album is the cabaret jazz ballad “Idol,” which shows John could have thrived in a lounge had the rock star thing not worked out.
The piano man’s playing here is closer to Liberace than Little Richard, because ballads predominate, and Cooper’s role is tastefully restrained. Even when the tempo gets brisk on “Better Off Dead,” the song is delightfully hammy operetta rather than rock ‘n’ roll.
From start to finish, John sings with relish: He knows how good these songs are. “Where To Now St. Peter?” features an especially vigorous vocal, including full-throated falsetto.
“Live From the Rainbow Theatre” underscores John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin’s vital role in their songwriting partnership. The album opens with “The Greatest Discovery,” a pairing of sweet sentiment and a charming melody, while “Ticking” is a gripping tale set in Queens that anticipated America’s epidemic of gun violence.
John introduces “Ticking” and two other songs by noting he doesn’t perform them often, or often enough. Banter elsewhere is mostly brief and stiff, but his droll wit does surface in one exchange with a spectator.
“How are you tonight? Nice handkerchief,” John says, before telling the rest of the audience, “He hasn’t washed that in three years.”
The 1977 performances took place as punk and disco were knocking John off his pop pedestal and ending his years-long reign as a consistent hitmaker. “Live From the Rainbow Theatre” offers a reminder that not all of his superb songs were singles.
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