Captain Fantastic: Elton John’s Stellar Trip Through the ‘70s

Captain Fantastic: Elton John’s Stellar Trip Through the ‘70s by Tom Doyle

Reading readers’ reviews on Amazon of this book, I discovered many stated that “this was a SURPRISINGLY good book….”.  I couldn’t help wondering: why were so many people ‘surprised’?  Was it because Elton is so popular that there are already a plethora of biographies about him and this was perceived as ‘yet another one’? Was it because Elton, now a septuagenarian, is on a giant farewell tour with a movie about to be released about him, and many thought this was exploitation?  Was it because the cheesiness of the front cover?  All of the above?

Regardless, I must agree. It’s a very good book, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Now, I consider myself a HUGE fan of Elton John; not only do I own all his CDs, but also host my own ‘Elton’ website, so at the risk of sounding arrogant, I feel I’m a pretty good judge.  This book pays careful attention not to just gloss over events, yet at the same time doesn’t try to immerse itself too deep in the weeds.  I felt this book devoted just the right amount of time and focus on things that a true fan wants to read about when perusing through a biography.

As the title suggests, the book focuses on the 70s, and most would argue that Elton was undoubtedly THE most popular musician of the 1970s.  So we read a lot of high profile celebrity-ism.  That’s not to say that this was a pleasant time for Elton. Sadly, Elton has always suffered from horrible mood swings and, as popular as he was (and still is), the poor chap was simply miserable most of the time. When one looks deep into his character and personality, it sadly isn’t too shocking. As a young man, Elton was a rather shy introvert; chubby, near-sighted, pre-mature baldness, and he was also forced to keep his homosexuality buried pretty deep within his closet because of the times.  In fact, the fact that he dressed so exorbitantly during the decade was his strange way of coping with his many insecurities.

The author does a great job of telling a chronological account. He doesn’t spend too much time on Elton pre Elton (his Christian name is Reginald Dwight) probably because he knows his readers really don’t care much.  As soon as the 1970s arrive, we read about his incredible climb to the top in a manner of about 5 years and about 10 albums.  We read a bit about each of the albums, and although the public quickly gobbled them up at queues in record stores, the author gives a fair assessment of each of these releases and gives the honest perspective that all of them (such as ‘Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player’ and ‘Caribou’) weren’t really THAT good, yet economics dictated a rushed product and keep the profits coming.

My only gripe about the book is it ended too early.  Although the decade of the 1970s is highlighted in the title, we actually read through about 1981.  Once we arrive at 1981-82, the author then briefly hits on the highlights of the last 35 years.  I wish he would have kept his same place instead of giving us a brief summary of the latter years.  Of course, this would have accounted for a much lengthier book.  Even though Elton was the most popular during the 1970s, there really was so much more story left to tell.

The good news about Elton John is that during some part of his life (most would argue when he became clean and sober – about 1992), Elton seemed to finally find peace with himself and, whereas the mood swings are still there to a point, he seems much more happy and content in his later life.  After reading about all of the turmoil that the man went through during the 1970s, it’s actually quite a miracle that he even survived.

I also want to point out, that as rabid as a fan I am, I also learned a few things that I never knew about Elton. For example, when he formed his new band in 1975, I didn’t know that there was a third guitarist, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, who was briefly added to the lineup.  I remember seeing a picture of the ‘new’ Elton John Band more than 40 years ago, and I always wondered who the ‘hairy’ guy in the picture was.  Now I know. 

I did, however, also find a few errors throughout the book as well, so I guess the reader needs to be somewhat cautious.  Example: The ‘Here and There’ album consists of two live performances from 1974, yet the author states that one of the concerts was from 1972.  A minor gripe.

I would love it if this author would one day release a ‘part two’ and pick up where he left off, but since the meat of Elton’s story, at least sales wise, takes place in the 1970s, I doubt we’ll ever see such an undertaking.