Going to the John

It is up there with the great moral dilemmas of our age so it was with no little trepidation that I posed the question to my attractive and attentive gaggle of comrades on Saturday night: Is it ok to enjoy early period Elton John? I’ve read too many glowing reviews of his early seventies albums to ignore this any longer. S reacted with some vehemence but balanced his fierce – yet articulate – tirade against Dwight by saying he’d heard a song called Tiny Dancer that was actually rather good. Well, I’ve since downloaded 1970’s Tumbleweed Connection and I’ll give it a try over the next few days. Apparently it was inspired by the singer’s love of The Band and has a tangible Western feel. It might change my life. I doubt it though.