The online illustrated Elton John Discography
by David Bodoh
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Ever since Elton John started on the road to superstardom, there have been authors writing books about his public and personal life. This page catalogs the various biographies and other related books written about Elton John. Some of the entries here are second printings or from different countries written in different languages, but all of them have unique cover designs. They are presented here in chronological order of year published. Some books still in print have links to purchase the book from Amazon.com.
Title: 25 Years In The Charts
Author: John Tobler
Year: 1995
publisher: Hamlyn
ISBN: 0-600-58777-0
pages: 208
binding: hardcover
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[description text from overleaf:]
In a career which had its humble beginnings in the UK beat-and-blues scene of the mid-1960s, before he was swiftly catapulted onto the stages of the world's rock stadia, Elton John has combined the role of singer-sogwriter with that of dynamic stage performer and million-selling recording artist.

With a string of hit singles and multi-platinum albums to his credit, he has featured in the best sellers worldwide, in addition to appearing live in all major territories (he was the first Western rock star to play the former Soviet Union), founding his own record label, and even serving on the board of directors of Watford Football Club!

This lavishly illustrated celebration of Elton John's 25 years in the charts features over 200 pictures along with a comprehensive biography, plus details of tours and record releases from throughout the spectacular history of one of popular music's true superstars.

Title: Rocket Man (The Encyclopedia Of Elton John)
Author: Claude Bernardin and Tom Stanton
Year: 1995
publisher: Greenwood Press
ISBN: 0-313-29700-2
pages: 252
binding: hardcover
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[description text from back cover:]
Grammy winner for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from Disney's 1994 blockbuster movie The Lion King, Elton John is a musician that has transcended generations. Since his U.S. debut 25 years ago, E.J. has scored a to-40 hit every year. This first reference dedicated to the legendary singer/sogwriter, who has been enchanting fans for nearly three decades, contains hundreds of anecdotes on people, places, and things related to his career.

Four sections to this encyclopedia feature:

  • Elton A-Z - highliting explanations, details, and anecdotes related to aspects of his career and life, with entries on celebrity friends, important places, and a wide variety of topics.
  • Albums - presenting a chronological, behind-the-scenes look at Elton John's more than 35 albums up to and including 1995's Made in England
  • Performances - listing his concert tours year by year and highlighting major performances such as John Lennon's final stage appearance in a 1974 show, a 1979 concert in Russia, and a little-publicized 1992 tribute
  • Songs - listing alphabetically more than 500 songs recorded or written by Elton John
This well-researched volume offers a gold mine of Elton John trivia gathered by one of the artist's historians and the editor of the international Elton John fan magazine East End Lights. Fans and popular music buffs will enjoy the comprehensive treatment on this 25th anniversary of Elton John's U.S. debut.
Title: Elton My Elton
Author: Gary Clarke
Year: 1995
publisher: Smith Gryphon Limited
ISBN: 1-8568-093-5
pages: 245
binding: hardcover
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[description text from overleaf:]
One man is a world-famous rock star; the other a young and impressionable Australian. Their lives became inextricably entwined as, over a turbulent period of more than a decade and in exotic locations that spanned several continents, they experienced the exhilarating highs and devastating lows of an excessive and passionate lifestyle.

Elton John is the singer and songwriter superstar who single-handedly accounts for some 10 percent of international music sales. And his life has attracted the kind of interest reserved exclusively for such high-profile celebrities. For the first time it is told here by someone who knew him intimately. Through a lively mix of personal experience, human drama, rock history and social comment, Gary Clarke traces Elton's life from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

The tale he tells is controversial, tracking the riotous fast lane in the professional rock-star circuit as much as the extravagant and extraordinary events of Elton John's personal, day-to-day life: the drugs, the guys and the entourage, the battles and the bravado, as well as his sudden and traumatic marriage to Renate Blauel, a German tape operator. With great compassion he also describes, in intimate detail, the softer side of Elton, the strong relationship he had with his mother, and most especially his triumph over drug excesses.

Inisghtful and direct, poignant and sometimes shocking, Elton, my Elton is written from the heart with great candour and affection and with exclusive, insider access to Elton John's innermost secrets. It is an exciting, amusing and often risqué exposé of his roller-coaster, high sparkling, colourful life - and equally of his love affairs, doubts and occasional deepest despair.

Title: Elton John Rocket Man
Author: Susan Crimp and Patricia Burstein
Year: 1996
publisher: Heyne Bücher
Country: Germany
pages: 350
binding: paperback
[description text from back cover:]
Die Biographie eines Chamäleons und Pop-Genies - die Geschichte Elton Johns hinter den schrillen Fassaden, schönen Balladen und berüchtigten Skandalen!

»Gewissenhaft recherchiert, kritisch geschrieben und spannend zu lesen gelingt hier ein Bildnis der Zwischentöne im Aufstieg des Popgenies, wie es in der Öffentlichkeit noch nie zu erfahren war.«

Title: Elton John's Flower Fantasies
Author: Caroline Cass
Year: 1997
publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd
ISBN: 0-8212-2467-0
pages: 144
binding: hardcover
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[description text from overleaf:]
Elton John's inimitable style embraces a passion for his houses and garden, where he indulges in a riot of flower fantasies. Spirited, lavish and beautiful, these arrangements are spectacular and created to his exacting taste and preferences in presentation, color and use of flowers. Elton's country house near Windsor, just outside London, and his Holland Park home, are the showplaces for his passion - apparent both in his country garden, designed by Rosemary Verey and Sir Roy Strong, and in his exquisitely appointed interiors, where carefully orchestrated fresh floral displays are created each week. Flower Fantasies shows a year of dazzling arrangements in his homes, room by room, and embracing all the seasons.

Elton John's Flower Fantasies is a celebration of Elton John's style, infused with his personality and creativity as well as his love of flowers. With Caroline Cass, he speaks of his devotion to flowers and how they are displayed throughout his houses. Color is a major theme of the arrangements, which bring together both simple, bold statements and surprising and beautiful combinations.

Elton John's Flower Fantasies provides an inside view of Elton John's homes, with their breathtaking collections arranged in a series of extraordinary rooms infused with his highly individual personality. Each room is adorned with paintings and objets d'art that complement the magnificent arrangements. Many of Elton's trademark possessions - hats, jewelry, clothes, shoes and spectacles - are also on display, making each photograph a charming personal affair.

Title: I Miti Canzone
Year: 1997
publisher: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
ISBN: 88-04-44199-2
Country: Italy
pages: 94
binding: paperback
A book containing lyrics to 32 songs, in both English and Italian. Plus a brief introduction and discography.
Title: The Life and Music of a Legendary Performer
Author: Michael Heatley
Year: 1998
publisher: CLB International
ISBN: 1-85833-945-6
pages: 140
binding: hardcover
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[description text from back cover:]
Elton John's life story is the history of three decades of pop music on both sides of the Atlantic. It is also the history of everyone for whom his songs are rich with memories, for whom an album track can conjure up a special time, a relationship, or an important event. For, as the record-breaking success of 'Goodbye England's Rose' has proven, no one can express the popular mood better than Elton John. In this, the most comprehensive biography to date, renowned pop and music author Michael Heatley chronicles the personal history, the songs and albums, the friends and colleagues behind a performing career that already spans thirty years and has now been rewarded with a well-deserved knighthood.
Title: Essential Elton
Author: Spencer Bright
Year: 1998
publisher: Chameleon Books
ISBN: 0-233-99361-4
pages: 128
binding: hardcover
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[description text from back cover:]
Essential Elton charts the highs and lows in the expanding career of one of Pop's most dazzling characters. Collected together here are the stories behind the forty defining songs of the former Reg Dwight's career; from Skyline Pigeon to Tantrums and Tiaras, from Your Song to Candle In The Wind '97.

And it's not just slices of pure pop like Daniel, Crocodile Rock and Sacrifice which make Essential Elton compelling reading - there are also the moments of shameless extravagance, charity and vanity which made headlines around the world.

These are the reasons why Sir Elton John truly is Rock Royalty.

Title: A Little Bit Funny
Author: Patrick Humphries
Year: 1998
publisher: Smithmark Publishers Inc.
ISBN: 0-8316-2726-8
pages: 143
binding: hardcover
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[description text from back cover:]
From Pinner to people's pop star, from humble Reg Dwight to Sir Elton John, renowned rock writer Patrick Humphries traces the glittering yellow brick road of Elton John's life and work.

From 'Your Song' to 'Candle In The Wind 97', tracing the many highs, number ones, sell-out tours and classic rock moments, A Little Bit Funny begins in a nondescript English suburb and ends in the flowering gardens of Buckingham Palace.

Illustrated throughout with more than seventy rare and classic photographs of the star, his spectacular stagewear, homes and possessions, this is the ultimate Elton John biography.

Title: Elton John
Author: Juan Mari Montes
Year: 1998
publisher: Ediciones Jucar
ISBN: 84-334-2093-3
Country: Spain
pages: 222
binding: softcover
[description text from back cover:]
Desde aquel chaval miope aficionado al arte de aporrear el piano que a los catorce años entraba a trabajar como recadero en una importante editorial musical, a esta estrella del rock cantando al borde del llanto en el funeral de Lady Di, hay una historia plagada de éxitos discográficos que están en la memoria de todos, y sonados escándalos que han hecho de la biografia de Elton John, una de las páginas más suculentas de las enciclopedias de música pop mundial.

Este libro que usted tiene entre las manos, escrito por el loterato, cantautor y letrista salmantino, Juan Mari Montes, alumbra con prosa ágil y atractiva estos sucesos artisticos y vitales del gran cantante y compositor británico.

Title: Sir Elton
Author: Philip Norman
Year: 2000
publisher: Carroll And Graf
ISBN: 0-7867-0820-4
Country: USA
pages: 581
binding: softcover
[description text from back cover:]
He was born Reginal Kenneth White[sic] in 1947, and be began his career in his teens pounding out tunes on the piano in a pub, The world, though, would soon know him as Elton John, the name that for the past three decades has epitomized rock-music superstardom. From blockbuster albums like Friends and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in the 1970s to award-winning scores in the nineties for the hit film and Broadway extravaganza The Lion King as well as the stage show Aida, Elton John has never failed to dazzle his audiences - and never more so than at the funeral of his close friend Diana, Princess of Wales, when he moved the world with his poignant rendition of "Candle in the Wind 1997" ("Goodbye England's Rose").

Comprehensive in scope and masterfully told, Philip Norman,s biography of th inimitable, legendary Elton John searches out the man behind the performer in glittering costumes and sky-high boots. Norman explores the draining addictions, the failed marriage, attempted suicides, and a multimillionaire;s supposed money troubles. He examines Elton's cumpulsions and coming out. He illuminates the creative drive that continues prodigiously and brilliantly to produce new music. What emerges is a frank, sympathetic portrait so truthful that Elton himself has said, "He's got me spot on."

Title: Sir Elton
Author: Philip Norman
Year: 2000
publisher: Pan Books
ISBN: 0-330-37734-5
Country: UK
pages: 581
binding: paperback
[description text from back cover:]
At the top for over three decades, Elton began his career s Reg Dwight pounding the piano in a Pinner pub, and peaked with 'Goodbye England's Rose' at the funeral if Diana, Princess of Wales.

In between we've seen it all, the glittering costumes, the indestructable classics, the sky-high boots, the draining addictions, the failed marriage, the coming out. Sir Elton also includes insights on that birthday party, and the TV documentary Tantrums and Tiaras.

This is the new, revised and updated edition of Philip Norman's acclaimed biography, a frank yet sympathetic portrait that explores the superstar's paradoxes and attributes - from the rise to success to the attempted suicides, from unsuccessful hair transplants to hte ground-breaking celebrityt auction, from Watford football club chairman to Versace shopaholic.

Title: His Song
Author: Elizabeth J. Rosenthal
Year: 2001
publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
ISBN: 0-8230-8893-6
pages: 538
binding: hardcover
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[description text from overleaf:]
Few artists in the music world have achieved the phenominal success of Elton John. From his self-titled debut album in 1970 to his 1995 Academy Award for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," to a 2000 Tony Award for his score for the Broadway hit Aida, he has been lauded for both his recordings and his extravagant live performances. A musicican whose popularity spans generations, Elton John has had a song in the U.S. Top 40 every year for thirty straight years - more than any other performer, including Elvis.

Comprehensive, engaging, and full of fascinating anecdotes, His Song is the definitive volume about this remarkable artist. Author Elizabeth J. Rosenthal reveals the full stories behind all of Elton's recordings; offers a complete chronicle of his concert tours, including his 1979 tour of the Soviet Union and those with fellow piano superstar Billy Joel in the 1990s; divulges how he grew from a meek, unassuming man into a personality powerhouse and major superstar; and gives the untold story behind his flamboyant costumes and why he wore them.

His Song also examines the ebbs and flows of this outstanding artist's career. It discloses the reason for Elton's commercial downturn and his difficult business relationship with David Geffen; his "coming out," first as a bisexual and finally as a gay man; his addictions to drugs, alcohol, bulimia, and sex; his relationship with AIDS sufferer Ryan White; and much more. It also tells the true story regarding his performance at Princess Diana's funeral and his rewriting of "Candle In The Wind," which went on to become the biggest-selling single in music history. Supplemented by more than forty photographs and a complete discography, His Song is essential reading for any fan of Elton John and his celebrated career.

Title: Christie's Exceptional Motor Cars from the Collection of Sir Elton John CBE
Year: 2001
publisher: Christie's International Motor Cars Ltd
pages: 122
binding: softcover
[description text from introduction:]
During the course of our research into the background of Sir Elton John's car collection we interviewed various long-term employees including: John Newman, Elton John's fleet manager; Derek Baulcombe, Elton John's chauffer and Bob Stacey, Elton John's Estate manager. These discussions enabled us to build up a profile of Elton John as a good employer who inspires loyalty and is friendly and warm towards his staff, a number of whom have worked with him for close to thirty years. Elton has amusing nicknames for them, John Newman is known as Nanette, Derek Baulcombe is Diedre and Bob Stacey, simply Stacey. All of them have obvious respect for Elton John as a person and as an artist. Bob Stacey defined Elton John ultimately as "... a Collector. He's a talented musician, and the music's one side of him, but ultimately he's a collector. He can't buy one of anything... its whatever he gets a feeling for. His art collection is really extensive and magnificent [he has a world-famous collection of photographs also, jewellery and watches] and it's the same with the cars... He always has the best of things... you see real art... not copies or prints [it's the same with his cars]... these cars are the real cars, the special hand-built ones... the expensive side of the market..."

Not only does Elton John own beautiful things, he clearly appreciates them and ensures that they are well looked after. John Newman feels paternal towards his charges and told us that he felt sad when he first heard that Elton John was going to sell most of his cars "... you do become attached to them... [I call them] my babies... I've had complimets over the years on how clean they are kept, its not just [how they] look, you do have to listen and feel for problems, the fleet has to be ready at all times, because you never know which car Elton is going to choose..." Newman takes each car out on a regular basis and ensures that they are ready at a moment's notice and that everything (including the sound systems and air conditioning etc.) works perfectly at all times.

Derek Baulcombe told us "... It's a pleasure to drive them all..."

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