Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Elton John · S4 E7
Dodger Stadium
October 1975. Two nights, 100,000 fans, a sequined Dodgers uniform, and the most spectacular live shows of the decade
October 25, 1975. Elton John walks onto the stage at Dodger Stadium in a sequined Dodgers uniform, and the roar from 55,000 people drowns out the opening notes of the piano.
Elton John -- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1974). A Beatles cover featuring John Lennon on guitar under the pseudonym Dr. Winston O'Boogie. It hits number one in January 1975. Peak-era Elton: so big he covers the Beatles and beats their chart position.
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
Two sold-out nights. 55,000 fans per show. The coronation of the biggest pop star on the planet.
The Coronation
Five years after the Troubadour, where 300 people watched an unknown pianist, Elton fills a baseball stadium on two consecutive nights. Bob Mackie designs the sequined Dodgers uniform. The staging includes grand pianos, elaborate lighting rigs, and costume changes that turn the show into a three-hour theatrical event.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1974)
Elton transforms the Beatles original into a reggae-tinged glam stomp, heavier and more theatrical than Lennon's psychedelic version. Lennon himself plays guitar and sings backing vocals, credited as Dr. Winston O'Boogie to dodge contractual issues. Listen for the moment the chorus explodes: Elton pushes his vocal into a full-throated shout that the original never attempted.
TAP TO REVEAL: Who was in the audience at Dodger Stadium?
I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) -- Elton John
From Rock of the Westies (1975). A devastatingly sad ballad hidden on the same album as "Island Girl." While the singles are all pop and bounce, this track strips everything back to piano and vocal. The deep cut that proves the Dodger Stadium showman is still, underneath it all, a songwriter.
What pseudonym did John Lennon use when playing guitar on Elton's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"?
Dodger Stadium is the summit. Next: four albums in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time, a record no artist has matched since.
0 XP earned this session