Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Who is Alvin Tostig?



You'd have to ask Bernie Taupin, who writes 100% of Elton John's Lyrics

I asked the interweb though, and consensus is that Alvin Tostig is Levon's father

and who is Levon?

# 1 on my list of songs I love that make no sense. Its from the 1971 album Madman Across the Water. Its been one of my favorite songs since I was a little kid, and though I love to imagine Little Jesus on the porch blowing up balloons and watching them fly I have no idea what this song is about and really don't care. The best I can guess is that its a multi-generational parable about breaking away from the expectations of your parents, with some messianic/end of the world stuff thrown in for good measure. Whatever the meaning,the song works on every level!

LEVON




PS. Nigel Olsson, with Elton since the early seventies, is one of my all time favorite drummers... because he understands the power of space and laying in just behind the beat. Check out his sweet, sweet drum kit in this clip.

1 comment:

quickdraw said...

Also, dig his crop top. Seriously though, he's a pretty awesome drummer. Where was that taped? Excellent live performance and those camera angles are outstanding.