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An archival live album from Elton John, released earlier this year for Record Store Day, is getting a wider release this summer.
Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper will come back to LP as well as bow on CD and digital on July 25, featuring all 12 tracks from the original release plus one extra, a disc-closing rendition of "Goodbye." The British piano pop icon, who released the collaborative studio album Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile in April, curated the album, drawn from six stripped-back dates at the London venue. The album centers deeper cuts from Elton's '70s material - "Border Song" is perhaps the most recognizable - offering album sides from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy and the previous fall's latest, the double album Blue Moves.
The Rainbow sets came at a fascinating time: after a breakneck pace, Elton hadn't been seen in concert in nearly eight months, and the month of May 1977 also marked the first time in five years that none of his singles or albums (11 studio releases, two live records and a greatest hits collection) were in the U.K. charts. Despite the success, it was also a period of personal and professional upheaval: in 1975, he sacked most of his stalwart touring band, and in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone announced that he was bisexual. (He's since been open about being gay, in a committed relationship with manager David Furnish for decades.) The resultant live sets were a bit of a creative rebirth, then, with only percussionist Ray Cooper joining for part of the solo piano sets. Elton would in fact announce his retirement from the stage by 1977's end, though he of course reneged on that; a recent 1979 performance with Cooper from the former Soviet Union was given a similar RSD to general release in 2019 and 2020.
Amazon links are still populating below, but should be fully available soon in time for the July 25 release of Live At The Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)
Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper (Rocket/Mercury/UMe, 2025)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)
- The Greatest Discovery
- Border Song
- Cage the Songbird
- Where to Now, St. Peter?
- Ticking
- Better Off Dead +
- Sweet Painted Lady
- Tonight +
- Idol +
- I Feel Like a Bullet in the Gun of Robert Ford +
- Roy Rogers
- Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)
- Goodbye *
All tracks recorded live at the Rainbow Theatre, London, England - 5/2 to 5/7/1977 (+ with Ray Cooper on percussion)
Tracks 1-12 released as Record Store Day exclusive LP - Rocket/Mercury/UMR 756 049-1, 2025. Track 13 previously unreleased
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I KNEW I shouldn't have bought that RSD release. I really don't like when they do this. Oh well, I can alway dump it on discogs.
How does the vinyl sound?
Sound quality is pretty good. It's just that I tend not to buy vinyl for an archival release like this. It's a great performance.
I really wish they would have released the full concert.
Given the quality and capacity of CD’s, it’s a shame they don’t release the concert in full. The cost difference between a digi pack single and two disc release is minimal. Even the similar Soviet concert release from 1979 was missing tracks. With they’d view these releases from the fans perspective.
Agree 100%!