On November 13th, Elton John will release a career-spanning eight-CD box set titled Elton: Jewel Box. John personally selected the tracks for the collection, which includes rarities, demos, B-sides and fan favorites from throughout his long career. To preview the set, John has dropped the previously unreleased 1969 rarity “Sing Me No Sad Songs.”
“To delve back through every period of my career in such detail for Jewel Box has been an absolute pleasure,” John said in a statement. “Hearing these long lost tracks again, I find it hard to comprehend just how prolific [lyricist] Bernie [Taupin] and I were during the early days. The songs just poured out of us, and the band were just unbelievable in the studio.”
“I always want to push forward with everything I do and look to the future, but having time during lockdown to take stock and pull these moments from my memory from each era has been a joy,” he continued. “As a devout record collector myself, this project has really excited me, and I couldn’t be happier with the level of craft involved in such a carefully curated, lovingly constructed box set. I’m sure my fans will enjoy it as much as I have.”
Elton: Jewel Box is divided into four sections: Deep Cuts, Rarities, B-Sides 1976-2005 and This Is Me… The latter one spotlights songs mentioned by name in his 2019 memoir, Me. It wraps up with his Academy Award winning song, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” from his biopic Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton.
The rarities sections will be especially interesting to hardcore fans. It begins with material recorded in 1965 with his band Bluesology and moves into his earliest solo songs co-written with lyricist Bernie Taupin, including “Regimental Sgt. Zippo” and “Bonnie’s Gone Away.” By the end of disc three, piano demos of familiar songs such as “Burn Down the Mission” and “Madman Across the Water” appear.
The collection will be released in numerous formats, including an eight-CD box set that comes with a hardcover book full of photos and commentary by John, a four-LP set, a three-LP set and a two-LP version. It will also be available as a digital download and through streaming services.
John was forced to suspend his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in March due to the pandemic. As of now, he plans on resuming it January 15th, 2021 at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Elton: Jewel Box Tracklist
CD1 Deep Cuts
1. ” Monkey Suit”
2. “Where To Now St Peter?”
3. “Mellow”
4. “The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)”
5. “Chameleon”
6. “Gone To Shiloh”
7. “We All Fall in Love Sometimes”
8. “Too Low for Zero”
9. “The Power With Little Richard”
10. “All That I’m Allowed”
11. “The Bridge”
12. “The New Fever Waltz”
13. “Stone’s Throw From Hurtin’”
14. “The North”
15. “Hoop of Fire”
16. “Boogie Pilgrim”
CD2 Deep Cuts
1. “Ticking”
2. “Crystal”
3. “All Quiet on the Western Front”
4. “Tell Me When the Whistle Blows”
5, “Freaks in Love”
6. “Never Too Old (to Hold Somebody)”
7. “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
8. “House”
9. “(Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket”
10. “Understanding Women”
11. “Shoot Down the Moon”
12. “Have Mercy on the Criminal”
13. “Blues for Baby and Me”
14. “My Quicksand”
15. “Street Kids”
CD3: Rarities Part One 1865-1968
1. “Come Back Baby” Bluesology
2. “Mr. Frantic” Bluesology
3. “Scarecrow” (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
4. “A Dandelion Dies in the Wind’ (Piano Demo)
5. “Velvet Fountain” (Piano Demo)
6. “A Little Love Goes a Long Way” (Piano Demo)
7. “If You Could See Me Now” (Piano Demo)
8. “Mr. Lightning Strikerman” (Piano Demo)
9. “Countryside Love Affair” (Piano Demo)
10. “I Could Never Fall in Love With Anybody Else” (Piano Demo)
11. “I Get a Little Bit Lonely” (Piano Demo)
12. “The Witch’s House” (Piano Demo)
13. “Get Out of This Town” (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
14. “Year of the Teddy Bear” (Piano Demo)
15. “Where It’s At” (Piano/Percussion Demo)
16. “Who’s Gonna Love You” (Piano/Percussion Demo)
17. “Nina” (Band Version)
18. “Angel Tree” (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
19. “Here’s to the Next Time” (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
20. “Thank You for All Your Loving” (Band Version)
21. “Watching the Planes Go By” (Band Version)
22. “When the First Tear Shows” (Arranged Band Version)
23. “Tartan Coloured Lady” (Arranged Band Version)
CD4. Rarities Part Two 1968
1. “Hourglass” (Band Version)
2. “71-75 New Oxford Street” (Band Demo)
3. “Turn to Me: (Arranged Band Version)
4. “Reminds Me of You” (Piano Demo)
5. “I Can’t Go on Living Without You” (Arranged Band Version)
6, “And the Clock Goes Round” (Piano Demo)
7. “When I Was Tealby Abbey” (Piano Demo)
8. “I’ll Stop Living When You Stop Loving Me” (Piano Demo)
9. “Trying to Hold On to a Love That’s Dying” (Piano Demo)
10. “Sitting Doing Nothing” (Band Version)
11. “Regimental Sgt. Zippo” (Band Version)
12. “Cry Willow Cry” (Band Demo)
13. “There Is Still a Little Love” (Band Demo)
14. “If I Asked You” (Band Demo)
15. “Skyline Pigeon” (Piano Demo)
16. “Two of a Kind” (Arranged Band Version)
17. “The Girl on Angel Pavement” (Arranged Band Version)
18. “Smokestack Children” (Arranged Band Version)
19. “Baby I Miss You” (Band Demo)
20. “All Across the Havens” (Piano/Guitar Demo)
21. “Bonnie’s Gone Away” (Piano/Guitar Demo)
22. “Just an Ordinary Man” (Piano Demo)
23. “There’s Still Time for Me” (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
CD5: Rarities Part Three 1968-1971
1. “The Tide Will Turn for Rebecca” (Piano Demo)
2. “Dick Barton Theme (Devil’s Gallop)” (Bread And Beer Band)
3. “Breakdown Blues” (Bread And Beer Band)
4. “Taking the Sun From My Eyes” (Arranged Band Version)
5. “It’s Me That You Need” (Band Demo)
6. “Sing Me No Sad Songs” (Band Demo)
7. “The Flowers Will Never Die” (Piano Demo)
8. “In the Morning” (Band Demo)
9. “Open Your Eyes to the Sun” (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
10. “One Time, Sometime or Never” (Band Demo)
11. “Slow Fade to Blue” (Piano/Guitar Demo)
12. “Rolling Western Union” (Piano Demo)
13. “My Father’s Gun” (Piano Demo)
14. “Amoreena” (Piano Demo)
15. “Burn Down the Mission” (Piano Demo)
16. “Razor Face” (Piano Demo)
17. “Madman Across the Water” (Piano Demo)
18. “Holiday Inn” (Piano Demo)
19. “All the Nasties” (Piano Demo)
CD6: B Sides Part One 1976-1984
1. “Snow Queen”
2. “Conquer the Sun”
3. “Cartier”
4. “White Man Danger”
5. “Tactics”
6. “Steal Away Child”
7. “Love so Cold”
8. “Les Aveux”
9. “Donner Pour Donner”
10. “J’veux D’la Tendresse”
11. “Fools in Fashion”
12. “Can’t Get Over Getting Over Losing You”
13. “Tortured”
14. “Hey Papa Legba”
15. “Take Me Down to the Ocean”
16. “Where Have All the Good Times Gone?” (Alternate Mix)
17. “The Retreat”
18. “Choc Ice Goes Mental”
19. “A Simple Man”
CD7: B-Sides Part Two 1984-2005
1. “Lonely Boy”
2. “Highlander”
3. “Billy and the Kids”
4. “Lord of the Flies”
5. “Rope Around a Fool”
6. “Medicine Man”
7. “I Know Why I’m in Love”
8. “Big Man in a Little Suit”
9. “God Never Came Here”
10. “The North Star”
11. “Did Anybody Sleep With Joan of Arc”
12. “So Sad the Renegade”
13. “A Little Peace”
14. “Keep it a Mystery”
15. “How’s Tomorrow”
16. “Peter’s Song”
17. “Things Only Get Better With Love”
CD8: And This Is Me…
1. “Empty Sky”
2. “Lady Samantha”
3. “Border Song”
4. “My Father’s Gun”
5. “All the Nasties”
6. “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself”
7. “Philadelphia Freedom”
8. “Song for Guy”
9. “Sartorial Eloquence”
10. “Elton’s Song”
11. “Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)”
12. “I Fall Apart”
13. “Amazes Me”
14. “The Last Song”
15. “American Triangle”
16. “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”
