The fourth song on Elton John's fourth album, recorded on February 27, 1971, is 'Levon'. The lyrics, like so many others, were written by the great Bernie Taupin. The track speaks of a son being born to Alvin Tostig on Christmas day ... sing it with me .... And he shall be Levon / And he shall be a good man. The song [and main character] was named in tribute to Levon Helm, as The Band was one of Bernie and Elton's favorite groups at the time.
Elton John and his partner David Furnish just a few weeks ago became the parents of a baby boy, born to a surrogate mother, a pawn as it were. The men named their son Zachary Jackson Levon in tribute to Elton's song from nearly 40 years earlier. And the best part of this story is that, just as the song goes, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born on Christmas Day.
Let's all tip our caps to Levon Helm and listen to the studio version of 'Levon' from Madman Across The Water, one of Elton John's best:
1 comment:
when EJ was on Spectacle with Elvis Costello he talked at great length about how inspirational The Band were to him and BT. He then explained how Tumbleweed Connection (great album) was really an homage to/attempt at the Band's sound. He went on and on how he was listening to a lot of The Band and Van Morrison at the time, and admitted that "Amoreena" was him just trying to do his best Van Morrison impression. Really eye opening, and a great album worth every penny. "Burn down the mission," "Country Comfort" "Ballad of a well-known gun," all of it is just so good.
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