Released on 29 August 2025, Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The Making of an Epic Album by
Andrea Grasso and Luca Perasi (L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 164 pages,
paperback) tells the story of one of the most important records of pop
music, an epic double album that established itself as the pinnacle of
Elton John’s career. “This is a key release in the Milestones series,”
says Luca Perasi, music journalist known for his works on Paul McCartney
and collaborator of his company MPL in 2022, who now runs the
publisher. “How could a series of books about some of the most important
rock albums not include such a record? It took a while to gather all
the information, but I’m very happy with the results.”
The book is co-authored with Andrea Grasso, of one the most important
Elton John’s collectors and experts. “From 1970 to 1973, Elton slowly
built his reputation as a top-class singer-songwriter with each album,”
adds Andrea Grasso, “but Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the
definitive statement of his and Bernie’s vision, which projected them
onto the path of superstardom. They continued to enjoy worldwide success
and top sales for decades to come, but in terms of sales and
creativity, this was their peak.”
Despite the album's importance — it had its own DVD and has been reissued several times over the decades — this is the first time a book has been entirely dedicated to it. “When Luca offered me to write this book with him, I was enthusiastic,” reflects Grasso, who could rely on his collection, part of which had been referred to in an article of Record Collector magazine. “This is my favourite Elton album and one of my favourites by any artist and I started searching in my huge archive anything that Elton, Bernie and all the people involved in the album narrated about its sessions, finding many great little-known anecdotes… this work was pure fun!”
Enriched with exclusive interviews with Ian Beck and David Paton, the book provides a historical account of the circumstances that led to the recording of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and offers an unprecedented insight into this ambitious double album in the tradition of The Beatles’ “White Album” but recorded mostly in just 16 days in the studio.
“This is an album imbued with film heroes and heroines as well and fantasy characters and depicts its own world,” adds Perasi. “Musically, there’s an incredible variety of scenarios, ranging from rock ‘n’ roll to pop, from country to music hall. The vocabulary that Elton brought into it is a marvel. A book on such an album was long overdue.”
Drawing on archive material and numerous contemporary and retrospective interviews and reviews, the book explores all the aspects that made this a legendary record: the failure of the recordings in Jamaica, the whole process behind the sessions, their timeline – for the first time, all the exact recording dates are presented in this volume – the stories behind the songs (including B-sides and the single “Step Into Christmas”), their harmonic inventions, the various instrumental contributions by the band a and a short lyrical analysis. The legacy of the album is also explored.
This is the fourth volume in the Milestones series, which includes books on Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run and Press to Play and XTC’s Skylarking. Upcoming titles and artists in the series will include The Police’s Regatta de Blanc, Wings’ Back to the Egg, George Harrison’s eponymous album and Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat.
Available only through Amazon:
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