Davey Johnstone

David William Logan "Davey" Johnstone (born 6 May 1951, Edinburgh, Scotland), is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with Elton John.

Career

Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1968, where he received his first album credit on the album Another Round. By 1969, Johnstone had secured regular work as a session musician, where he began to branch out and explore differing genres of music, and experiment with a variety of instruments. In 1970, when Lyell Tranter, one of the two guitarists in the acoustic British folk group Magna Carta, left the band, Johnstone took his place as a member. He recorded several albums with them beginning in 1970 on Seasons, (1970) and continued to contribute to Songs from Wasties Orchard (1971), (named after the street where he lived in Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire), and a live album entitled In Concert.

During his stint with Magna Carta, Johnstone played a wide variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin, sitar, and dulcimer. It was during his work with Magna Carta that he caught the attention of producer Gus Dudgeon who asked Johnstone to play on Bernie Taupin's eponymous 1970 solo album, which resulted in a meeting with Elton John and Johnstone playing on his 1971 album Madman Across the Water. After playing on Madman Across the Water, he was invited to join Elton John's band as a full member. Previously, the Elton John Band consisted of John himself, bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson.

Elton John

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Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriting partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top 10, four No. 2 and nine No. 1. For 31 consecutive years (1970–2000) he had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. He has also composed music, produced records, and has occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and 1997 to 2002. He is an honorary Life President of the club, and in 2014 had a stand named after him at the club's home stadium.

Johnstone

Coordinates: 55°50′05″N 4°30′10″W / 55.83461°N 4.50272°W / 55.83461; -4.50272

Johnstone (Scots: Johnstoun,Scottish Gaelic: Baile Iain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

The town lies 3 miles (5 km) west of neighbouring Paisley and 12 miles (19 km) west of the centre of the city of Glasgow. Part of the biggest conurbation in Scotland, Johnstone is at the western edge of the Greater Glasgow Urban Area.

The town was a planned community created in the latter half of the 18th century by the local Laird, George Ludovic Houston who held an estate in the town, the remains of which are known as Johnstone Castle. Industrial development brought coal mining, thread-making and cotton weaving to Johnstone causing it to grow considerably in size, expanding out in the 1930s with a number of newly built residential areas which addressed the problem of population density in the historic area of the town. Today it supports a small commercial centre and serves as a commuter settlement for Paisley and Glasgow.

Nigel Olsson

Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer, and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John.

A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of John's original power trio alongside bassist Dee Murray. When not working with John, Olsson has taken up the role of a session musician. Olsson has composed, recorded, and produced albums for his own solo career.

Career

Early years

Olsson was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, the second of five boys of John and Elsa Olsson. He began his musical career playing the guitar in small bands, and took up the drums at a gig where the drummer did not show up. His first appearance on a record album was in the band Plastic Penny, which released Two Sides of a Penny on Page One Records in 1968. Olsson was spotlighted on one song on that album, "I Want You," performing both lead vocals and a drum solo. In 1969 he played drums on the "flower power" pop single "Mr. Boyd" b/w "Imagine" by Argosy, a one-off group which also included Reginald Dwight (later known as Elton John), Caleb Quaye, and Roger Hodgson. Olsson also served a brief time with the English hard rock band Uriah Heep, playing drums one one song on their 1970 debut LP, Very 'eavy... Very 'umble. Subsequently, he played drums on one track on Elton John's debut album, Empty Sky, and then became a member of The Spencer Davis Group with bassist Dee Murray. The pair joined John on the road as his touring band, and played with John during his debut tour in the United States at the Troubadour Club on 25 August 1970. Only permitted at first to play on one track of John's studio albums, Olsson and Murray were added, along with guitarist Davey Johnstone, who was newest to the band, and all teamed up to play and sing backing vocals on Elton John's early 1970s albums.

Elton

Places

England

United States

Elsewhere

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