Elton John to Release 50th Anniversary Edition of 'Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'

Elton John’s album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy will receive a 50th Anniversary Edition reissue, out on October 24th via UMe. The special reissue will be available on multiple formats, including 2LP, 2CD, and 1LP, Live At Midsummer Music, Wembley Stadium 1975, which was the album’s live debut, as well as a booklet containing never-before-seen entries from Elton’s personal diary. All are available to pre-order now here.

His 9th album in six years, Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, would break new ground upon its initial release in 1975. A concept album devised with John's longtime collaborator and lyricist Bernie Taupin, it told the chronological story of the early years of Elton (Captain Fantastic) and Bernie’s (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) musical careers in London as they struggled to break through.

Featuring the single “Someone Saved My Life Tonight, ”the album went on to become the first in history to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and the first to be certified Gold upon its release due to the number of pre-orders. It sold 1.4 million copies in its first four days and remained at the top of the chart for 7 weeks.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was written aboard The SS France – at the time, the world’s longest passenger liner - as Elton was taking the leisurely route back to the US for a breather in a very hectic year. With a sheaf of words already provided by lyricist Bernie Taupin, Elton wrote the music using downtime in the liner’s music room, the Salon Debussy, committing everything to memory as he didn’t have a tape recorder, before recording at Caribou Ranch with longtime producer Gus Dudgeon.

This 50th anniversary edition suite contains the 2016 remaster of the original album, previously unreleased session demos, plus Elton’s live performance of tracks from the album, recorded during 2005 for the album’s 30th anniversary. It also includes a 28-page booklet, containing sleeve notes and Elton’s never-before-seen 1974 diary entries.

Amongst the various formats available to fans is a recording of Midsummer Music Live At Wembley, 1975. This performance, featuring the 10 Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy tracks, marked the first time Elton had played the album live, and is available for the first time on vinyl. With a stacked bill hand-picked by Elton that included Rufus with Chaka Khan, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, and The Beach Boys, the 72,000 fans officially at Wembley Stadium (estimates put it closer to 100,000) were warmed up and ready to hear the hits. The decision, however, was made to play the newly released album in full from start to finish, and, despite a restless crowd, many of whom left, the result is a quite remarkable recording of what would become a firm fan favorite album.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (50th Anniversary Edition) Tracklists:

2CD

CD1:

1.        Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

2.        Tower Of Babe

3.        Bitter Fingers

4.        Tell Me When The Whistle Blows

5.        Someone Saved My Life Tonight     

6.        (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket

7.        Better Off Dead

8.        Writing

9.        We All Fall In Love Sometimes

10.      Curtains

11.      Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

12.      One Day At A Time

13.      Philadelphia Freedom

14.      House Of Cards

CD2:

1.        Tell Me When The Whistle Blows (Session Demo)

2.        Captain Fantastic Take 1 (Session Demo)

3.        Writing (Session Demo)

4.        We All Fall In Love Sometimes (Session Demo)

5.        Captain Fantastic Take 2 (Session Demo)

6.        Bitter Fingers (Session Demo)

7.        Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (Captain Fantastic Live / 2005)

8.        Bitter Fingers (Captain Fantastic Live /2005)

9.        Tell Me When The Whistle Blows (Captain Fantastic Live / 2005)

10.      Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Captain Fantastic Live / 2005)

11.      (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket (Captain Fantastic Live / 2005)

12.      Better Off Dead (Captain Fantastic Live /2005)

13.      We All Fall In Love Sometimes / Curtains (Captain Fantastic Live / 2005)

1LP: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Live At Midsummer Music, Wembley Stadium 1975

Side A

1.        Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (Live At Midsummer Music / 1975)

2.        Tower Of Babel (Live At Midsummer Music/ 1975)

3.        Bitter Fingers (Live At Midsummer Music/ 1975)

4.        Tell Me When The Whistle Blows (Live At Midsummer Music / 1975)

5.        Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Live At Midsummer Music / 1975)

Side B

1.        (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket (Live At Midsummer Music / 1975)

2.        Better Off Dead (Live At Midsummer Music/ 1975)

3.        Writing (Live At Midsummer Music /1975)

4.        We All Fall In Love Sometimes (Live At Midsummer Music / 1975)

5.        Curtains (Live At Midsummer Music /1975)

About Elton John:

Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity. Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time. In the UK and US charts alone he has 2 Diamond, 43 Platinum or Multi-Platinum, and 26 Gold albums as well as over 85 Top 40 hits. He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.

Among the many awards and honours bestowed upon him are six GRAMMYs, including a GRAMMY Legend award, a Tony, two Oscars, a Best British Male Artist BRIT Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honor, Legend of Live Award, 13 Ivor Novello Awards and a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for “services to music and charitable services”. In January 2024, Elton John joined Hollywood’s elite group of EGOT winners after securing his first-ever EMMY Award for his historic Disney+ live, concert special Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.

He holds the record for the biggest-selling physical single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which sold over 33 million copies. Released in 2017 ‘Diamonds’ the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, became Elton’s43rd UK Top 40 album and has spent over 300 consecutive weeks in the top 75 of the UK album charts, over 200 of these in the top 20. This release celebrated50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. It topped the UK charts in January 2025, becoming his 9th UK number 1 album, achieving 4 times Platinum status in the process and is the longest charting album of Elton’s career 62-deep catalogue.

August 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart history, having logged 71 entries, including nine No. 1s and 29 Top 10s. ‘The Lockdown Sessions’, an album of collaborations recorded during the COVID-19 Pandemic, was released in October 2021 and went straight to No. 1 in the UK album Charts, becoming Elton’s 8th UK No. 1 album in the process. Its lead single “Cold Heart(PNAU Remix) with Dua Lipa” became a bona fide global hit, reaching No. 1 in over 20 charts world-wide, including the UK and Australia. Its success meant that Elton became the first ever solo artist to score a UK Top 10 hit single in six consecutive decades. In America, he holds the record for longest span between Billboard top 40 hits among soloists at 51 years and currently has logged 57 entries. Elton also holds the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart record with 18 No. 1s and 76 total songs. Summer of2022 saw another global smash single, as Elton and Britney Spears released ‘Hold Me Closer’, a Top 5 hit in the UK and a No. 1 hit in the Australian single charts.

Elton announced the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour at New York’s Gotham Hall in January 2018. The tour kicked off on 10th September 2018in North America and subsequently saw Elton play 330 shows to over 6.25 million fans across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia. The shows marked his retirement from touring after more than 50 years on the road. In 2019 it was named Billboard's Top Rock Tour and Pollstar’s Major Tour Of The Year. The U.S. leg of the tour concluded with 3 sell out shows at Dodger Stadium. The concert was live streamed on Disney + in every single territory the channel broadcasts in, a global first. Elton headlined Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in June 2023,the final UK show before the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour concluded. The Sunday night closer was widely heralded as one of the greatest performances in the festival's rich history, attracting one of the largest crowds ever witnessed at the festival. It also received the biggest ever televised audience for a Glastonbury set, reaching 7.6m overnight on BBC1. Elton has delivered more than 4,600 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970.

2019 also saw the release of ‘Rocketman’ and global bestselling autobiography, ‘ME’. An epic fantasy musical motion picture of Elton’s life, 'Rocketman' has been a commercial and critical hit, taking close to $200m at the box office. It has won an Oscar, two Golden Globe Awards and a Critics’ Choice Award and garnered four BAFTA nominations. The soundtrack was also nominated for a GRAMMY Award. ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ follows Elton as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-yearcareer in an emotionally charged, intimate and uplifting full-circle journey. Directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish the documentary premieres in December2024, on Disney+.

In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. So far the Foundation has raised more than $600 million for HIV/AIDS grants, funding more than 3,000 projects in over 90 countries. In June 2019 President Emmanuel Macron presented Elton the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest award, for his lifetime contribution to the arts and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Elton was awarded the Companion of Honour in the 2021 New Year Honours list in the UK. The highest acknowledgement in the list, Elton became one of only 64 people to hold the Honour. September 2022 saw President Biden awarding him the National Humanities Medal in recognition of his storied career and advocacy work to end AIDS. Always a tireless champion of new artists, Elton has been a leading industry voice in lobbying the government for young artists visa-free touring rights in Europe post Brexit.

In 2024, Fragile Beauty opened at the V&A Museum to widespread critical acclaim. Running until 2025, the exhibition showcases an unparalleled selection of the world’s leading photography from Elton and David Furnish’s collection.

2025 has seen the release of Elton’s chart topping album with close friend and eleven-time GRAMMY winning US superstar Brandi Carlile, Who Believes In Angels? A true collaboration between Elton, Brandi, Bernie Taupin and multiple GRAMMY Award winning producer and songwriter Andrew Watt, the ten track LP was a global critical and commercial success and Elton’s tenth UK number one album.