Jump Up! (Elton John album)

Jump Up!
Studio album by Elton John
Released 9 April 1982
Recorded September-October 1981 at AIR Studios, Montserrat, and Pathe Marconi Studios, France
Genre Rock, soft rock, pop rock
Length 42:31
Label Geffen (US)
Rocket (UK)
Producer Chris Thomas
Elton John chronology
The Fox
(1981)
Jump Up
(1982)
Too Low for Zero
(1983)
Singles from Jump Up!
  1. "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)"
    Released: 12 March 1982
  2. "Blue Eyes"
    Released: March 1982
  3. "Princess"
    Released: 1982[1]
  4. "Ball and Chain"
    Released: September 1982
  5. "All Quiet on the Western Front"
    Released: November 1982

Jump Up! is the sixteenth official album release by Elton John. It was released in 1982 by The Rocket Record Company except in the US and Canada, where it was released by Geffen Records.

Background

The album includes "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", a tribute to John Lennon (who had also signed to Geffen for the release of Double Fantasy, which is now owned by EMI). This is one of the first few LPs that showcases John singing in a deeper voice, as can be heard in songs such as "Blue Eyes", "Princess", "Ball and Chain" and "Spiteful Child". "Legal Boys" was written by John and Tim Rice, who later wrote lyrics for The Lion King and The Road to El Dorado. This is the last studio album in which James Newton-Howard played keyboards (he played keyboards again on the soundtrack of Gnomeo & Juliet less than 30 years later).

In a 2010 Sirius radio special, John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin talking about Jump Up!, said it was "one of our worst albums". He added, "It's a terrible, awful, disposable album, but it had 'Empty Garden' on it, so it's worth it for that one song." In the United States, it was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1982. The album cover shows John's lifelong friend Vance Buck.

After 1982, only "Empty Garden" and "Blue Eyes" have been performed regularly.

Recording

It was recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat,[2] and Pathe Marconi Studios in France.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Rolling Stone[4]
Robert Christgau(B)[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Dear John" (John, Gary Osborne) – 3:28
  2. "Spiteful Child" – 4:11
  3. "Ball and Chain" (John, Osborne) – 3:27
  4. "Legal Boys" (John, Tim Rice) – 3:08
  5. "I Am Your Robot" – 4:42
  6. "Blue Eyes" (John, Osborne) – 3:25

Side two

  1. "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" – 5:05
  2. "Princess" (John, Osborne) – 4:55
  3. "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?" – 3:58
  4. "All Quiet on the Western Front" – 6:00

Previously only available in the later 1980s and early 1990s on CD in Europe with the Rocket/Phonogram label, in 2003, John's company, Rocket, in association with Mercury/Universal Records, reissued the album on CD, remastered by Gary Moore. It had no bonus tracks, but did include lots of new and previously released photographs of John during the early 1980s, full lyrics and snapshots of the cover art for the album's singles, along with liner notes by John Tobler.

Two slightly different artworks exist.

Outtakes

Outtakes from Jump Up! include "At This Time in My Life", "Desperation Train", "I'm Not Very Well", "Jerry's Law", "Moral Majority", "Waking Up in Europe" and "The Ace of Hearts and the Jack of Spades". They all have yet to see circulation, either on bootlegs or officially.[6]

However, "Desperation Train" was later recorded and released by John's lyricist Bernie Taupin on his 1987 album, Tribe.

B-sides

Song Format
"Take Me Down to the Ocean" "Empty Garden" 7" (US/UK)
"Hey Papa Legba" "Blue Eyes" 7" (US/UK)
"Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (alternate version) "All Quiet on the Western Front" 7" (UK) / "Ball and Chain" 7" (US)
"The Retreat" "Princess" 7" (UK)

"Hey Papa Legba" was recorded during the sessions for 21 at 33 in August 1979.

Personnel

Credits

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982) Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[7] 3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[8] 19
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[9] 26
French SNEP Albums Chart[10] 12
New Zealand Albums Chart[11] 1
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[12] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[13] 15
UK Albums Chart[14] 13
U.S. Billboard 200[15] 17
West German Media Control Albums Chart[16] 47

Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Position
Australian Albums Chart[7] 25
Canadian Albums Chart[17] 88
French Albums Chart[18] 25
U.S. Billboard 200 61

Certifications

} }
Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. "Elton John - Princess" at Discogs
  2. "AIR MONTSERRAT". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  3. Jump Up! at AllMusic
  4. Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 November 2007)
  5. "CG: elton john". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  6. Rocket Man: Elton John From A-Z (ISBN 0275956989)
  7. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 19701992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 9 May 2013
  9. "dutchcharts.nl Elton John - Jump Up!" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  10. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  11. "charts.org.nz Elton John - Jump Up!" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  12. "norwegiancharts.com Elton John - Jump Up!" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  13. "swedishcharts.com Elton John - Jump Up!" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  14. "Elton John > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  15. "allmusic ((( Jump Up! > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  16. "Album Search: Elton John - Jump Up!" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  17. "Top 100 Albums '82". RPM. 25 December 1982. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  18. "Les Albums (CD) de 1982 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  19. "British album certifications – Elton John – Jump Up". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Jump Up in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  20. "American album certifications – Elton John – Jump Up". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
Business as Usual by Men at Work
New Zealand Chart number-one album
28 March – 4 April 1982
Succeeded by
Business as Usual by Men at Work
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.