Elton John’s ‘Madman Across The Water’ Gets 50th Anniversary Reissue Featuring Early Piano Demo of “Tiny Dancer”

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Elton John’s Madman Across The Water, UMe is releasing a reissue of his iconic fourth album on June 10, featuring demos and outtakes, live rarities, and a previously unheard piano demo of Madman hit “Tiny Dancer.”

Released two years after John’s debut, Empty Sky, Madman Across The Water was recorded at Trident Studios in Central London in February and August of 1971 and was the first album where all five players of John’s band lineup—Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone, and Ray Cooper—were featured, in addition to Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who plays the Hammond organ on three tracks.

Madman Across The Water marked a new beginning for John, as well as his longtime collaborator and co-writer Bernie Taupin, helping him break into America with hits “Levon” and “Tiny Dancer.”

Included in the reissue, the “Piano Demo” of “Tiny Dancer,” was recorded at Dick James Studios in central London in the spring of 1971. The intimate performance of the hit finds John alone at the piano.

The Madman Across The Water – 50^th Anniversary Reissue is available in four formats featuring Bob Ludwig’s 2016 remaster of the main album and 18 previously unreleased tracks one Super Deluxe 3-CD-Blu-ray box set, which also contains rare, restored material from the era, piano demos, and the audio of the 1972 BBC Sounds For Saturday concert.

A limited-edition blue and white-colored LP is also available, and the Blu-Ray features a 5.1 mix by Greg Penny, in addition to the Sounds For Saturday and John’s 1971 Old Grey Whistle Test performance. The audio of the Super Deluxe CD/Blu-ray set, also available on a 4-LP set, includes photos, memorabilia, and artwork taken from the Rocket Archive, and an essay with interviews with those involved in the album.

Photo: Ed Caraeff / Iconic Images