Jewel Box

Product Information

Discs six and seven are B-sides compiled together for the first time. These start from 1976 and go all the way through to 2005. Many of these are being offered on CD for the first time.

Elton comes from the days when 45rpm, and later CD, singles, were the focal point of any mainstream artist’s profile. With the insane work schedule he always maintained, that meant a lot of singles, and a lot of B-sides. Like many artists in that era, his insatiable creativity and his desire (as a record buyer himself) to give value for money often meant that his big numbers were released with flipsides that never appeared on LP. Elton John‘s “Scarecrow” along with five other deep cuts from Elton: Jewel Box have been made available worldwide on streaming and digital formats for the first time in celebration of his 74th birthday on Thursday (March 25). Subsequent to their original appearance on 45 or CD-single, a number of these non-LP B’s were included on 1990’s box set To Be Continued...and even more found a home on Rare Masters (1992) and various studio album CD reissues. But for decades, many of the B-sides to Elton’s 1980s singles had never appeared on CD or in an official collection, and most of his 2000s non-CD B-sides were not issued worldwide. Until now. Flipsides, never before compiled together. Those B-Side gems that are now given another chance to shimmer.

Reviews

Starting with those Regimental Sgt. Zippo songs, the jewels of the box are those pre-fame recordings from the late Sixties, which take up three discs. In those years, John was something of a pop mad scientist and a radio sponge, leaping from one style to the next to see which fit the best. As revealed by the over 50 songs he created and discarded, the sheer number of them is astonishing, but so is the quality. Instead of the homemade tapes that often fill up such collections, most of these are fully or largely realized takes cut with studio musicians and even string sections. Among other things, Elton John’s sprawling new box set answers a question most of us have never even pondered: Did he have his own version of Smile? A few years after Brian Wilson had tried and failed to complete his attempted masterpiece with the Beach Boys, John considering launching his career—after playing in bands and doing sessions—with a psychedelic album, which even sported a straight-outta-Spinal-Tap title, Regimental Sgt. Zippo. Added Taupin: “We referenced ‘Scarecrow’ in a song later on. There’s a line in ‘Curtains’ [from 1975’s Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy). It says, ‘I used to know this old scarecrow/He was my song, my joy and sorrow.’ That was a tip of the hat to the very first song we wrote because Captain Fantastic was an album about our early trials in the music business.” His B-sides contain buried treasure Elton John delves deep into his archive for a new 8CD box set called Elton: Jewel Box, which features an astonishing amount of rarities, deep cuts and B-sides. An in-depth exploration of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's extensive catalogue including early rarities and deep cuts personally curated by Elton.

Disc 7 continues with 17 more 1980s B-sides, four of which are making their first appearance digitally. The rest of the disc showcases Elton’s B-sides from 1988 until 2005, most of which have so far only been available on UK CD-singles, leaving fans in the US and other parts of the world at the mercy of import establishments, or in the dark completely.

Tom Skinner (17 September 2020). "Elton John announces extensive 50th anniversary boxset 'Jewel Box' ". NME. This collection contains148 songs spanning 1965 to 2019, of which 60 are previously unreleased. The first two CDs feature ‘Deep Cuts‘, a selection of personal favourites curated by Elton himself and what follows that are three CDs of Rarities. The rarities include many, many piano demos and band demos mostly recorded before he was signed or had released his first album, Empty Sky, in 1969.

Elton: Jewel Box, the sumptuous box set collection of deep cuts, rarities and B-sides, is appropriately titled, because its subject is one of the true, enduring treasures in pop music history. Even those who think they know the recording make-up of Elton John inside and out will find a deeper understanding of his creative make-up within its array of 148 songs, which reach from his earliest recording in 1965 to Oscar-winning glory in 2019. Here are some of the facts to be learned by listening to these recovered jewels. A 1968 demo became the first John/Taupin coverDisc 6 on Elton: Jewel Box includes 15 non-LP B’s from 1976 to 1984, most of which have only been available on vinyl up until now, as well as three songs sung in French – the only time Elton has recorded in a language other than English and a magnificent discovery for his casual fans. Discs 6 & 7: B Sides 1976-2005 – Flipsides, never before compiled together. Those B-Side gems that are now given another chance to sparkle – many never previously available digitally. Andy Greene (17 September 2020). "Elton John Announces Massive Career-Spanning Box Set 'Elton: Jewel Box". Rolling Stone. Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Jewel Box" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 23, 2023. David Browne (12 November 2020). "Elton John's Eight-Disc 'Jewel Box' Rewrites the Story of His Epic Career". Rolling Stone.