Searching Roots of Sir Elton John In Pinner ,London
Elton John is my most favorite singer. He is a singer, songwriter, pianist and composer all rolled into one. In terms of sales, he is the fourth-best-selling music artist worldwide .
In 1998, he was knighted by British Queen this got ‘Sir’ title, but for music lover like me whether he is Sir or not a Sir , it is immaterial. He has won heart of millions of music lovers, that is more important.
These days I am living in Harrow Burroughs of London, Pinner is a part of it. Yesterday I was in Pinner Library and out of a conversation between two young ladies I come to know that this international rock sensation was born and brought up in this area only. I asked the ladies about the details. Than they shared that he was born in house at 55, Pinner Hill Road in March 1947. One of them told me more : that he was the eldest child of Stanley Dwight and the only child of Sheila Eileen. The boy was named Reginald Kenneth Dwight, and raised in the council house of his grandparents at 55, Pinner Hill Road for the first years of his life.
Formative Years : Full Of Challenge
Elton John’s family life as a child was a real turbulent one – his parents not marrying until he was six years old, and his father having a number of children alongside him. When his parents did marry, he moved out of his grandparents’ council house into his parents’ new home, also in Pinner area.
It was during these early years that the young Elton John first found his love of music. Teaching himself to play the piano in his grandparents’ council home, at the age of three the young boy amazed his family by playing The Skater’s Waltz by ear. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been quite so surprising, however. Both his parents were musically-talented, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band – a semi-professional band that had played at military dances. More than this, his parents had also been avid record-buyers, in so doing exposing the young Elton John to the popular music of the time. I read in an old interview of John, where he said That how he remembers being immediately hooked on rock n’ roll when his mother brought home records by the likes of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.
Growing ever-more apt at the art of music as he grew up, John in the meantime was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and, later, Pinner County Grammar School – which recently had a school reunion that John attended. Whilst at these schools, John continued to practice his music, having taken up formal piano lessons at the age of seven, and gaining a certain amount of fame for playing at school functions. In between this, the young musician attended the Royal Academy of Music as a Junior Exhibitor after winning a scholarship at the age of eleven. By the age of seventeen, John was properly eying a career in music – and at the cusp of entering his A-levels, the soon-to-be icon left his Grammar School in pursuit of this career.
But, this did not sit well with his father. His father having served as a flight lieutenant in the RAF, John was encouraged to take a more conventional career like banking instead of music. Yet his father had been rather absent in his childhood, and, since he had been fourteen, his parents had been divorced – an event that had been especially distressing for the young singer. Following this, John had moved into a new home at Frome Court in Pinner with his mother and her new husband Fred Farebrother, who John affectionately came to call ‘Derf.’ With all this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that John did not in the end listen to his biological father.
From his new flat in Frome Court, John wrote the songs that soon would make him known the world over, while practising his craft in the local area with the help of his mother and stepfather – notably at the Northwood Hills Pub, playing Thursday to Sunday nights from the age of fifteen. Here he became known as ‘Reggie,’ playing a number of popular songs alongside those that he had written himself. A mere few years later, and Reggie would have the audience of the nation and the world under a new, now legendary, name.
Pinner Village
Elton John’s family life as a child was a real turbulent one – his parents not marrying until he was six years old, and his father having a number of children alongside him. When his parents did marry, he moved out of his grandparents’ council house into his parents’ new home, also in Pinner area.
It was during these early years that the young Elton John first found his love of music. Teaching himself to play the piano in his grandparents’ council home, at the age of three the young boy amazed his family by playing The Skater’s Waltz by ear. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been quite so surprising, however. Both his parents were musically-talented, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band – a semi-professional band that had played at military dances. More than this, his parents had also been avid record-buyers, in so doing exposing the young Elton John to the popular music of the time. I read in an old interview of John, where he said That how he remembers being immediately hooked on rock n’ roll when his mother brought home records by the likes of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.
Growing ever-more apt at the art of music as he grew up, John in the meantime was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and, later, Pinner County Grammar School – which recently had a school reunion that John attended. Whilst at these schools, John continued to practice his music, having taken up formal piano lessons at the age of seven, and gaining a certain amount of fame for playing at school functions. In between this, the young musician attended the Royal Academy of Music as a Junior Exhibitor after winning a scholarship at the age of eleven. By the age of seventeen, John was properly eying a career in music – and at the cusp of entering his A-levels, the soon-to-be icon left his Grammar School in pursuit of this career.
But, this did not sit well with his father. His father having served as a flight lieutenant in the RAF, John was encouraged to take a more conventional career like banking instead of music. Yet his father had been rather absent in his childhood, and, since he had been fourteen, his parents had been divorced – an event that had been especially distressing for the young singer. Following this, John had moved into a new home at Frome Court in Pinner with his mother and her new husband Fred Farebrother, who John affectionately came to call ‘Derf.’ With all this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that John did not in the end listen to his biological father.
From his new flat in Frome Court, John wrote the songs that soon would make him known the world over, while practising his craft in the local area with the help of his mother and stepfather – notably at the Northwood Hills Pub, playing Thursday to Sunday nights from the age of fifteen. Here he became known as ‘Reggie,’ playing a number of popular songs alongside those that he had written himself. A mere few years later, and Reggie would have the audience of the nation and the world under a new, now legendary, name.
Pinner Village
,
This beautiful locality shaped young Elton, and worked as springboard in a number of ways – not only honing his craft in the council houses and flats of Pinner, but also gaining a love of music and the support system to help him pursue a career in it.
In this, the local area intangibly shaped the pop icon that is now so globally loved. It was from Pinner that the likes of ‘Tiny Dancer’ and ‘Skyline’ came to be; from Pinner that even the wearing of wild stage costumes came to emerge. Today Elton's net worth is around 500 Million US Dollar, he owns number of properties in many cities in many countries including iconic Villa in French Rivera, his own chartered plane but his humble formative years and modest upbringing in Pinner has a lot to do to his creative life.
So today the first thing I did was to google John’s birthplace.
To see Elton's first childhood home at 55 Pinner Hill Road, I continued up Potter Street and turned right onto Pinner Hill. It is a small house with no sign to indicate that a legendary star started his journey from here.
Other important places associated with formative years of Elton John are closer to Northwood Hills station on Blue Line Underground. The Northwood Hills Pub where he used to perform from Wednesday to Sunday every week in his tender age of 15. It is directly across from the station.
To see the other spots, turn right out of the station or left out of the pub and go to the bottom of Joel Street. Continuing straight across will take you up Potter Street, site of Elton's second childhood home, which is on the left at 111 Potter Street. Turning right will take you down Pinner Road, site of Frome Court, Elton's teenage home which is on the left just past the sports fields. Reddiford School is close to Pinner Underground.
The serene atmosphere of Pinner area as well as its rich cultural heritage has a lot to do with creative pursuits of Elton John.
So today the first thing I did was to google John’s birthplace.
To see Elton's first childhood home at 55 Pinner Hill Road, I continued up Potter Street and turned right onto Pinner Hill. It is a small house with no sign to indicate that a legendary star started his journey from here.
Other important places associated with formative years of Elton John are closer to Northwood Hills station on Blue Line Underground. The Northwood Hills Pub where he used to perform from Wednesday to Sunday every week in his tender age of 15. It is directly across from the station.
To see the other spots, turn right out of the station or left out of the pub and go to the bottom of Joel Street. Continuing straight across will take you up Potter Street, site of Elton's second childhood home, which is on the left at 111 Potter Street. Turning right will take you down Pinner Road, site of Frome Court, Elton's teenage home which is on the left just past the sports fields. Reddiford School is close to Pinner Underground.
The serene atmosphere of Pinner area as well as its rich cultural heritage has a lot to do with creative pursuits of Elton John.
I will also take this opportunity to share few of his hits which are so close to my heart.
1. Bennie And The Jets
This Goodbye Yellow Brick Road hit has everything that John (and Taupin) do best. It's playful, campy at times, catchy as all get-out and leaves room for him to show there's a pretty fine piano player behind the glasses and sequined costumes. "Bennie" gets to really breathe when he plays it live, but the original recording is masterful both as song and record.
2.Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
John's finest opus and perennial concert opener climbs its own stairway to hard rockin' heaven, with both John and company -- particularly guitarist Davey Johnstone -- kicking holy butt from the spectral opening to the frenetic fade-out.
3.Levon
This other Madman Across The Water epic edges "Tiny Dancer" by a nose thanks to his long associate Taupin's vivid lyric portrait and the dynamic ebb-and-swell created by Buckmaster's string arrangements. There was no doubt by then, but this certainly cemented the John-Taupin tandem as one of rock's finest.
4.Tiny DancerThe arrangement of this Madman Across The Water single became something of a template for classic early '70s John, riding a midtempo melody into a rich crescendo built on Paul Buckmaster's strings. It's so gripping you barely notice it's over six minutes long -- and "Almost Famous" insured that it could be sung, unabashedly, by any group of people,
5.Saturday Night's Alright
Even back in 1972 John wasn't the kind of guy you normally associated with bar brawls and switchblade knives, but he was convincing enough on this edgy guitar rocker that launched the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road campaign.
6.Your Song
I simply love the lyrics
It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide,
I Don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live …
7. Love Me Again
From 2019 Motion Picture Rocketman
Singing, I'm gonna love me again
Check in on my very best friend
Find the wind to fill my sails
Rise above the broken rails…
8. Wonderful Crazy Night
From Album Wonderful Crazy NightReleased in 2016.
Some things you don't forget, some things just take a hold
A wonderful crazy night like that takes you back, won't let you go
Someday if you're asking all about the key to love
I'd say that wonderful night…
I'd buy a big house where we both could live …
7. Love Me Again
From 2019 Motion Picture Rocketman
Singing, I'm gonna love me again
Check in on my very best friend
Find the wind to fill my sails
Rise above the broken rails…
8. Wonderful Crazy Night
From Album Wonderful Crazy NightReleased in 2016.
Some things you don't forget, some things just take a hold
A wonderful crazy night like that takes you back, won't let you go
Someday if you're asking all about the key to love
I'd say that wonderful night…
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