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Post by BiteUrLip on Oct 30, 2020 18:03:09 GMT
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Gary Osborne
Oh little Jeannie, you got so much love, little Jeannie
And you take it where it strikes and give it to the likes of me
Oh little Jeannie, she got so much love, little Jeannie
So I see you when I can, you make me all a man can be
And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover
Oh there were others who would treat you cruel
And oh little Jeannie, you were always someone's fool
Little Jeannie, you got so much time, little Jeannie
Though you've grown beyond your years, you still retain the fears of youth
Oh little Jeannie, you got so much time, little Jeannie
But you're burning it up so fast, searching for some lasting truth
And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover
Oh there were others who would treat you cruel
But oh Jeannie, I will always be your fool
And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover
Oh there were others, and I've known quite a few
But oh oh Jeannie, I'm still in love with you
Stepped into my life from a bad dream
Making the life that I had seem suddenly shiny and new
Oh Jeannie I'm so in love with you
Stepped into my life from a bad dream
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Post by BiteUrLip on Oct 30, 2020 18:04:04 GMT
One of the best early eighties songs. This is also one of those songs that could have been on the Greatest Hits 1970-2002 third disc.
5 stars.
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Post by dougs on Oct 30, 2020 18:59:23 GMT
"Little Jeannie" from 21 AT 33:
Elton started the 1980s with a solid mid-tempo hit; "Little Jeannie" from Elton's 21 AT 33 release. With Gary Osborne doing some of the lyrics, Elton wrote the melody first, suggested the title, and provided a couple of lines for the prospective song. Interestingly enough, it is James Newton Howard who plays all keyboards on "Little Jeannie." Elton provides only his vocals. The song apparently was not coming together until Nigel Olsson was brought in to provide his drumming touch to the song. 21 AT 33 was an album with multiple lyricists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers. Nigel provided the feel Elton was looking for. "Little Jeannie" has a number of backing vocalists including Dee Murray who was back in the touring band with Nigel and James plus Tim Renwick and Richie Zito. It was Zito who added acoustic guitar to the song in the studio. What makes the song fly are the horns (Chuck Findley, Jerry Hey, and arranger Jim Horn). For the live ONE NIGHT ONLY shows John Jorgenson added sax enabling the song to soar.
There are similarities between "Little Jeannie" and "Daniel" (both led by electric piano, for example) which both critics and fans noted. There is also a strong similarity between "Little Jeannie" and Leo Sayer's "When I Need You" so much so that Elton worried for awhile about being sued.
"Little Jeannie" became a huge hit in North America. It went to #3 in the US where is stayed for weeks. "Little Jeannie" in fact stayed in the US Top 10 longer (11 weeks) than any of his 70s hit singles. It also tied "Philadelphia Freedom" (21 weeks) at the time for the longest duration on the US Top 100 Singles chart. In Canada, "Little Jeannie" went to #1. It went top 10 in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa but only to #33 in the UK.
Despite the huge success, "Little Jeannie" has only been played live in 1980 and then again in 2000 for the ONE NIGHT ONLY concerts.
Rating: 5 stars
Doug
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Post by newloneranger on Oct 31, 2020 11:11:48 GMT
One song I agree on being the first single. Probably my favorite on this album.
5 stars
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Post by Commodore Orpington on Nov 2, 2020 20:26:31 GMT
Obviously a finely crafted thing, it took many very talented people to create it, but it's the kind of song I can't care about. It's a rare example for him, though, of the sort of light jazz/pop material that was so big in the late 70s. He's dropped bits of jazz into songs (and it's always interesting when he does), but it's been on obscure album tracks that don't get played, apart from this one.
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