Rare Masters

Product Description:

RARE MASTERS includes rare singles, previously unreleased material, and the long out-of-print FRIENDS soundtrack.

Producers: Caleb Quaye, Steve Brown, Gus Dudgeon.

Compilation producer: Bill Levinson

Includes liner notes by Bernie Taupin and Andrew Sandoval.

In addition to the expected b-sides and previously unreleased outtakes, RARE MASTERS is notable for including in its entirely the soundtrack John and Bernie Taupin wrote in the late-'60s for the British movie FRIENDS. The soundtrack songs are early, unpolished John, but among them is the touching buddy song "Friends," (not the Bette Midler-popularized Buzzy Linhart composition) a minor hit in 1971. Among the many surprises elsewhere on RARE MASTERS is "Rock Me When He's Gone," a gospelly number from 1971 whose raw, stripped-down production emphasizes a feeling that the much better-known "Border Song" only hinted at. A nearly 9-minute-long alternate version of "Madman Across The Water" is similarly raw, and highlights its bluesy lead guitar in a way that John rarely did in those early days. You also get John blasting through the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" with John Lennon.