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Lot 94
Elton John: The rare Warlock Sampler demo album , 1970,
12 June 2019, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,167.50 inc. premium
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Elton John: The rare Warlock Sampler demo album ,
1970,
a double-sided, white label 33 1/3rpm 12inch vinyl disc, matrices WMM 101-1 and WMM 102-1, Side 1 with seven tracks - 'You Get Brighter', 'This Moment', 'I Don't Mind', 'Pied Pauper', 'Stormbringer', 'Way To Blue', 'Go Out And Get It', and Side 2 with four - 'Day Is Done', 'Time Has Told Me', 'Saturday Sun' and 'Sweet Honesty', labels and outer paper sleeve with various recording details inscribed in pencil, blue ballpoint and black felt-tip pen
a double-sided, white label 33 1/3rpm 12inch vinyl disc, matrices WMM 101-1 and WMM 102-1, Side 1 with seven tracks - 'You Get Brighter', 'This Moment', 'I Don't Mind', 'Pied Pauper', 'Stormbringer', 'Way To Blue', 'Go Out And Get It', and Side 2 with four - 'Day Is Done', 'Time Has Told Me', 'Saturday Sun' and 'Sweet Honesty', labels and outer paper sleeve with various recording details inscribed in pencil, blue ballpoint and black felt-tip pen
Footnotes
Provenance:
This album was recorded in July 1970 at the Sound Techniques studio in Old Church Street, Chelsea, London, produced by Joe Boyd and featuring songs published by his Warlock Music company. In his comprehensive discography in Sir Elton Mark Lewisohn describes the recording as unusual in that the tracks had already been issued. Nick Drake's 1969 album Five Leaves Left included 'Time Has Told Me', 'Day Is Done', 'Saturday Sun' and 'Way To Blue', whilst 'Sweet Honesty', 'Stormbringer' and 'Go Out And Get It' were on John and Beverly Martyn's 1970 Stormbringer! album.
Elton, billed under his real name of Reg Dwight and in the role of session musician that he had established in the previous few years, was hired, writes Lewisohn, to "...give them a new voice, in order to attract cover-versions." The first four tracks are sung by Linda Peters (soon to marry guitarist Richard Thompson), accompanied by Elton on the piano, with Elton taking the lead vocals and playing piano on the other seven. The other musicians for the session were Pat Donaldson on bass and Gerry Conway on drums.
In an article in Record Collector magazine, 2004, issue 304, it was stated that, at that time, just six of the rumoured 100 copies pressed were known to have survived. It also noted that when Elton sold his record collection in 1993, it is believed he retained two albums - a copy of the White Album autographed by the Beatles and his own copy of this demo pressing. The magazine describes this pressing as : '...the missing link between sessioneer Reg Dwight and superstar Elton John.'
Literature:
Record Collector, 'The 100 Most Valuable Records Of All Time', Diamond Publishing Group, December 2004
Sir Elton, Philip Norman, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2000