1973- "Step Into Christmas"

.....A great way to cap off a very prolific period.

• 04:30 "STEP INTO CHRISTMAS"(Bernie Taupin, Elton John)
• 04:06 b/w "HO! HO! HO! WHO'D BE A TURKEY AT CHRISTMAS"(Bernie Taupin, Elton John)
• performed by Elton John
• original source: 7" Dick James Music [DJM] DJS290 (UK) November 26th, 1973
• and my source: 2CD RARE MASTERS Polydor 314 514 138-2 (US) 1992

.....After recording his first two solo singles and album at his publisher's studio (and an A-side at Olympic) in 1968-1969, Elton John settled into Trident Studios with producer Gus Dudgeon and proceeded to record the catalog that made years of struggle seem like an overnight success. In 1970 and 1971 he released five original albums, all recorded at Trident (except one recorded at a New York radio station, which was mixed at Trident). In 1972 both John and Dudgeon took the recording to Strawberry Studios at the Chateau D'Hierouville in France for the next three albums, including the double GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD. The relentless touring was starting to catch up with everyone; before recording in France, they would normally have two completed albums on the shelf awaiting release at any given time. But after recording GOODBYE... in May 1973 there was a gap of six months without studio work before this rush-release item. Back at home in Trident one last time before moving into their new studio in Caribou Ranch, Colorado in the US after the new year, the gang recorded this just weeks before its release date and the results were one of the catchiest A-sides and quirkiest B-sides in a career characterized by such combinations.

.....It's not too surprising that the B-side hasn't been reissued nearly as often as the A-side, which has appeared on dozens of various artists Christmas compilations internationally. What is curious is how rarely they occur together. The American counterpart to the DJM single was MCA 65018, released simultaneously. That 1973 pressing featured MCA's 'rainbow' label with a black background. The 1980 repressing has the same catalog number but a sky-blue background behind the rainbow. Also in 1980 the B-side showed up on the exploitation compilation LP LADY SAMANTHA DJM 22085 (UK) 1980, reissued on CD in 1998. Other than that, the B-side only seems to appear on RARE MASTERS in 1992.

.....The A-side, on the other hand, appears on both the US (1990) and UK (1991) version of the 4CD boxed set TO BE CONTINUED... (there are different track listings for some reason). It also appears as a bonus track on the remastered edition of CARIBOU in 1995 and the Pavarotti duet "LIVE LIKE HORSES" on the single CD5 Rocket Records LLHDD1 (UK) 1996. And as mentioned before, it certainly makes the rounds on holiday compilations.