Personnel includes: Elton John (vocals, piano); Davey Johnstone (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, background vocals); Ray Cooper (whistle, vibraphone, snare drum, congas, tambourine, bells, castanets, watergong); Chester Thompson (organ); Dave Hentschel (Mellotron, ARP synthesizer); Dee Murray (bass, background vocals); Nigel Olsson (drums, background vocals); Gus Dudgeon (tambourine); Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Jessie Mae Smith, Dusty Springfield, Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, Toni Tenille, Billy Hinsche (background vocals).

Tower Of Power Horn Section: Lenny Pickett (soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Emilio Castillo (tenor saxophone); Stephen Kupka (baritone saxophone); Mic Gillette (trumpet, trombone); Greg Adams (trumpet).

Principally recorded at Caribou Ranch, Colorado. Originally released on MCA. Includes liner notes by John Tobler and Gus Dudgeon.

This is part of Rocket's Elton John: The Classic Years series.

Composers: Elton John; Bernie Taupin.

Personnel: Elton John (vocals, piano, keyboards); Davey Johnstone (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, synthesizer, background vocals); Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Dusty Springfield, Toni Tennille, Carl Wilson, Jessica Smith, Bruce Johnston, Billy Hinsche (vocals, background vocals); Ray Cooper (whistling, vibraphone, drums, snare drum, congas, castanets, tambourine, percussion, bells, gong, water gong, background vocals); Lenny Pickett (clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, wind); Emilio Castillo (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Stephen "Doc" Kupka (saxophone, baritone saxophone); Stephen Kupka (baritone saxophone); Mic Gillette (trumpet, trombone, horns); Greg Adams (trumpet, horns); Tower of Power (brass, horns); Chester Thompson (organ, keyboards); Chester Thompson (organ); David Hentschel (Mellotron, keyboards, synthesizer); Dee Murray (bass guitar, background vocals); Nigel Olsson (drums, background vocals); Gus Dudgeon (tambourine); Jessie Mae Smith (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: John Tobler.

Recording information: Caribou Ranch, CO.

Unknown Contributor Role: Ray Cooper .

Arrangers: Daryl Dragon; Davey Johnstone; Del Newman.

Glitzy showmanship fuels Caribou and the shiny surface of the album is alluring, although only a few tracks on the record rank among John's best work. "The Bitch Is Back" is one of his best hard rock cuts, and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is one of his classic ballads. While the rest of the album has its share of filler or competent genre exercises, "Pinky" is a fine ballad and "Dixie Lily" is an endearing stab at country. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Glitzy showmanship is what fuels Caribou, a less successful album than its early-'70s predecessors. Though the shiny surface of the album is alluring, only a few tracks rank among John's best work. "The Bitch Is Back" is one of his best hard rock cuts and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is one of his classic ballads, but the album tracks tend to be ridiculous filler on the order of "Solar Prestige a Gammon" or competent genre exercises like "You're So Static." There are a couple of exceptions -- "Pinky" is a fine ballad and "Dixie Lily" is an endearing stab at country -- but on the whole, Caribou is a disappointment. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

To follow up an album that pretty much couldn't be followed--the flashy and brilliant GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD--Elton John hid away in the Caribou Ranch studio outside Denver, Colorado and recorded a certified pop mish-mash. CARIBOU contains bits of arena-rock corn ("Stinker") alongside period-pop pieces that could have passed for showtunes ("Dixie Lily"), complete goofs ("Solar Prestige A Gammon") and the usual magical ballads. It's easy to overlook CARIBOU when reviewing John's '70s catalog, but to do so is to miss a couple of his greatest singles. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," which features a chorus of two Beach Boys and Toni Tenille, is a gospelly ballad completely worthy of those contributions, and the strutting "The Bitch Is Back" is rock arrogance of the highest order--it became Tina Turner's signature concert opener.

CARIBOU also contains some compelling filler. Among the lesser-known tracks are the lovely ballad "Pinky," which seems to be about some sort of secret liaison, "I've Seen The Saucers," an odd little number about UFOs that happens to feature one of John's most committed vocal performances, and "Ticking," an epic ballad about a mass-murderer.

Glitzy showmanship fuels Caribou and the shiny surface of the album is alluring, although only a few tracks on the record rank among John's best work. "The Bitch Is Back" is one of his best hard rock cuts, and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is one of his classic ballads. While the rest of the album has its share of filler or competent genre exercises, "Pinky" is a fine ballad and "Dixie Lily" is an endearing stab at country. [The CD reissue includes the bonus tracks "Pinball Wizard," "Sick City," "Cold Highway," and "Step into Christmas."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Glitzy showmanship is what fuels Caribou, the least successful collection to be reissued in this batch of albums. Though the shiny surface of the album is alluring, only a few tracks on the record rank among John's best work. "The Bitch Is Back" is one of his best hard rock cuts, and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is one of his classic ballads, but the album tracks tend to be ridiculous filler on the order of "Solar Prestige a Gammon" or competent genre exercises like "You're So Static." There are a couple of exceptions -- "Pinky" is a fine ballad and "Dixie Lily" is an endearing stab at country -- but on the whole, Caribou is a disappointment. [The CD reissue includes the bonus tracks "Pinball Wizard," "Sick City," "Cold Highway," and "Step into Christmas."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine