'The One' - 30 Facts for 30 Years

Elton’s 24th studio album, The One, was released in June 1992 and became his highest-charting album in the US after Blue Moves in 1976.

In celebration of the record’s 30th anniversary and its new remaster on audiophile 180gm double vinyl, we offer 30 things you may not have known about The One.

By John F. Higgins

The album peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, on which it remained for one year.
It reached the #2 position on the UK Album Chart, where it spent three out of its 18 weeks on that list.
It has been certified 2x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, silver in the UK, and multi-platinum in five countries.
It was also a Top 10 album in 15 territories around the world.
The One is one of only a few Elton albums to contain 4 singles:a.     The One (#9 on Billboard Hot 100, #1 on Billboard Adult Contemporary, #10 in UK)
b.     Runaway Train (#10 on Billboard AC, #10 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay, #31 in UK)

c.     The Last Song (#23 on Billboard Hot 100, #2 on Billboard AC, #21 in UK)

d.     Simple Life (#30 Billboard Hot 100, #1 on Billboard AC, #44 in UK)
When Simple Life broke into the Billboard Top 40 in the spring of 1993 it gave Elton 24 consecutive years with a song on that chart, breaking a record long-held by Elvis Presley.
To coincide with the vinyl re-release, an upscaled version of The One video will join Runaway Train and Simple Life on Elton’s YouTube channel.
The Last Song was originally titled Song For ‘92. However, Elton and Bernie agreed that they did not want to put a time frame on the song’s topic.
Two guitar legends appear on The One: Eric Clapton and David Gilmour. Clapton plays guitar and sings duet on Runaway Train, while Gilmour plays guitar on Understanding Women.
Understanding Women, On Dark Street, and When A Woman Doesn’t Want You also feature backing vocals by Kiki Dee.

Elton on stage with (l-r) Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Curtis Stigers, and Davey Johnstone.

Elton’s long-time drummer, Nigel Olsson, does not play his primary instrument on the album but does sing backing vocals on When A Woman Doesn’t Want You and On Dark Street.
The One was recorded at Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris, France, from November 1991 to March 1992.
This was Elton’s sixth album to be recorded in France, the first being Honky Château in 1972.
Understanding Women was recorded previously in a “warm-up” session at AIR Studios in London in July 1991 and originally appeared on the UK version of Elton’s To Be Continued… box set.
The One is the seventh of nine Elton albums producer Chris Thomas has worked on to date. Chris, who has also produced landmark albums by The Pretenders, the Sex Pistols, Procol Harum, Pulp, INXS, and others, first worked with Elton in 1969 producing songs for The Bread & Beer Band, a group of studio musicians that Elton (still Reg Dwight at that time) played in.
At 58 minutes, The One was the longest single disc studio effort Elton had released up to that time.
The album packaging was designed by Gianni Versace. He and Elton had formed a close friendship and Versace also designed Elton and the band’s stage wear for The One Tour as well as the stage itself.
The cover photo of Elton was taken by Patrick Demarchelier in Paris in 1992.
The album was dedicated to Vance Buck, a close friend of Elton who would die from a complication of AIDS soon after the album’s release. A photo of Buck is on the inside sleeve of Elton’s 1982 album Jump Up!.
Elton first performed a song from The One when he played The North at a pair of shows at the Grand Ole Opry House on March 15, 1992, to raise funds for the family of his recently deceased bass player, Dee Murray. He has rarely played that song in concert since.

All songs on the album, as usual, were written by Elton and Bernie Taupin. However, Swedish drummer and percussionist Olle Romo, who had previously worked with Eurythmics, was given co-writing credit on Runaway Train.
The final lines in the song Whitewash County (“Well you’ve changed your face so often / But you never change your mind”) refer to American white nationalist David Duke and his plastic surgery.
Elton’s piano solo for Sweat It Out was a first-take.
Elton plays the organ solo on Runaway Train…but when the song was played live in concert his then-keyboardist, Guy Babylon, would do the honours.
Fat Boys And Ugly Girls, an out-take from the Paris sessions, appeared on the The One CD-single in the UK and US as well as the 1998 re-release of The One on CD.
Suit Of Wolves, which was recorded at the same time as Understanding Women, appeared on the CD and vinyl singles for The One and the 1998 album re-release.
Two songs were recorded during the sessions for The One but were never released: Emery Green and Taxi Dancing.
The One Tour ran for 154 shows in 24 countries – from May 26, 1992, in Oslo, Norway to June 20, 1993, in Istanbul, Turkey.
The tour included a number of double-bill concerts with Eric Clapton, with each artist doing his own set (Elton percussionist Ray Cooper was a member of Clapton’s band at the time). On the ones at Wembley Stadium in June 1992 (with Bonnie Raitt as support), as well as two each at New York’s Shea and L.A.’s Dodger Stadiums in August, Eric joined Elton during Runaway Train.
During the tour, the final show of Elton’s seven-night run at Madison Square Garden, on October 11 was a benefit for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and included Bruce Hornsby, Lionel Richie, George Michael and Whoopi Goldberg — each joining Elton after his own abbreviated set. Lionel and Elton duetted on John Lennon’s Imagine and George sang Elton’s Ticking.

‘The One’ – 30 Facts for 30 Years