Elton John – Rocket Man (Piano solo) with sheet music
Excerpt from the book: “Me, Elton John (autobiography)” (also available in the Library)
When the farewell tour was announced, a number of journalists had written pieces suggesting that there was absolutely no way I would really retire. They supported this argument with extensive knowledge of my history and impressive psychological insights into my character: tried to
retire before, addictive personality, born entertainer, music obsessive.
They could have supported it even more strongly by repeating what I’d said at the press conference, which was that I had no intention whatsoever of actually retiring from music, or even live performances. All I said was that I wasn’t going to schlep around the world anymore: one last huge tour – 300 gigs over three years, covering North and South America Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia, the kids getting a tutor and coming with us – and that’s that.
It isn’t the end. I was excited by the fact that stopping touring would give me more time to do different things. I want to write more musicals and more film scores. I want to spend time working with the AIDS Foundation, especially in Africa. I want to stand up for the LGBTQ community there, to try and talk to politicians in Uganda or Kenya or Nigeria and do something to change the way people are treated. I want to
collaborate with different artists.
I want to stage a huge exhibition, covering my whole career, maybe even think about opening a permanent museum, so people can see some of my
art and photography collections. I want to spend more time making albums, and to make them in the way I used to at the start of my solo career: get Bernie to spend time writing a lot of lyrics and develop a stockpile of material.
I haven’t gone into the studio with a big hoard of songs to choose from since Madman Across the Water, forty-eight years ago – I’ve just turned up and written on the spot, like the musical version of a painter with a blank canvas.
I want to go back to writing without recording what I’m doing, the same way we made Captain Fantastic, memorizing what I come up with as I go along. I want to play live, but much smaller shows, where I can concentrate on playing different material.
If there’s a problem with writing songs like ‘I’m Still Standing’, or ‘Rocket Man’, or ‘Your Song’ it’s that they become so huge; they develop a life of their own and overwhelm everything else you do. I love those songs to death, but I’ve written other songs I think are as good as them, that exist in their shadow, and I’d like to give those other songs a moment in the spotlight.
But most of all, I want to spend time being … well, normal, or as normal as I can ever hope to be. Less time on the road means more time doing the school run, more Saturday afternoons taking the kids to Pizza Express, or round Daniel’s, the department store in Windsor – things the boys enjoy,
I live and have lived an extraordinary life, and I honestly wouldn’t change it, even the parts I regret, because I’m incredibly happy with how it has turned out. I obviously wish I’d just kept walking when I saw John Reid chopping out coke in the studio, rather than sticking my nose in – in every sense of the phrase – but then, maybe I had to go through all that to
end up where I am now. It’s not where I expected to be at all – married to a man, a father of two, both things that seemed impossible to me not that long ago.
But that’s the other lesson my ridiculous life has taught me. From the moment I was ushered out of a failed audition and handed an envelope of
Bernie’s lyrics as I got to the door, nothing has ever really turned out how I thought it would. My history is full of what ifs, weird little moments that hanged everything.
What if I’d been so upset by failing my audition that I’d dumped Bernie’s envelope in a bin on the way to the station? What if I’d stood firm and not gone to America when Dick James told me I should? What if Watford had beaten West Bromwich Albion that Saturday afternoon in the early nineties and lifted my spirits, so that I didn’t feel the need to call a friend and beg him to bring some gay men to dinner?
What if I hadn’t noticed Lev at the orphanage in Ukraine? Where would I be now? Who would I be now? You can send yourself crazy wondering. But it all happened, and here I am. There’s really no point in asking what if? The only question worth asking is: what’s next?
Browse in the Library:
Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
---|---|---|
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Luiza Guitar Arr with Tablature | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim – One Note Samba (Guitar Arr.) | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim – One Note Samba (guitar TABS sheet music) | Jobim – One Note Samba (guitar TABS sheet music) | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Samba De Uma Nota So | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Voce arr. by Baden Powell (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs) | Antonio Carlos Jobim – Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Voce arr. by Baden Powell (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs) | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Tom Jobim For solo Guitar with TABs | Tom Jobim for Solo Guitar | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Triste (Guitar Solo Arr. With Tabs Sheet Music) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim 9 Pieces Guitar TABs | Jobim 9 pieces guitar | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim And Chico Buarque Eu Te Amo (Arr. For Guitar By Carles Trepat) | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim and the art of Bossa Nova Jazz Play Along Volume 08 with audio MP3 | Antonio Carlos Jobim Jazz Play-Along Volume 08 – with audio MP3_compressed | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Anthology (Piano vocal and guitar) | Antonio Carlos Jobim Anthology (Piano vocal and guitar) | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim for Classical Guitar (Paulo Bellinati Mel Bay 2008) | Antonio Carlos Jobim for Classical Guitar | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Jazz Piano solos Vol. 17 | Antonio Carlos Jobim Jazz Piano solos Vol. 17 sheet music pdf | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Jazz Play Along Vol. 08 with audio MP3 | Antonio Carlos Jobim Jazz Play-Along Volume 08 – with audio MP3_compressed | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Quebra Pedra (Stone Flower) – Tom Jobim Piano and Guitar chords | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim Stone Flower (Songbook) Quebra-pedra Tom Jobim Piano Vocal guitar Chords | Antonio Carlos Jobim Stone Flower (Songbook) Tom Jobim Piano Vocal guitar Chords | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Tom Jobim – Luiza Guitar Solo | ||
Antonio Carlos Jobim Tom Jobim Corcovado arr. for Guitar Violao by Rubinho | Antonio Carlos Jobim Tom Jobim Corcovado arr. for Guitar Violao by Rubinho | |
Antonio Carlos Jobim Wave (Piano Guitar) | Antonio Carlos Jobim Wave (Piano Guitar) | |
Anywhere the heart goes (The Thorn birds – Uccelli di rovo) | ||
Aphex Twin – aisatsana | ||
Aphex Twin – Avril 14th | ||
Aphex Twin – Avril 14th (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Aphex Twin – Kesson Daslef | ||
April In Paris Vernon Duke E.Y. Harburg 1932 Jazz Standard (Vintage sheet music) | ||
Aqua – Doctor Jones | ||
Aquaman Everything I Need Skylar Grey Piano solo | ||
Aram Khachaturian – Sabeltanz Aus Gayaneh (Pianoforte 4 hands) | Aram Khachaturian – Sabeltanz Aus Gayaneh (Pianoforte A 4 Mani) | |
Aranjuez Ma Pensee (ver. for voice and guitar by the composer) | Aranjuez Ma Pensee | |
Aretha Franklin – Chain Of Fools | ||
Aretha Franklin – Respect | ||
Aretha Franklin Songbook | Aretha Franklin Songbook | |
Aretha Franklin Songbook 1 | Aretha Franklin Songbook 1 | |
Aretha Franklin Songbook 2 | Aretha Franklin Songbook 2 | |
Aretha Franklin The Very Best of The 60s | Aretha Franklin best of 60s | |
Ari Hoenig Songbook | Ari Hoenig Songbook | |
Ari Pulkkinen – Angry Birds Theme Song | Ari Pulkkinen – Angry Birds Theme Song | |
Aria (Cantilena) by Heitor Villa-Lobos.mscz | ||
Aria di neve (Sergio Endrigo) | ||
Ariana Grande – 7 Rings Sheet Music | ||
Ariana Grande – Bang Bang Sheet Music piano Vocal Guitar chords | ||
Ariana Grande – No Tears Left to Cry Sheet Music | ||
Ariana Grande Tattooed Heart | Ariana Grande-Tattooed heArt | |
Ariel Ramírez – Alfonsina Y El Mar (Guitar) arr. by Roland Dyens | Ariel Ramírez – Alfonsina Y El Mar (Guitar) arr. by Roland Dyens | |
Ariel Ramírez – Alfonsina Y El Mar (Piano) | Ariel Ramírez – Alfonsina Y El Mar (Piano) | |
Arlen, Harold Stormy weather – piano | Stormy weather – piano | |
Armageddon (Piano & Guitar Chords) | Armageddon (Piano & Guitar Chords) | |
Arnold Schoenberg, Gerald Strang, Leonard Stein-Fundamentals of Musical Composition-Faber & Faber (1982) Book | ||
Around The Campfire Peter, Paul and Mary – Guitar songbook | Around The Campfire Peter Paul & Mary songbook | |
Arpeggios For The Modern Guitarist Tabs by Will Johnson | Arpeggios For The Modern Guitarist Tabs by Will Johnson | |
Arranging And Composing for the small ensemble Jazz R&B Jazz-Rock (by David Baker) | ||
Arrival Of The Birds from The Crimson Wing Mystery of the Flamingos piano solo | ||
Arrival Of The Birds The Theory of Everything – The Cinematic Orchestra Piano Solo | ||
Arrival Of The Birds The Theory of Everything Ending Scene Music – The Cinematic Orchestra Piano Solo | ||
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messanger Bobby Timmons – Moanin’ | ||
Art Of Composing Music (Published In London (1751) | ||
Art Of Gospel Guitar – El McMeen with Tablature | Gospel guitar | |
Art of Jazz improvisation book 3 Intermadiate by Bob Taylor | ||
Art Pepper Collection Solos Artist Transcriptions Saxophone | art pepper solos sheet music | |
Art Tatum As Time Goes By | ||
Art Tatum – Tiger Rag (Jazz Standard by the Original Dixieland Jass Band) (piano sheet music) | Art Tatum – Tiger Rag (Jazz Standard by the Original Dixieland Jass Band) (piano sheet music) | |
Art Tatum – All The Things You Are | ||
Art Tatum – Cherokee | ||
Art Tatum – Gershwin – The Man I Love (Piano as played by) | Art Tatum Gershwin The-Man-I-Love-Piano | |
Art Tatum – Jazz Piano solos Vol. 2 | Art Tatum Jazz piano solos vol. 2 | |
Art Tatum – New Beginnings A Piano Imrovisation | Art Tatum – New Beginnings A Piano Imrovisation | |
Art Tatum – Tea For Two (Sheet Music) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Art Tatum – Tiger Rag (Sheet Music) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Art Tatum – Too Marvelous for Words The Life and Genius of Art Tatum (Book by James Lester) | ||
Art Tatum 5 Jazz Piano Solos transcribed By Frank Paparelli | Art Tatum 5 Jazz Solos By Frank Paparelli – 1944 Songbook | |
Art Tatum Artist Transcriptions Solo Book | Art Tatum | |
Art Tatum Improvisations Piano sheet music | Art Tatum Improvisations Piano sheet music | |
Art Tatum Jazz Arr. Begin The Beguine (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Art Tatum Jazz Arr. Cole Porte Begin The Beguine | ||
Art Tatum New Beginnings (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Art Tatum Stormy Weather Ted Koehler – Harold Arlen | T.Koehler-H.Arlen – Stormy Weather (arr. A.Tatum) | |
Art Tatum Tea For Two (Vincent Youmans) | ||
Arthur A. Reblitz – Piano servicing, tuning, and rebuilding for the professional, the student, and the hobbyist | ||
Artic Monkeys – Only Ones Who Know | ||
Artie Shaw – Jazz Technic Book 1 Scales and Exercises | Artie Shaw – Jazz Technic Book 1 Scales and Exercises | |
Artie Shaw – Clarinet Method | ||
Artie Shaw – Concerto for Clarinet for solo Bb Clarinet with Piano accompaniment | ||
Artie Shaw – Moonglow Clarinet sheet music | ||
Artie Shaw His Life And Music by John White (Book) Biography | ||
Artpop Lady Gaga Songbook | ||
Arturo Sandoval – Sandunga Alto Sax | Arturo Sandoval – Sandunga Alto Sax | |
Arturo Sandoval – Trumpet Method | ||
Arvo Part Fratres Piano Sheet music | ||
Arvo Pärt Partita For Piano, Op 2 (1960) | ||
Arvo Pärt Spiegel Im Spiegel (Violoncello And Piano) | ||
Arvo Part Summa for Strings | Arvo Part Summa for Strings | |
Arvo Part – Fur Alina Variations | Arvo Part – Fur Alina Variations | |
Arvo Pärt – Zwei Sonatinen Für Klavier Op. 1 | ||
Arvo Pärt Out Of Silence (Peter C. Bouteneff) Book | ||
Arvo Pärt Sounding The Sacred Book by Peter C. Bouteneff Jeffers Engelhardt Robert Saler | ||
Arvo Pärt Spiegel Im Spiegel (arranged for Piano Solo) | Arvo Pärt – Spiegel Im Spiegel (arranged for Piano Solo) | |
Arvo Pärt Spiegel Im Spiegel Violin Piano | ||
Ary Barroso – Amor Fatal Fox triste (piano) | ||
Ary Barroso – Aquarela Do Brasil (Samba) Guitar Solo | ||
Ary Barroso – Aquarela Do Brasil (Samba) Guitar Solo TABs | ||
Ary Barroso – Aquarela Do Brasil (Samba) Guitar Solo.mscz | ||
Ary Barroso – Aquarela do Brasil Piano Vocal | Ary Barroso-Aquarela do Brasil | |
Ary Barroso – Tenho Saudade! Samba Cançao (piano) | ||
Ary Barroso Aquarela Do Brasil Arr Carlos Barbosa Lima for guitar | Ary Barroso Aquarela Do Brasil Arr Carlos Barbosa Lima for guitar | |
Ary Barroso Guitar 1 songbook (arr. by Almir Chediak) | Ary Barroso Guitar 2 songbook (arr. by Almir Chediak) | |
Ary Barroso Guitar 2 songbook (arr. by Almir Chediak) | Ary Barroso Guitar 2 songbook (arr. by Almir Chediak) | |
As 101 Melhores Canções Do Século XX – Vol 2 – Almir Chediak (Guitar) | As 101 Melhores Canções Do Século XX – Vol 2 | |
As 101 melhores cançoes do século XX Vol. 1 (Almir Chediak) | As 101 Melhores Canções Do Século XX – Vol 2 | |
As Time Goes By (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Ashanti – The Way That I Love | ||
Asking you (Green Card OST) Hans Zimmer | ||
Assassin’s Creed Rogue – Main Theme | ||
ASSASSINS – The Musical Sondheim-Weidman (Piano & Vocal) | ASSASSINS – The Musical Sondheim-Weidman (Piano & Vocal) | |
Assassins Creed 2 – Ezios Family | ||
Assassins Creed III Main Theme | ||
Astor Piazolla – Adios Nonino | ||
Astor Piazolla Libertango Violin And Piano | Astor Piazolla Libertango Violin And Piano | |
Astor Piazzola – Libertango (piano arr.) | ||
Astor Piazzola – Libertango (Piano Solo) | ||
Astor Piazzola – Play Piazzolla 13 Tangos By Astor Piazzolla EASY GUITAR ARR. | Astor Piazzola – Play Piazzolla 13 Tangos By Astor Piazzolla EASY GUITAR ARR. |