Not every artist gets to have that one performance debut that changes everything about their career for the better, but Elton John is among the lucky few who have. For John, his already lofty star skyrocketed further into the atmosphere with his U.S. debut at Doug Weston’s Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood on August 25, 1970.
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John was already famous in his native U.K., which is how event organizers were able to stuff the seats with so many celebrities and industry bigwigs. And by the time John and his two bandmates left the stage that night, they had officially joined the ranks of their American A-lister audience.
Elton John Made His U.S. Debut on August 25, 1970
Only four months separated the release of Elton John’s eponymous debut and his first stateside show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Elton John came out in the spring of 1970 and opened with John’s first international hit single, “Your Song”. Radio deejays in the U.K. and U.S. played the album opener all summer long, creating quite the buzz for John’s arrival in the States in late August. To be clear, John was already “big” when he showed up. A red double-decker bus had been stationed outside of LAX with a banner that read, “Elton John has arrived,” which would be just a small glimpse of the excitement that was to come.
While John was preparing for his first show in the U.S., his team of label and publicity representatives were inviting every industry bigwig they could think of to watch the show at the Troubadour. Guaranteeing a star-studded show was certainly an easy way to make the venue happy. But it was also a way to throw John headfirst into the American rock scene. After all, what better way to get to know your colleagues than to schmooze with them directly after your set?
Notable audience members included Don Henley, Gordon Lightfoot, Three Dog Night’s Danny Hutton, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Mike Love, and iconic producer Quincy Jones. The celebrities were left just as dumbfounded as the everyday folks catching a Troubadour show simply because it was the place to be.
“The audience was expecting James Taylor,” Dick James Music manager David Rosner recalled, per John’s website. “They got a cross between Jerry Lee Lewis and Leonard Cohen. Someone with great depth and also great entertainment flair. They were certainly not expecting what they ultimately experienced, including myself.”
The Band Walked Away From Their Performance With New Starpower
Glitzy, glamorous notions of fame and celebrity aside, Elton John’s performance at the Troubadour was objectively good. John’s onstage setup was sparse, featuring Spencer Davis Group’s Nigel Olsson on drums and Dee Murray on bass. Even with only three players, the band created a larger-than-life rock sound that oscillated between thoughtful and profound to rollicking and carefree. The musicianship alone would have been enough to impress anyone, even if the band didn’t walk away from their set as freshly minted American celebrities.
But as history would show, that is what happened. John’s star continued to rise higher and higher with subsequent hits like “Tiny Dancer” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” He’s now a bona fide musical legend all around the world—a rare and coveted title that John may have never received, had it not been for a particularly fortuitous night at the Troubadour on this day in 1970.
“‘Elton’ would have happened anyway,” David Rosner mused. “But it wouldn’t have taken off like a rocket as it did without that performance and that band.”
Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns
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