Framing Album, little Initial Success

Although confetti didn’t fly with the release of the team’s initial recordings, some songs did catch the attention of other artists. For example, Three Dog Night included “Lady Samantha,” written and composed by the duo, on its Suitable for Framing album in 1969-a form of flattery if not success for John and Taupin at that point in their careers. Empty Sky, released in 1969, was the team’s first album featuring Elton John. Overall, it was far from a perfect product, selling only 4,000 copies, but it demonstrates that everyone-whether entrepreneur or musical group-has to start somewhere, even with little initial success.

Your Song Giving Fans What They Want Up to that point, John and Taupin had been trying to sell-generally unsuccessfully-what they had created, relying only on their own ideas and creative talents. But sometimes those most involved in the creative side of business are those least likely to have a connection to what customers really want to buy because of an all too common disconnection from mass market audiences.

The shift to a marketing orientation started with changing their product. Taupin and John continued to do what each did best, but they added producer Gus Dudgeon, an industry veteran with the experience needed to elevate the music quality, and an arranger, Paul Buckmaster, who offered up elegant string arrangements, complete with a studio orchestra. The result was a product with substantially more depth than the compositions and performances they had tried to sell by themselves.

The result was Elton John, their second album, released in the summer of 1970. It could serve as a textbook on consumer behavior, demonstrating how to reach consumers by appealing to basic human emotions. Just as companies with high sales and brand loyalty often design products that appeal to the needs, drives, problems and feelings of consumers,