Pub Rock & Session Years

Lore & Background

In the mid-1960s, a slim, earnest teenager from the London suburbs was already playing piano in recording studios, sitting in with other artists' bands, and filling in on gigs wherever a keyboard was needed. He was not yet a 'name'; he was a pair of hands that could deliver a tight, soulful, blues-soaked performance on any song the bandleader tossed his way. The London session scene of the era—fueled by the British Invasion's aftershocks and a thriving pub-rock circuit—was the perfect apprenticeship ground, and Reginald threw himself into it with a hunger that older musicians noticed. Around 1967, he gathered a group of like-minded players into a band initially called The Bluesology, a name that signalled his deep roots in American blues and R&B. The band played a steady run of London pubs and small clubs, and it was during one of these live sets that DJ and BBC presenter John Peel took notice, inviting the young pianist to cut a studio session for his radio show. That session became the first public-facing proof that this kid had something beyond raw technical ability: a sense of drama, a flair for the dramatic, and a voice (behind the keys) that demanded attention. The partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin, which crystallised around the same period, gave the music a narrative spine it had previously lacked. Together they began sketching the songs that would populate his first two albums, shifting the project from 'a good session player with a band' to 'a songwriter with a distinct identity.' The visual language was already there too—bold, theatrical, almost camp fashion choices that would become a signature, even if the stage was a wobbly pub platform rather than a coliseum.

In Their Own Story

The Bull's Head is packed on a wet Thursday in '67. The air smells of stale ale and cigarette smoke. A lanky kid in a too-bright jacket stands behind a battered upright piano, adjusts his glasses, and launches into a blues number that makes the bartender forget to wipe the counter. Nobody claps yet. They're still chewing. But the girl by the door stops mid-sip. The bassist in the corner grins. And somewhere in the back, a man with a radio microphone is scribbling in a small notebook, already planning how to get this sound into a studio by Monday. The kid doesn't know his name yet. He just knows the next chord is a B-flat, and he's not going to miss it.

Reader's Guide

The 'Soho Grind' era—fans often call it that, a nod to the London neighbourhood where much of the action took place—represents Elton John's rawest, most unpolished musical period. Musically, the sound is all blues, boogie-woogie, and early rock-and-roll. The piano playing is aggressive, percussive, and deeply rooted in the American tradition. There is none of the later orchestral sweep or pop gloss; what you get is a young man proving he can keep time, hit hard, and make a room of strangers lean forward. The Bluesology band's live sets were essentially a showcase for his keyboard work, with the rhythm section providing a tight, driving foundation. Visually, even in this pub-circuit phase, Elton was already experimenting with bold, theatrical fashion—bright colours, unusual silhouettes, an almost confrontational sense of style that stood out in the drab, tweed-and-wool world of a 1960s London pub. It was a seed of the later sequin-and-feather spectacle, planted in a venue where the ceiling was low and the audience was twelve people. Culturally, the era sits at the tail end of the British Invasion's initial wave and the rise of the pub-rock scene. The audience was small, local, and largely indifferent to the idea that a skinny kid from Pinner might one day fill Wembley. The cultural context was one of working musicians, not stars. The defining recordings are the John Peel session and, slightly later, the debut album *Empty Sky* (1969), followed by *Tumbleweed Connection* (1970), which began to show the Taupin-Dwight songwriting partnership finding its full voice. Elton's public persona in this window was still shy, almost invisible, letting the music do the talking. The transformation from 'session player with a band' to 'solo artist with a name' happened in the narrow gap between these two albums, and it changed everything.

Did You Know?

• Elton John's first professional work was as a session musician in London recording studios in the mid-1960s, playing piano on other artists' tracks before he ever recorded under his own name.
• The band The Bluesology was renamed 'Elton John's Bluesology' after the pianist adopted his stage name, a combination of his given name and a nod to the blues tradition that defined his early playing.
• Bernie Taupin and Elton John began their songwriting partnership around 1967, and they have continued collaborating on every album since, making it one of the longest-running creative partnerships in popular music.
• Elton John's first solo album, *Empty Sky*, was released in 1969 on DJM Records, and it was recorded with The Bluesology as his backing band before the group's lineup began to shift.