gregorygalloway:

26-year-old Elton John’s 7th studio album in 4 years was released on 5 October 1973.

After a failed attempt to record in Jamaica (where the Rolling Stones had just recorded Goats Head Soup), the band relocated to the Château d’Hérouville near Paris (where Honky Château and Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player were recorded). Most of the album’s 17 songs were written and recorded at the Château in just a few weeks.

The album was Elton John’s 2nd of 3 consecutive #1 albums in the US and remains his best-selling studio album. The album contained the #1 single “Bennie and the Jets,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (which peaked at #2), and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (which peaked at #12).