''Peachtree Road'' is the twenty-seventh studio album by English musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

released on 9 November 2004. The album was named after Peachtree Road, the northern part of

Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points (Atlanta), Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown Atlanta, Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where one of John's four homes is located. This is the only album during his long career on which John has sole credit as producer, although on some previous projects he was listed as a co-producer, with Clive Franks (on ''

A Single Man ''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American period romantic drama film based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for the Acad ...

'', ''

21 at 33 ''21 at 33'' is the fourteenth studio album by English musician Elton John and his 21st album in total, made when John was 33 years old, hence the title. ''21 at 33'' was recorded at Super Bear Studios, Nice, France, in September 1979 and at ...

'' and parts of '' The Fox''), or

Greg Penny Greg Penny (born October 12, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, musician, songwriter and artist best known for his work as a producer for Elton John and k.d. lang. He is currently the president of Flower ...

(on ''

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...

'' and '' Made in England''). It was recorded in January 2004. Despite its generally positive reviews, ''Peachtree Road'' was one of John's lowest-selling contemporary efforts, reaching No. 17 in the US upon its release, yet only managing No. 21 in the UK, making it one of his rare albums to miss the top ten in his homeland. In the US, it was certified gold in December 2004 by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It debuted at No. 12 in Denmark in November 2004, its highest chart placing in that country and peaked at No. 11 in Switzerland.

Background

In addition to

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...

playing drums on all tracks, once again a permanent member of John's touring and recording band, the album features renowned gospel vocalist Adam McKnight, as well as members of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

contributing horns and brass arrangements.

Guy Babylon Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009) was an American keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John. Babylon was born in New Windsor, Maryland. He attended Francis Scott Key High School before moving on to the ...

was credited with playing Hammond organ and Rhodes piano instead of keyboards, which was the case on earlier albums.

John Jorgenson John Richard Jorgenson (born July 6, 1956) is an American musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, he is also proficient on the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel gu ...

, a member of John's band from 1995 to 2000, plays pedal steel guitar on "Turn the Lights Out When You Leave". It was dedicated to the memory of Gus and Sheila Dudgeon, John's original producer and his wife, who were killed in a car accident in 2002. The album was re-released in July 2005 with three bonus tracks from ''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a coming-of-age stage musical based on the 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around Billy, a m ...

'', as well as a DVD featuring nine tracks from the album performed live in Atlanta. The song "Electricity" from the musical was also released as a single in June 2005. It rose to No. 4 in the UK. Some editions of the album included bonus - two videos for the two first singles ("Answer in the Sky" and "All That I'm Allowed"). Songs from the album debuted at

The Tabernacle The Tabernacle is a mid-size concert hall located in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Opening in 1911 as a church, the building was converted into a music venue in 1996. It is owned and managed by concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment and has a c ...

in Atlanta in early November. John also performed at the November 2005

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

, televised live from

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, duetting with

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

on "Turn the Light Out When You Leave".

Album cover

The album art on the front cover is a photograph from a railroad crossing near the Atlanta suburb of

Douglasville The city of Douglasville is the county seat of Douglas County, Georgia, Douglas County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. , the city had a population of 34,650, up from 30,961 in 2010 United States census, 2010 and 20,065 in 2000 Uni ...

, taken by London photographer

Sam Taylor-Wood Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson OBE ( née Taylor-Wood; 4 March 1967) is a British filmmaker and photographer. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's ''Nowhere Boy'', a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter a ...

. Taken in by the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and given complete artistic freedom, she shot thousands of photos during her week-long trip. The trip included other towns like Unadilla and

Forsyth Forsyth may refer to: Places Oceania * Forsyth Island, Queensland, Australia, one of the West Wellesley Islands (aka Forsyth Islands) * Forsyth Island, Tasmania, Australia * Forsyth Island (New Zealand), in the outer Marlborough Sounds of South I ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. While she also visited Peachtree Road in the

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...

area of Atlanta, she thought it was too busy for the album's more mellow nature. She picked several photos to present to him, and John made the final selection. Other photos from the shoot appear on the back of the album cover and in the included CD and

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple aud ...

booklet.

Singles

* "Answer in the Sky" was picked as the first single on the album that only released in North America, it reached No. 7 in the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The song ends his streak of hitting the Top 10 on that chart as a solo performer. John still charted there, however after this song, his singles only reached the Top 20. This song became John's most recent single on the AC chart to reach the Top 10 in 17 years until 2021's "

Cold Heart (Pnau remix) "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" is a song by English singer Elton John and English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, produced by Australian trio Pnau, and released through EMI and Mercury Records on 13 August 2021 as the lead single from John's collaborati ...

" featuring

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

, which peaked at No. 1 (originally No. 5). The music video of the song, directed by

David LaChapelle David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American photographer, music video director and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion, photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His pho ...

, features professional dancers dancing in different places built on the studio. * "All That I'm Allowed", the first single released outside North America. It reached No. 20 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 24 in the US Adult Contemporary Chart. The music video features different people in their respective states, emphasizing the message and meaning of this song. * "Turn the Lights Out When You Leave" was the last single released from the album, it reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video, directed by

, shot outside

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

featuring

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Deep Blue Sea (1999 film), Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), ''The Punisher ...

and

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

star

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film ''Tomor ...

doing their roles and John as a piano player in the background, performing this song.

Track listing

Notes * Track 8 was titled ''All That I'm Allowed'' on the original 2004 release of the album but was titled ''All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful)'' on the 2005 expanded edition. * All tracks on the DVD recorded live at the Tabernacle, Atlanta (November 2004).

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic piano, backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12),

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(10) *

– programming, orchestral arrangements (1-5, 7-12),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

(2-9, 11, 12), Rhodes piano (6-9, 11) *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1 ...

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar (1-4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12),

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

(1, 2, 6, 10), backing vocals (1, 5, 10),

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

(3, 6),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(3, 5, 10), Leslie guitar (5),

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

(8),

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(10) * John Jorgenson –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(4) *

Bob Birch Robert Wayne "Bob" Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American musician. He was primarily a session musician and sideman to a variety of notable artists. Early life At an early age, Birch was inspired to pursue music by his f ...

– bass, backing vocals (1, 5, 10) *

– drums, backing vocals (1, 5, 10, 11) * John Mahon – percussion, backing vocals (1, 5, 10), programming (9, 11) * Larry Klimas –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(6) *

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He plays a wide variety of wind instruments, including saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He also occasionally ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(6) *

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

(6), horn arrangements (6) *

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life and education Lee David Loughna ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(6) * Martin Tillman –

electric cello The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification (rather than acoustic resonance) to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built-i ...

(10) Orchestra (Tracks 1-5 & 7-12) * Steve Erodody and Martin Tillman – cello * Brian Dembrow, Vicki Miskolczy, Simon Oswell and Jimbo Ross – viola * Charlie Bisharat, Joel Derouin, Bruce Dukow,

Endre Granat Endre Granat (born August 3, 1937) is an American violinist. He is regarded as the most recorded violinist and concertmaster working in the studios today. Early life and education Granat studied at the Franz Liszt Academy, Jacobs School of Mus ...

, Eric Hosler, Dimitrie Leiviachi, Phillip Levy, Robin Olson, Sid Page, Mark Robinson, Anatoly Rosinsky and Lisa Sutton – violin Choir vocals * Charles Bullock (2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12) * Terrence Davis (2, 6-9, 11, 12) * Todd Honeycutt (2, 6) * Adam McKnight (2, 6-9, 11, 12) * Rosalind McKnight (2, 3, 6) * L'Tanya Shields (2, 3, 6) * M. Denise Sims (2, 3, 6) * Alecia Terry (2, 3, 6) * Mark Ford (6-9, 11, 12)

Production

* Produced by Elton John * Engineered and Mixed by Matt Still * Assistant Engineers – Jason Carson, John Holmes, Josh McDonnell, Josh "Frodo" Monroy, Rob Skipworth and Tom Tapley. * Mixed at

Right Track Recording Sound on Sound Studios, formerly known as MSR Studios (Manhattan Sound Recordings) is a photography and movie producing company recording facility in Montclair, New Jersey. Its forebear, MSR Studios, was located in Manhattan, just outside Times Squ ...

(New York, NY). * Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME). * Keyboard Technicians – Tony Smith and Dale Sticha * Guitar Technician – Rick Salazar * Drum Technician – Chris Sobchack * Photography –

* Design – Intro * Management – Keith Bradley, Derek MacKillop and Frank Presland for Twenty First Artist, Ltd.

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peachtree Road (Album) 2004 albums Albums produced by Elton John Elton John albums Music of Atlanta