On October 15th, Elton John will release his first official autobiography, Me. John has shared an excerpt of the book, detailing a hilarious incident in which he mistook Bob Dylan for a gardener. So it goes:
“Towards the end of the Eighties, I held an insane party in LA, and invited everyone I knew. By mid-evening, I was flying, absolutely out of my mind, when a scruffy-looking guy I didn’t recognise wandered into the lit-up garden.
“Who the hell was he? Must be one of the staff, a gardener. I loudly demanded to know what the gardener was doing helping himself to a drink,” John shared.
“There was a moment’s shocked silence, broken by my PA saying, ‘Elton, that’s not the gardener. It’s Bob Dylan.’”
After realising the gardener was actually one of the most influential songwriters of all time, he offered to give Dylan a makeover.
“Coked out of my brain and keen to make amends, I rushed over, grabbed him and started steering him towards the house. ‘Bob! Bob! We can’t have you in those terrible clothes, darling. Come upstairs and I’ll fit you out with some of mine at once. Come on, dear!’”
Understandably, Dylan was “horrified” by John’s critiques, “His expression suggested he was trying hard to think of something he wanted to do less than get dressed up like Elton John, and drawing a blank.”
Somehow, after that whole debacle, Dylan and John maintained a relationship. Elsewhere, Elton relayed an evening spent with Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel in which Dylan proved to be one of the most inept charades contestants in history.
“Another time, I invited Dylan to dinner with Simon and Garfunkel, and afterwards we played charades.
“At least, they tried to play charades. They were terrible at it. The best thing I can say about Simon and Garfunkel is that they were better than Dylan.
“He couldn’t get the hang of the ‘How many syllables?’ thing at all. He couldn’t do ‘sounds like’ either, come to think of it. One of the best lyricists in the world, the greatest man of letters in the history of rock music, and he couldn’t seem to tell you whether a word had one syllable or two syllables or what it rhymed with!
“He was so hopeless, I started throwing oranges at him. Or so I was informed the next morning by a friend.
“That’s not really a phone call you want to receive when you’re struggling with a hangover. ‘Morning, darling — do you remember throwing oranges at Bob Dylan last night?’ Oh God.”
Me will be released on October 15th.
Watch: Elton John – Tiny Dancer
Elton John will be heading around the country in December for his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour, you can find the dates and ticket information below.
ELTON JOHN
FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD
AUSTRALIA 2019-2020
Saturday, November 30th, 2019
HBF Park, Perth, WA
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Sunday, December 1st, 2019
HBF Park, Perth, WA
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Wednesday, December 4th, 2019
Botanic Park Adelaide, Adelaide, SA
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Tuesday, December 10th, 2019
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Ticketek
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Ticketek
Wednesday, December 18th, 2019
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday, December 21st, 2019
ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Monday, December 23rd, 2019
ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Tuesday, January 7th, 2020
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday, January 11th, 2020
Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday, January 18th, 2020
A Day On The Green
Sirromet Wines, Mount Cotton, QLD
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020
Carrington Park, Bathurst, NSW
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday, January 25th, 2020
Hanging Rock, Woodend, VIC
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020
A Day On The Green
All Saints Estate, Rutherglen, VIC
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Friday, January 31st, 2020
A Day On The Green
Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, VIC
Tickets: Ticketmaster
