Made in England is the twenty-fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, released in 1995 and produced by him and Greg Penny, the first time since Leather Jackets without Chris Thomas. It was dedicated to John's boyfriend and future husband David Furnish. It was also dedicated to the memory of Denis Gauthier and Peter Williams. It was the last album to feature regular percussionist Ray Cooper until 2016's Wonderful Crazy Night. Bob Birch became John's full-time recording and touring bass player and continued that role until his death in 2012. The song "Please" was covered by bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent and country legend Dolly Parton for the 2018 tribute album .
Background
While still promoting his work for The Lion King soundtrack, in September 1994, five months before its release as a single, Elton John debuted "Believe" during the opening night of a concert tour with Ray Cooper in Phoenix, AZ. "Believe" reached No. 15 in the UK and No. 13 in the US, and was the only American hit from the album to reach the top 20. During November, John toured Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Switzerland, Poland, France, Italy, the UK, and Japan, and other countries two months later. Several songs from the album made it to the tour's playlist, including "Believe", "Made in England", "Blessed", "Lies" and "Pain". A few special notes about some of the songs: on "Belfast", the song originally ended simply with John singing the last line, "Belfast". In an interview with fan magazineEast End Lights some time later, arranger Paul Buckmaster said he thought the song needed a more uplifting end, and added the outro, making it sound as if it were being played in an Irish pub somewhere up the road. John reportedly was initially wary of the idea, but Buckmaster said he changed his mind upon hearing it and approved the new coda for the final version; George Martin, who owned AIR Studios London where the album was recorded, wrote the horn and string arrangement on "Latitude"; and John and Guy Babylon are credited as arrangers on "Man", which also includes organ by Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics frontman Paul Carrack.
There are many outtakes from Made in England. These songs include "Building a Bird", "Leaves", "Hell", "Skin", "Tick-Tock", "Undone", "Red", "Live Like Horses", an alternate version of "Belfast", and an alternate version of "Believe". "Red" was later released on the French compilation Sol En Si, and a version of "Live Like Horses" was later released on The Big Picture. "Building a Bird" was recorded by Nigel Olsson for his 2001 Move the Universe CD, released only in Japan. The remaining outtakes have yet to circulate.
