Sleeping with the Past


Sleeping with the Past is the 22nd studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 29 August 1989. It is his best-selling album in Denmark and is dedicated to his longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin. The album features his first solo number-one single, "Sacrifice", in his home country of the UK, which helped the album also hit number one there, his first since 1974's Elton John's Greatest Hits. John and Taupin meant for the songs to reflect the style of 1960s R&B icons such as Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, whom they admired. It also became his first platinum album in the UK since 1983. In the US it was certified gold in October 1989 and platinum in April 1990 by the RIAA. Guy Babylon made his debut on this album and would continue to play keyboards with John for the next 20 years, while Fred Mandel left the band shortly after. John went into rehabilitation in 1990.

Background

With renewed creativity after 1988's Reg Strikes Back, Elton John and Bernie Taupin sought to create a cohesive album that had maintained a consistent theme. Inspired by the success of Billy Joel's 1983 album An Innocent Man, they decided to pay a similar tribute to the R&B sound of the 1960s and '70s that inspired them as youths. Taupin would listen to '60s soul songs and use those songs from the past to inspire new lyrics for their album. He would then write down which artists or songs influenced him. John would then use Taupin's guide to write a soul song that sometimes ventured away from the original source of inspiration. Many of the songs have a somewhat clear influence while others contain a mixture of various soul influences.
Months after the album completion, Elton attributed its creative success to the certainty that some unpleasant chapters in his life, such as his battle with The Sun, were drawing to a close. In 1989 he said: "This is the first album I've made where i didn't have any pressures hanging over me...When i started it, i knew my personal life was going to be sorted out". Some years later he said: "I was sober when i recorded Sleeping with the Past - just". but that changed soon after: "I went off the rails when i did the tour afterwards". During the tour's first week, he collapsed onstage.
The album was released late in Elton's 1989 American tour with little support from MCA records. Elton canceled tour shows and interviews. In New Haven, Connecticut, on October 18, 1989, he rushed through his performance rarely talking to the audience. Midway through his concert, he announced he would not perform material from the new album because MCA was not promoting it.
In addition to "Sacrifice" and "Healing Hands", which were singles in both the UK and US, the songs "Whispers" and "Blue Avenue" were released as singles in parts of Continental Europe. "Whispers" reached #11 in France, whilst "Blue Avenue" managed to reach the Top 75 in the Netherlands. "Blue Avenue" describes his failed marriage to Renate Blauel.
Like Reg Strikes Back the previous year, of note is the lowering of John's vocal register. While he does hit higher, falsetto notes on songs such as "Stone's Throw from Hurtin'" and "Blue Avenue", after this album he would write in keys more suited to his new vocal range, and trips to the upper register would become few and far between. Also, John continued to use the Roland digital piano as his primary instrument - which he started using in Reg Strikes Back in place of his regular acoustic grand piano. The Roland piano is credited within the sleeve notes, and John used it extensively in promotional appearances for Sleeping with the Past, and during the album's supporting tour.
Wynonna Judd recorded a contemporary country music cover version of "Stone's Throw from Hurtin'" which was featured in the 1992 film Leap of Faith starring Steve Martin.
Sinéad O'Connor recorded a cover version of "Sacrifice" for the 1991 tribute album.
This was John's first album since Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy with John and Taupin writing every song on the album without additional writing credits from others.

Track listing

All tracks written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
Side one
  1. "Durban Deep" – 5:32
  2. "Healing Hands" – 4:23
  3. "Whispers" – 5:28
  4. "Club at the End of the Street" – 4:49
  5. "Sleeping with the Past" – 4:58
Side two
  2. "Stone's Throw from Hurtin'" – 4:55
  3. "Sacrifice" – 5:07
  4. "I Never Knew Her Name" – 3:31
  5. "Amazes Me" – 4:39
  6. "Blue Avenue" – 4:21
  2. "Dancing in the End Zone" – 3:53
  3. "Love Is a Cannibal" – 3:52
The version of "Durban Deep" on the 1998 remaster features a different vocal mix and is slightly extended from the original album version.

Reception

Sleeping with the Past received lukewarm reviews when the album was released in 1989. However, longtime fans of Elton John loved the album and deem it to be one of his best from the 1980s, often vying with 1983's Too Low for Zero as John's strongest album of the decade. After peaking at #6 in October 1989 on the UK Albums Chart, the re-release of "Sacrifice" as a double A-side with "Healing Hands" in June 1990, and that single's rise to the #1 spot, Sleeping with the Past was propelled back up to the #1 position on the UK Albums Chart shortly afterwards.
Despite the critical judgment of the album, it became his highest-selling studio album in the UK, being certified 3× Platinum and spawned his first solo #1 hit in his home country.

B-sides

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications