Added: 4 years ago
From: rockermad
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  • Awesome performance. terrible filming - during lead guitar sequences they were filming like the audience.

  • WOW.

  • One of Sir Elton's Best songs! He and Bernie Taupin make some PHENOMENAL music!

  • Jeez, you still whining about that BS?

  • I was at that great day in Central Park and it was far f''n out for all those who had the pleasure to do so! Excellent concert by a piano man! How we drove home remains a mystery!!!

  • Awesome post,I love this song!!!!Thank You.....

  • me, my best friend and our girlfriends were 20 when we saw this concert in central park, we were tripping on mescaline, i told them to follow me, i pushed ourselves all the way up front to the stage right as the show started with this song, it was phenomenal!!! we rocked out, but started peaking, so we had to get out of the crush, we walked around the rest of the day and had the time of our lives!!!!

  • It was hot as hell that day. After my buddy and I took a cooling swim in the NYC reservoir there in the park. The cops came. We got ticketed for trespassing and were fined.

    If I knew we'd be fined I'd"ve swum longer.

  • @KindBoxes We left when Elton put on the Donald Duck suit.

  • You can tell this is not a modern concert. Everyone is watching the show instead of filming.

  • This one, again...is for you Mikey! Tjis song reminds me of you. You are gone but certainly not forgotten! You were my friend when I was completely lost. Some good times....great times! I'll see you on the other side!

  • fantastic

  • In my opinion the greatest outdoor concert ever held......

  • shit i remember this!

  • Este Señor es un Genio.

  • Dee Murray really is unparalleled as a bass player. He started that song off playing with a pick too and ended up playing finger style.

  • I'd loved to have seen this!!! Thanks for posting this rockermad!!!

  • freaking amazing!

  • I was AT this concert..he was awsome...but got stuck in the duck suit at the end!!!!

  • very little footage of the guitar player

  • @pikiwiki oh no

  • Comment removed

  • this was in sept of '80, i was there, 3 months later john lennon was murdered, i happened to have been there that night too, i saw johns blood on the ground, it was very sad, from elton johns great show on the great lawn, to his friend john lennons murder the same year, the best and worst of times i will always remember, i was 19 that summer and 20 by the winter, my teens left with happiness and my 20s entered with sadness, oh when we were young!!!!

  • @jroxx11211 If everyone who SAYS they were at Woodstock were actually there it would have been the 2nd largest country in the world.

    Trying to insert yourself into major events - rock & roll or otherwise is pretty pathetic

  • @MrRUKidddingMe yea, ok , jealous little dude, go look on my page n see my age n where i live, do the math, ASSHOLE!!!

  • @jroxx11211 I don't need to go anywhere to guess your age.... just read a few comments and anyone can come up with FIFTEEN

  • Respond to this video... yea, i troll youtube just to see a concert n say i was there, no asshole, i really have a life, i dont go around questioning other peoples memories just to make up my pathetic little life look good, LIKE YOU SHITHEAD!!!

  • @MrRUKidddingMe I am a Civil War veteran . . .

  • Comment removed

  • @MrRUKidddingMe HOW ABOUT, GO FUCK YOURSELF ASSHOLE, MY COMPUTER IS BROKEN, MY BRO TOLD ME TO TELL YOU!!!

  • i have eminem cd's and elton cd's it's ok to like both it's called being eclectic with your music.....but music back then was overall much better in my opinion

  • i was at this concert i remember Good memories

  • THIS SONG is about the "break-up" in a relationship NOT death. Playing it at a funeral is not what its about nor would it make sense!

  • @keokicreek it was a song and a concert shared with a friend who later died, the name of the song makes all the sense in the world, who cares what the song is about, are you my friend or did you know my dead friend???? NO HUH!!!!

  • @jroxx11211 No, I didn't know your friend and I'm sorry you lost him/her. I viewed your page and it looks like we share some common interests. I probably could be your friend. Just know that my post to you wasn't meant as an "in your face" type post. Live Free or Die my friend.

  • @keokicreek thats cool bro, sorry for being so defensive, but i got a few negative comments from assholes just being wiseguys, some people on here just want to talk shit and have no concern for others feelings, i posted my original comment to share a personal connection between me, my friend and the song, its all good, thanks for the clarification, ROCK ON!!!

  • does anybody remember the month and year?

  • @johnny0g Sept. 13, 1980

  • class has begun>>> a class act that is!!!

  • my God >this is giving me the chills> an amazing song!! an amazing artist! Loved Goodbye yellow brick road grey seal & this f f> a friend

    this IS a TREASURE!

    I see the twin towers> ohh

    eternity for those in their lost years

  • Well, you can't compare Elton John with Eminem... two totally different types on genre. Besides, there's no need to bash other artists. You dig what you dig and leave the rest alone

  • Love this one! Probably my favorite & I don't care how long it is! Ends too soon in my opinion.

  • Way talented, HOW????? In what way???? Elton is a multi-talented triple threat. I'll spell it out for you..S-I-N-G-E-R, S-O-N-G-W-R-I-T-E-R, M-U-S-C-I-A-N. Enema is none of that. Put me in a studio & I'll rhyme words to a beat. Put me in front of a piano & ask me to play & write something like Funeral/Love lies & I'm totally lost. So don't try to sell me on that hack. There's a lot of people out there who don't understand music composition, & Enema needs to be grateful for that.

  • Oh, one more thing to the previous question. Why are you dissing enema? Because the no talent hack derserves to be dissed. He's not musically gifted & is no way near on the level of Elton. Elton was a piano prodigy playing at age 4. What was enema doing at age 4? Probably wacking his weinie!!!! The mother fucker is not gifted, GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @garydemaio

    Sorry. Love Elton, hate rap, but Eminem is way talented dude.

  • Sad, some people wouldn't know good music if it fell on them. This,  is a FUCKING ROCK ANTHEM/ROCK MUSICAL MASTERPIECE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not an opinion, a musical FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Awesome...No Lipsyncing!!!!

  • I was there, 20 people from the stage. Me and 400,000 of my friends.

  • @jroxx11211 RIP indeed, you guys knew what you were doing lol :).

  • the greatest song ever written

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  • Say Rocketmad,,why don't you show all of ELTON's Central Park,NY Show? And

    do't say cause of that Copyrights crud either...

  • He's confusing some of the lyrics here, interesting.

  • Why do you have to diss Eminem, or even mention him in an Elton John classic?

    All I know is, that this is legendary!

  • let me tell you my friends that this is one of the best elton johns RECORDINGS in history!. bar that none!!!!

  • The cocaine heyday's

  • badass crescendo

  • fast forward to 1994 (or 1993?) to an evening in ohio stadium, columbus, ohio campus of the ohio state u. with him and billy joel and he exploded everyones mind by beginningthe concert with this song.

  • School's in session here. Pay attention. This is how it's done.

  • elton jonh viado

  • @angelomarcioguitarra He's saying that Elton John is a homossexual in a very rude way.

  • Best piano player of our generation my friends..

  • Elton, the first rock star to play Central Park. Yeah, it was free, but Elton had the draw & star power to pack in half a mill. I'd like to see enema or poop dog do that. This is the best concert opener ever. From the erie wind & bell tolling to the resounding building to crescendo is awesome & breathtaking. Where in the fuck would we of been without this man's great music?

  • EJ forever !!!

  • and so did his friend die just months later that same year.

  • This songs fills my soul with music... Trully a great artist. And a great piece of art.

  • omg omg omg this was the frist song he played at the cocnert i went to! been looking everywhere! love it love it. :D

  • Ol' Reg Dwight really knows how to rock, doesn't he? This was one of those long rock anthems in the vein of the Who and Led Zeppelin...only Elton did it with a lot more razz-a-matazz! Good stuff!

  • It appears that sir elton had quite a bit of coke before this show

  • @stevenheimer113 If he can play and sign that well coked up, more power to him.

  • Best way to start a concert...bar none!

  • I can't get enough of this song. Top ten of all time!

  • @peppers23 I certainly agree!

  • B-4 wilding, best free CP concert ever! Weed, wine and blow for 100s of thousands who just partied all afternoon long!

  • @puffball9 I read about that, but if he insists on playing what is a glorified digital piano then there's always the risk of the pedalling fupping up electronically. You'd never have that prob with your standard £70k grand piano

  • Elton..the King...I rest my case.

  • MY 1ST ELTON'S SONG.....

  • i thouhgt i was the only one.see that man crying

  • i thouhgt i was the only one

  • No rock entertainer like him anymore. One of the greatest! Same band for decades, too.

  • In the vhs tape, they open with the middle of the show on Saturday Night's.....Why not open with this? Why only release the partial show?

  • One of Elton John's best rock songs he does in concert!

  • Elton's bithday today and as a big fan of the classic Elton i think this particular song is specially for himself because he killed the Classic Elton around 1978 with victim of love album and his inmerssion to pop disco,,Happy Birthday Sir Elton lol!

  • Is that Townshend on the guitar?

  • What an terrible outfit !

  • @hjd004 fuck you its elton john. he can wear whatever the fuck he wants.

  • .Creepy how they showed the Dakota where Lennon got murdered later that year.

  • This so makes me think of vinyl, wow.Creepy how they showed the Dakota where Lennon got murdered  later that year.

  • This so makes me think of vinyl, wow.

  • seeing EJ tomorrow at msg

  • @jferkfjkj ahh i was there too! where were your seats?

  • @puffball9 seats were 3rd mezzanine. $50 and i had a great direct view from the rear stage

  • @jferkfjkj i didn't know they sold tickets for the rear...elton usually has a jumbotron behind the stage. mine were on the floor...would have been perfect if two douche bags in the row in

    front of me weren't standing up every time the rest of the crowd sat down.

  • @puffball9 Elton always allows rear access for his fans.

  • @puffball9 That happens to me all the time when I go to concerts.I hate those douche bags and those stupit bitches also. you pay good money for tickets to have someone to stand in your way. I finally quit going to concerts because all the assoles.Anyway there is hardley anybody good left to go see anymore but the last concert I went to was Sir Elton with Billy Joel that was a Great Concert.

  • @coketherealthing ahh i saw them together in July of 09. Washington Nationals Stadium...good show but Elton had a hissy fit because his pedal on the piano was sticking so he left stage until they got it fixed!

  • @puffball9 That's Funny!

  • For all those kids out there that think Eminem is where it's at, they need an education on what real music is about. Elton will be starting class shortly. :) lol

  • @LennyRevell My dad said the same thing to me...but Andy Williams was teaching the class :( lol

  • @LennyRevell

    elton john used to play rock

    why, when listening to him do you think about eminem (who plays rap)?

  • @LennyRevell

    In my school luckily they have a class for Elton and one for Eminem :)

  • I might get to go to a concert in April---- fingers crossed!

  • Dam! Now that's the way to open a concert! Elton's was the best concert I've ever been to... and I've been to quite a few back in the day.

  • thanks brother ju for this one now were really rocking what a tune keep em coming

  • Elton... the one and only!!!!!!

  • Best CP concert ever, he led way with a crowd of 100,000's by most reports with no stinkin wilding incidents at all! Great show, even better folk in attendance!!

  • My Dad was on the NYPD at this time and worked security at this concert. One of his best times being a policeman.

  • No song is better. This is the very best of Elton John. This arrangement is classic and timeless. If this song doesn't make you move and touch you to the very core, you must only be animated, appearing to be, but not be really alive.

  • ah wanted to have experienced this season and be in concert = /

  • How come Davey Johnstone wasn't in the Central Park video

    

  • @PoloGuy83 Davey was touring and working with Bob Seger and some others at the time.

  • @schwebbs84 he was on tour with Meatloaf I think.

  • It never got old.

  • Indiscutivelmente um dos maiores ícones da música mundial e por falar em música, essa aí é de arrepiar.

  • Indiscutivelmente um dos maiores ícones da música mundial e por falar em música, essa aí é de arrepiar.

  • Doesn't get much better than EJ!

  • I was there in 1980. When the concert was announced that Elton John was doing a free concert in Central Park, friends and myself hopped on the train Saturday morning and saw one of the greatest concerts.

  • an anthem from Super Elton

  • Best song by Elton John, too bad it was uploaded in 240DPI.

  • For the time this is a good quality recording, shame the crowd screamed over the beginning!

  • you were playing rock and roll and I was just a fan! Love you Sir Elton John

  • Just think... John Lennon was still with us (13 Sept. 80) If he was home that day he would have heard this show clear from his window...Great song!

  • Comment removed

  • Nice video ,I would love to know who shot this vid. Whomever they are nice job!

  • @scootsrw It was shot by HBO cameramen at the time. Possibly even PBS...

    Mike Mansfield directed it IIRC.  I had it on Beta back in the day - and still waiting for an official DVD release in Region 2.

    Preferably a PAL one.

    Then again - maybe it's just me.. but I think the Old Grey Whistle Test lot would have done a better job at some of the angles...

  • @alcockell Classic was the Old Grey Whistle.....What an era Elton was in during that time

  • Elton's band and himself works like a magic... this is just unbelievably good song and peformance.

  • i wish you could just keep clicking the like button over and over:)

  • I saw Elton in Austin back in '80 and bitched the entire way down from Waco, "he better do Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding.

    HE OPENED WITH IT. Was such an awesome concert I will never forget. 3 months later, I'm in bootcamp. lol

  • LOL @ 1:37. A few people showed up, huh ????

  • central park is taking off

  • where was davey?

  • @salamonetalton He was touring with Meatloaf at the time I think

  • Of all the great work this guy has done, this may be the greatest.

  • I saw him last year- the first minute of the song, spent waiting for him to play, was the longest minute of my life. Such a terrific song, thanks for posting.

  • Best 11 minutes in rock and roll music, bar none.

  • @stumiller nuf said my friend.

  • @stumiller could not agree with you more. every time he stopped in chicago, the band opened with this! Nigel Ollsson the most underated drummer ever!!

  • @suijin84 And Dee Murray, who died here in Nashville at a very early age, was a strong bass player. Watch and listen to him on this video. On the recording itself, he is almost magical!

  • @stumiller Amen a great bassist indeed

  • @poodle720 If you want to hear a bassist carry an entire song, listen to Dee Murray on "Philadelphia Freedom." It's so good it's scary!

  • @stumiller You are so right about the 11-17-70 album (as it was called in the US). Dee and Nigel: they were the "soul" of the band. Davey added a lot and Ray Cooper is the best percussionist around but, man, do I miss Dee....and trust me, so does EJ.

  • @stumiller Hell yeah dude...I have always said...even comparing bands like Metallica and Megadeath...this song out rocks them all. What a rockin anthem this masterpiece is...in all its parts...there is NO EQUAL...

  • My brother was somewhere in there.

  • Elton ushered in the era of the keyboard wizard, classically trained, and for years replaced the strumming folkie. (who were of course just as important) Elton's chord changes, bass lines were brilliant. As were the lyrics. Funny to think that EJ and Taupin said they shared nothing in the creative process. BT handed EJ the lyrics and he just went ...

  • Was there, the balloon release darkened the skys for this first of many! Event of a lifetime for most!

  • Pure BAD ASS!!!!!!!!!

  • @ghostwrx you're totally right. I agree with you all the way. In this era it's like as the years go on, the more the music sucks. I also hate that Elton John is bad mouthed because he's homosexual. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are both so ugly they make a great couple.

  • the best song ever

  • Whoever the 10 people are that dislike this video can go fuck themselves because this is AWESOME!!!

  • Elton's new album The Union, with Leon Russell, is brilliant!!

  • It sounds really flat without Davey Johnstone's blistering guitar solos. Roger Pope is a far superior drummer than Nigel Olsson. EJ's best shows are the solo ones with Ray Cooper coming in half the way through.

  • EPIC

    @vulcan1429 - check out his new album with Leon Russell

  • FUCKING AWESOME

  • Chills and tears...even after all these years. He will never be that good again.

  • 9 people missed the 'like' button...

  • nice very nice!

  • One of the finest Masterpieces ever

  • Wow.

  • Elton's conquer of America without a doubt. Brilliant

  • one of his best songs ever

  • awesome

  • If you love Elton John, follow EltonJohnLyrics on Twitter :)

  • I would say one of the best ever!!! 

  • i was there......great time

  • He is one of the best ever! One of the best showman ever!!!!!! I know everyone on earth has heard and liked at least one of his songs. If you dont your a dipshit!

  • happy, happy times!

  • I can remember where, when, and who I made love to the night I bought this album. Does that say anything?

    Def one of the top 5 rock albums of all time.

  • A flat out kick ass song!!!

  • 9:35 onward: almost sounds like a borrowed solo from Freebird. :) Magnificent, thanks for posting.

  • BEST rock song ever heard in my life

  • I have seen Elton in 1973, 1980, 1984, 1995 and 2010 and by far I think he's the greatest music artist ever. I remember him the first time in 1973 when this song came out and I saw him at Long beach Arena Long Beach, California! fantastic then and now, WOW!

  • @jeromejoh12 I saw the YBR tour in Philly the same year. Something I will never, ever forget. I have seen Pink Floyd twice (also memorable) and I believe that is the only thing that has ever come close to comparing EJs show of 73!

  • for marc and tessa

  • Love lies bleedin' in my hands.

    Best lyrics ever

  • Great post and great audio. This is probably the song I listen to most when I am down and out and watching it just now with all those people in Central Park and everything that has happened since just brings on a flood of images and emotion.

    Music is what will save us.

  • that is a FUCKLOAD of people....holy BALLS!

  • I have been collecting rock music on my new ipod, from the 50s to the 00s, and the 70s rule. There is great rock in each decade, but in my opinion the 1970s were an explosion of great performers, great songwriters, and great bands that we have never seen before or since. This song must be counted in the Top 10 greatest rock songs of all time.

  • I got to see him perform these two songs at a concert in Buffalo in 1976. What a day that was. It rained but nobody cared. :o)