Bernie Taupin says he enjoys a particular kind of fame: people often fail to recognise him until they see his name on a credit card. The lyricist, best known for his decades-long songwriting partnership with Elton John, says he values being able to walk down the street unnoticed and live as part of a small community near Santa Barbara.
That relative anonymity contrasts with John’s global profile. Taupin has written lyrics for most of the songs on records that have sold around 300 million copies, and appeared on the sleeves of many of John’s best-known albums. But he says he prefers not to live with the attention and security that come with being one of the world’s most recognisable performers.
Taupin has now released The Sea Has No Mercy, a solo album recorded in Nashville. For the first time, he wrote both the lyrics and the music. The record blends folk, country and ambient sounds, and includes backing vocals from country singer Lee Ann Womack. At 76, Taupin describes its mood as reflective, sometimes grouchy and occasionally gruffly celebratory.
He calls the album a “late-life manifesto” and says it contains plenty of ranting. The track “Joker”, with its growling, clanking sound, is one example. Taupin says he feels entitled to speak his mind at this stage of life, and sees the record as a personal statement about where he is now.
Earlier solo projects included the 1971 album Taupin, on which he recited poetry over music by John’s band, as well as He Who Rides the Tiger in 1980 and Tribe in 1987. He says he was not fully committed to becoming a recording artist at the time. In the 1990s, he also formed the band Farm Dogs, which made two albums.
The new release followed Taupin’s 2023 autobiography, Scattershot. He says he wanted to make “something 100% selfish” after writing the book. His fascination with the United States began in childhood, growing up in rural Lincolnshire and imagining the American West before ever visiting. He moved to the US as soon as he could afford to, and says he never felt homesick.
In 1970s Los Angeles, Taupin joined the Hollywood Vampires, a drinking club that included Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson and Alice Cooper. He laughs off a suggestion from former member Micky Dolenz that the group’s hard-partying reputation was exaggerated and that its members mostly played golf. Taupin says the only one of them who could play golf was Cooper; an attempt to organise a softball game, he recalls, failed because nobody could be persuaded to get out of bed.
Taupin says he no longer feels remotely British and considers himself assimilated into American culture. His involvement in rodeo includes competing professionally in cutting, a sport in which a rider separates a cow from its herd, and co-owning Little Yellow Jacket, a three-time bucking bull of the year. His daughter Georgey is a rodeo competitor in Texas and sings on the album’s closing track, “One Hundred Ways”, which reflects on mortality and parenthood.
Taupin has agreed to one performance in support of the album, at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, where he will appear with Georgey. He also says he wants to make another record, while a career-spanning documentary is due at the end of the year. He does not expect the new solo work to change the level of attention he receives, and says he remains content with his anonymity.
Sources: The Guardian Music.