This sentimental love song was Elton’s most successful single at the time of its release, becoming a Top 10 hit in the US and the UK.
Kronomyth 2.9: Ballad of a well-known song.
In lieu of a proper single from Tumbleweed Connection, the labels trotted out the perennial favorite, “Your Song,” days before the new album’s release. It wasn’t a bad move, since Tumbleweed didn’t have an obvious single in its story-based framework (a tumbleweed conundrum, if you will). “Your Song” promptly became his most successful single to date, reaching the Top 10 in the UK and the US.
I would tell you it’s one of the prettiest love songs ever made, but you don’t really need me to tell you that. What I can’t tell you is how many people bought Tumbleweed Connection thinking “Love Song” was actually “Your Song.” In the US, “Take Me To The Pilot” was featured on the flip side; if you bought that single, you had the two best sides of Elton John on a seven-inch piece of plastic. The UK single did something different, digging out the nixed Tumbleweed track, “Into The Old Man’s Shoes,” as the B side. It’s too bad the labels weren’t able to pack these shoes for the original Tumbleweed trip, since it would have fit well within the Western story after, say, “My Father’s Gun.”
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Your Song (Elton John/Bernie Taupin) (3:57)
B1. Take Me To The Pilot (Elton John/Bernie Taupin) (3:43)
Original 7-inch single version (UK)
A1. Your Song (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
B1. Into The Old Man’s Shoes (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Back-to-back hits 7-inch single reissue (Japan ’74)
A1. Your Song
B1. It’s Me That You Need
Back-to-back hits 7-inch single reissue
A1. Your Song (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
B1. Border Song (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single on October 26, 1970 in the US (Uni, 55265), Australia (DJM, DJK-4107) and France (DJM, 17567), and on January 8, 1971 in the UK (DJM, DJS.233); reached #7 on the UK charts and #8 on the US charts. Also released on red vinyl 7-inch single in 1970 in Japan (DJM, FR-2705) with picture sleeve.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in April 1973 in the US (MCA, MCA-60047) {black rainbow label}.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in Malaysia (MCA, 7-173) with picture sleeve.
- Re-packaged with “It’s Me That You Need” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in 1974 in Japan (DJM, 06SP-367) with picture sleeve.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in 1976 in the UK (DJM, DJS 10233).
- Re-packaged with “Border Song” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in September 1978 in the UK (DJM, DJS 10902) with picture sleeve.
- Re-issued with “Border Song” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in Germany (DJM, 2135 601) with picture sleeve.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in the late 1970s in the US (MCA, MCA-60047) {tan/biege label}.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in 1984 in the US (MCA, MCA-60047) {blue rainbow label}.
- Re-issued with “Border Song” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in 1992 in the US (Collectables, COL 4913).
