Rick Hocks

This album, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” is Elton John’s masterpiece - and that’s saying something, as he has half a dozen stellar albums. “Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding” is far and away my favorite song Elton, but this album also has songs that are so different from that, like “Benny and the Jets.”

Dick’s Picks Vol. 2 is a CF of a terrific performance on Halloween 1971. I didn’t personally witness the concert, but I had a bootleg of this concert by 1973. “Dark Star” is phenomenal!!! The other songs are very good. This captures the band when Keith on keyboards when had just joined the Grateful Dead. All-in-all, 1971 was a super strong year for these guys. Pigpen was ill and missed this tour (which is why they brought on Keith). Other than the absence of Pigpen, this is a high point!!!