An iconic RIAA Gold Album award has come onto the market for Elton John's April 1970 American debut. The award sports the special -- are rare -- feature that it is presented to Sir Elton himself. This is the album that started it all for Elton in the USA since his U.K.-released debut album Empty Sky was not released in the U.S. until 1975. This also made his self-titled album his first RIAA Gold record in the USA.
The album's track list included iconic breakthrough hit "Your Song", arguably he and Bernie Taupin's finest composition, and reportedly Elton's personal favorite. The song went into the top 10 in most countries, effectively launching the artist's international career.
Other famed tracks on the album include "Take Me To The Pilot" and "Border Song". The album went into top 5 in the U.S., U.K. and several other markets. It also garnered two Grammy award nominations including one for Album Of The Year. In 2012 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
An interesting story about "Your Song" is that Elton was not actually the first artist to record his and Taupin's masterpiece. The first version was recorded by Three Dog Night and released on their March 1970 album It Ain't Easy. The story goes that new artist Elton John was an opening act for the group at the time and decided to let them record the song. However, Three Dog Night did not release the track as a single, kindly reserving that honor for Elton...
The Elton John RIAA award itself is a fine example of the rare white matte period complete with unique "Disc Award Ltd." gold disc with its distinctive dragon logo (see image). Combined with its' stellar presentation to Elton John the award is a highly collectible and all original award in Very Good condition, especially for a 50 year-old piece of history. The award even retains its original backing paper with New York Frame & Picture Company manufacturer label.
See more details about this incredibly collectible award here and find out how you can own this rare piece of Elton John history or check out all our Elton John items here.
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*Note: The RIAA is a U.S. record industry trade organization that created the Gold® and Platinum® RIAA record award program. The awards recognize milestone sales levels for U.S. sales of recorded product.
