"THE GENIUS BEHIND THE GENIUS: BERNIE TAUPIN"

Bernie Taupin and Elton John are one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in musical history.

In the early days of his partnership with Elton John, when Taupin was living at Elton’s mother’s house, he used to earn £5 a week, and Elton £10, “just because he was the singer” (Taupin's words).

Taupin and Elton John have made more than 30 albums together. Their early period was frenetic: seven albums in five years. Their way of working has remained practically the same for 40 years: when Elton has a new album in mind, he gets in touch with Taupin. Taupin then spends two or three weeks writing lyrics, accompanying himself on guitar, and then he sends the lyrics to Elton. 

Taupin: "Elton writes everything in the studio: he never practises piano, and never plays for his own amusement. The only time he ever plays the piano is when he plays live and when he’s in the studio writing and recording. They set up a booth for him with a piano and record everything he works on. Elton can write a song in as little as five minutes, and dispatch three songs in a day".

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the John/Taupin writing style, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own and John then putting them to music, with no further interaction between the two. The process is still fundamentally the same, with John composing to Taupin's words, but the two interact on songs far more today, with Taupin joining John in the studio as the songs are written and occasionally during recording sessions.