Unearthed Footage Of First Time Elton John Played 'Tiny Dancer'

Getty Image / Michael Putland

Sir Elton John performs 'Tiny Dancer' in 1971

Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer‘ is one of the most iconic songs ever written. Running 6 minutes long, it suffered early on because radios didn’t want to play it in full when it was released in 1971 but the legendary song endured the test of time.

In 2020, ‘Tiny Dancer’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked it as the 47th greatest song ever written. The song was also immortalized in the film Almost Famous (2000) where it received a resurgence in appreciation.

And below, we get to see the moment Sir Elton John performed ‘Tiny Dancer’ for his very first time after his writing partner and lyricist, Bernie Taupin, gave him the lyrics.

Unearthed Footage Of Elton John Performing ‘Tiny Dancer’ For The Very First Time

Lyricist Bernie Taupin said the lyrics for ‘Tiny Dancer’ were written about his wife at the time, Maxine Feibelman, who can also be seen in the video. Elton John sits down at the piano, discusses the lyrics, and how seeing the word ‘ballerina’ on the drove his interpretation of the tempo being easy and gentle.

He then proceeds to play along and sing it for the first time, with Maxie and Bernie in the room, and we get to see the exact moment ‘Tiny Dancer’ came to life as a song. Check it out:

This is, of course, an unfinished version of the song. The complete version of ‘Tiny Dancer’ features pedal steel guitar from B. J. Cole, Paul Buckmaster on strings, and backup vocals from Tony Burrows. The ‘Jesus freaks, out in the streets’ lyrics also prevented it from being played by some radio stations in addition to the 6+ minute runtime.

While this clip has been circulating for years, it has been resurfaced on social media. I came across it on the @timelessperformances Instagram account where the video has picked up 1.8 million views over the past week. Here is the finished/complete version of the song for those who want more: