Kirsten Anderson - Who Is Elton John?

Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in Pinner, a suburb of London, on March 25, 1947. His parents were Stanley and Sheila Dwight. Stanley was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He was a very strict and serious man. Stanley was often away from Pinner, traveling around the world for the Royal Air Force. Reggie was mostly raised by his cheerful, fun-loving mother and her family.

Sheila always had music playing in the house. One day, when Reggie was just a toddler, he climbed onto the piano bench and played a song he had heard on the radio. Young Reggie could play other songs, too, just by listening to them. He began to take piano lessons with a teacher in Pinner when he was seven.

Stanley Dwight cared about other things. He wanted Reggie to be neat, polite, and obedient, like the soldiers he commanded. Reggie tried to please his father as much as he could, but Stanley made him nervous.

Reggie only felt comfortable with Stanley at football matches. Football is what people outside of the United States call soccer. Football fans in Britain are very devoted to their teams, and football matches are always big news. Reggie was a huge fan of his local team, Watford Football Club. Stanley and Reggie went to see them play whenever they could.

When Reggie was eleven, he was accepted into a program at the Royal Academy of Music. Every Saturday he took the train to London for his lessons. He studied classical music by composers from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Reggie practiced all the classical pieces his teachers gave him, but his heart wasnt in them. He was much more interested in the new rock-and-roll music that became popular in the 1950s. Stanley hated it. But Sheila bought Elvis Presley records and played them when Stanley wasnt home.

Reggies favorite rock stars were Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. They didnt sit on a piano bench calmly playing. They jumped up, kicked the bench over, and pounded the keyboard until the piano shook. Reggie dreamed of being up onstage, playing and singing just like them.

It would have been hard for anyone to imagine that. Adults thought Reggie was a quiet child with excellent manners. Kids didnt notice him much. He was just that shy, chubby boy who always seemed to be on his way to a piano lesson.

GIMME A BEAT

WHAT MADE ROCK AND ROLL DIFFERENT THAN THE MUSIC YOUNG PEOPLE LISTENED TO AND DANCED TO IN THE 1920S, 30S, AND 40S? BORN FROM GOSPEL MUSIC AND RHYTHM AND BLUES POPULAR IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES, ROCK AND ROLL WAS PLAYED LOUDER AND FASTER THAN OTHER FORMS OF POPULAR MUSIC.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES WAS THE BEAT. MOST POPULAR MUSIC BEFORE THE 1950S SOUNDED LIKE THIS: DA DA DA DA . ITS A VERY CALM, EVEN BEAT. BUT ROCK MUSIC WENT LIKE THIS: DA DA DA DA DA DA. ITS FASTER AND COOLER, EVEN WHEN SPOKEN. ROCK AND ROLL: ITS ALL ABOUT THE BEAT.