Peachtree Road (album)

The album art on the front cover is a photograph from a railroad crossing near the Atlanta suburb of Douglasville, taken by London photographer Sam Taylor-Wood. Taken in by the American South and given complete artistic freedom, she shot thousands of photos during her week-long trip. The trip included other towns like Unadilla and Forsyth in Georgia. While she also visited Peachtree Road in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, she thought it was too busy for the album's more mellow nature. She picked several photos to present to him, and John made the final selection. Other photos from the shoot appear on the back of the album cover and in the included CD and SACD booklet.

Songs from the album debuted at The Tabernacle in Atlanta in early November. John also performed at the November 2005 Country Music Association Awards, televised live from Madison Square Garden, duetting with Dolly Parton on "Turn the Light Out When You Leave".

Despite its generally positive reviews, Peachtree Road was one of John's lowest-selling contemporary efforts, reaching No. 17 in the US upon its release, yet only managing No. 21 in the UK, making it one of his rare albums to miss the top ten in his homeland. In the US, it was certified gold in December 2004 by the RIAA.

It debuted at No. 12 in Denmark in November 2004, its highest chart placing in that country.[6]

In addition to Nigel Olsson playing drums on all tracks, once again a permanent member of John's touring and recording band, the album features renowned gospel vocalist Adam McKnight, as well as members of Chicago contributing horns and brass arrangements. Guy Babylon was credited with playing Hammond organ and Rhodes piano instead of keyboards, which was the case on earlier projects.

The album was re-released in July 2005 with three bonus tracks from Billy Elliot the Musical, as well as a DVD featuring nine tracks from the album performed live in Atlanta. The song "Electricity" from the musical was also released as a single in June 2005. It rose to No. 4 in the UK.

It was dedicated to the memory of Gus and Sheila Dudgeon, John's original producer and his wife, who were killed in a car accident in 2002.

Some editions of the album included bonus - two videos for the two first singles ("Answer in the Sky" and "All That I'm Allowed").

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Notes

• Track 8 was titled All That I'm Allowed on the original 2004 release of the album but was titled All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful) on the 2005 expanded edition.
• All tracks on the DVD recorded live at the Tabernacle, Atlanta (November 2004).

• Elton John – piano, Fender Rhodes, lead and backing vocals
• Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, baritone guitar, Leslie, sitar, dobro, mandolin, backing vocals
• Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
• Guy Babylon – Hammond organ, piano, Fender Rhodes, programming
• Bob Birch – bass guitar, backing vocals
• John Mahon – percussion, backing vocals
• John Jorgenson – pedal steel guitar
• L'Tanya Shields – choir
• Alecia Terry – choir
• M. Dennis Sims – choir
• Rosalind McKnight – choir
• Mark Ford – choir
• Terrence Davis – choir
• Todd Honeycutt – choir
• Adam McKnight – choir
• James Pankow – trombone
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet
• Walter Parazaider – tenor saxophone
• Larry Klimas – baritone saxophone
• Martin Tillman, Steve Erodody – cello
• Violin – Charlie Bisharat, Joel Derouin, Bruce Dukow, Endre Granat, Eric J. Hosler, Dimitrie Leiviachi, Phillip Levy, Robin Olson, Sid Page, Mark Robinson, Anatoly Rosinsky and Lisa M. Sutto.
• Viola – Brian Dembrow, Victoria Miskolczy, Simon Oswell and James V. Ross.

• Produced by Elton John
• Engineered and Mixed by Matt Still
• Assistant Engineers – Jason Carson, John Holmes, Josh McDonnell, Josh "Frodo" Monroy, Rob Skipworth and Tom Tapley.
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME).
• Keyboard Technicians – Tony Smith and Dale Sticha
• Guitar Technician – Rick Salazar
• Drum Technician – Chris Sobchack
• Photography – Sam Taylor-Wood
• Design – Intro
• Management – Keith Bradley, Derek MacKillop and Frank Presland for Twenty First Artist, Ltd.