Davey Johnstone : Lead Guitar & Band director

Davey Johnstone was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1951. In 1970 he gained a reputation for working with Rick Wakeman and the group Magna Carta, which Gus Dudgeon ( Elton John's producer ) among others, had been working with. Gus was very impressed by Davey's many talents. In fact Davey plays anything with strings on it !

Rick and Davey contributed in 1971 for Elton's album " Madman Across The Water ". Davey wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to work with Elton if it hadn't been for a solo guitarist called Chapman. Chapman had been offered the job on " Madman Across The Water " but thought it was a very down experience and he turned it down. Therefore Gus turned to Davey J.

Later Elton asked Davey if he was interested in joining the band. After months of rehearsals Davey was on stage ( 1972 ) side by side with Nigel Olsson ( Drums ) and Dee Murray ( Bass).

D. J. was in the late eighties picked as Elton's bandleader. The bandleader is the one responsible for hiring new band members and helps Elton choosing numbers which will be put in concert set lists, etc.

While the " big band split up " was coming , everybody was happy and unaware. In the end everybody got fired but Davey Johnstone. A change was about to take place, a shocking " surprise", especially to Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson. Davey was gone from the band from the late seventies to the early eighties, but that was due mainly Davey's personal projects. He came back in 1982 and stayed.

One can argue that Davey is not replaceable. A multi-talented musician, Davey's influence within the band was bigger than the other band members. Davey co- wrote EJ songs like " Snow Queen ", " Cage The Songbird " and " I guess That's Why They Call It The Blues ".

Besides the EJ band, Davey Johnstone has done a lot of solo projects. In 1973 EJ invited him to release a album by Rocket Records ( EJ's record company ). This ended up with the album "Smiling Faces ".

He has worked with artists like Alice Cooper & Meat Loaf ( Bat Out Of Hell ). In 1991 he formed a band called Warpipes, with other EJ alumni.

Davey Johnstone : I have worked with a lot of big names, but nobody can touch Elton in my mind - he is the most consistent and the best performer i have ever worked with "