One fact from your book that struck me was how much you were on the road with Elton, given that Elton remarks in Me about how you were never keen on being introduced to the audience or taking a bow with the band.

I was out there as a support unit, as much as anything else. I was very young, so there was nothing else going on in my life; that was my life. I hadn’t developed any different notions of how to get along on my own somewhere else. We were just one big unit traveling around the world, and I liked that transient lifestyle.

The music that we were creating and taking out on the road was something that was created by the two of us. I was instinctively a part of that and treated as a part of the band. That really was my life, I had no other life outside of that.

If you see all those early album covers, I was featured on those as if I was part of the band. I mean, I did everything with them outside of walking onstage at night and playing. I was up there, it was my voice up there — not my voice, but what was coming out of the voice onstage came from me. So instinctively I felt like I was definitely part of that.

Elton didn't find his flamboyant style until after the first U.S. tour. You remarked in Scattershot that his rather "square" appearance when you first met put you at ease. Did you have misgivings later on about the level to which he took his costuming?

If you’re familiar with his book, he talks about when he was a child, his father was so strict, he wouldn’t let him wear anything that was regarded as trendy — he couldn’t even wear suede shoes, so I could see that that was his way of rebelling. Pop music, rock and roll music, call it what you want, it’s all about rebelling. That was his way of doing it.

There were times I felt, ‘Yeah, this is a bit over-the-top, dressing as Donald Duck in Central Park and the Statue of Liberty.’ It also, probably, was a hindrance to his playing. I understood that it added to his success — it was part of his success — and it also led to the palace of excess.

There were times where I didn’t like it, I thought it was counterproductive to the music. There were different levels to the costuming; there were times it went over-the-top and there were times that I was fine with it.

It’s his life to live. A long way around answering your question: there were times when I didn’t like it and expressed my distaste for it, and he did what he should have done and completely ignored me.

You write that you answered that famed Liberty Records 'Talent Wanted' ad "unsure that you had any" talent. Did you have any conviction at the time that your submission contained good writing?

The material I was presenting was fairly random and not particularly in any sort of format. I was pretty lucky that somebody spotted any potential in the things that I was writing.

The myth would have it that Ray Williams, the gentleman that I met with at Liberty sort of randomly gave Elton a pile of my lyrics out of a whole set of lyrics that people had sent in … but I’ve never bought into that.

I don’t think for a minute that there was anybody else that sent just lyrics and said, ‘Well, maybe you can find somebody to put music to this.’ I mean, it wasn’t like being a guitar player or a bass player or a general songwriter — ‘lyricist’ alone wasn’t a well-known profession.

There were a couple of people who were well-known at the time — Keith Reid with Procol Harum and Keith Sinfield with King Crimson. But it wasn’t a well-known profession; we kind of invented that.

I was just clinging at straws. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. My imagination was my driving force, that was really all I had to offer, so I had to go where I could possibly make my imagination work.

Were you writing much on your own before that?

I was writing sort of bad, naïve poetry. I enjoyed writing, but I just didn’t know what to write. The poetry that I was probably creating was just a riff on what was popular at the time, whether it was the protest movement, the folk movement, I was emulating those kinds of themes. It was just an exercise in writing, but I had no idea how to write a song — a lyric for a song. I had no idea about bridges and choruses, it was very stream-of-consciousness.

All those early things that I presented of examples of my work, anyone in their right mind would have said, ‘How would I make heads or tails of this?’ Luckily, Elton’s talent alone saw through it and saw the potential in it.

There’s a photograph in the book of the very first song that we ever wrote — a song called “Scarecrow.” If you look at it, it just looks like freeform poetry.

Bear in mind, as time has gone by, the thing that I loathe more than anything else is my lyrics being referred to as poetry, which people in their kindness do. But if there’s anything that they’re not is poetry. Lyrics and poetry are very different. If you want poetry, go to Leonard Cohen. If you want lyrics, go to Bernie Taupin.

How has your writing process changed since those early attempts?

When I first started … I had no idea what writing a song entailed. The way that I’ve written throughout the years has changed, but what has never changed is that I like titles. I make lists of titles. And bear in mind, too … I’m not writing lyrics every day. I’m not a professional songwriter like that … I only work if Elton calls up and says, ‘I want to go into the studio in a couple of months; why don’t you start putting some stuff together?’ That’s when I start writing.

I make lists of titles, I’ll come up with lines. I’ll make notes. The way that I write now is that I write with a guitar. I know how to construct a lyric for a song, that came pretty quickly after the first couple of album. So I have a melody in my head sometimes.

Just working with a guitar — it’s a bit like Linus and his security blanket — I need to have something in my hands to start putting the structure of a song together. Now, when Elton gets it … it’s his territory, and it’ll sound totally different — I never give him melodic ideas because his are so much better than mine; he’s brilliant with melody. But [playing guitar] helps me in the construction of a song. Words just come very easily to me. If I’ve got a title, I just sort of build around a title. If I’ve got a great couple of lines for a chorus or a verse, once I’ve got those, it’s free sailing for me.

I’ll just play a couple of chords on the guitar, sing to myself, write it down on a legal pad and then transfer it to the word processor and play around with it. Ideas come very easily to me.

Whilst recalled some of your early work together, Elton in his book mentioned on multiple occasions that Bernie was hammering away at a typewriter. I was curious if that typing was your first draft or if you were simply transferring your lyrics to type for the benefit of Elton and the band?

The only difference now is the computer has taken the place of the typewriter. Back then, I was doing the same thing; I was writing on a legal pad and working on a legal pad. All my original lyrics are handwritten. All I was doing on the typewriter was just printing them out so they were more legible. I wasn’t actually creating on the typewriter.

My writing was very slapdash. I’d cross things out and replace them. So in order for him to have something concrete to read legibly, I’d do it on the typewriter, but I wasn’t literally creating on the typewriter.

You've worked with a lot of artists in your career, but your relationship with Elton is obviously career-defining for the both of you. Each book — yours and Elton's — describes a special kind of symbiosis between you where you seem to cover one another's shortcomings and bring the best out of one another.

I would like to think that you’re correct that we bring out the best in each other. …We’re a million miles apart in our lives and our lifestyles, but we just really love each other as human beings. I know that sounds a bit corny, but we went through so much when we were younger.

He was certainly looking out for me, because I was younger and I was bit more naïve. He really did look out for me, and I hope I make that clear in the book. And that bond has never stopped. The other bond, obviously, is music. We just loved, loved music when we started out. I mean, it was our lifeblood; we just lived it and breathed it. We went to see it. We bought it. We were inspired by it, and we still are today.

We have vastly different musical tastes. I mean, he has an incredible understanding of modern music, and is supportive of so many different artists. I’m a little bit longer in the tooth; I don’t really listen to pop music — I don’t really listen to rock music either. All I listen to is jazz, classic country and blues.

But again, [music is] what keeps us functioning.

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNITSPECIAL GUEST JAMES MCMURTY

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT
SPECIAL GUEST JAMES MCMURTY