Madman Across the Water

Madman Across the Water has nine tracks, all with music by John and lyrics by Taupin, and it was the last John album recorded at Trident Studios in London. Producer Gus Dudgeon had little faith in the touring band for studio work, so only one song features bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson. Most tracks were played by studio musicians with string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. Davey Johnstone, who had worked with Dudgeon in Magna Carta, was the main guitarist, and Ray Cooper made his first appearance on a John record. Rick Wakeman of Yes plays Hammond organ on two songs.

The title song was first set for Tumbleweed Connection with Mick Ronson on guitar. That version was put aside and the song was re-recorded with Johnstone. When people said the lyric was about Richard Nixon, Taupin said he thought that was genius and that he could never have come up with it. The cover was embroidered over two weeks by Janis Larkham, wife of the art director David Larkham, on the back of an old Levi's jacket. Singles were "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer".

It reached number 41 in the UK, where it spent two weeks on the chart, and number eight on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums. The RIAA certified it gold in February 1972 and 3x platinum in December 2024. Alex Dubro of Rolling Stone praised "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" but found the album inferior to its two predecessors and its lyrics confusing, while Penny Valentine in Sounds was more positive. Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell covered the closing track, "Goodbye", on his solo album Brighten. A 50th anniversary deluxe edition appeared on 10 June 2022 with 18 unreleased tracks and a 40-page book.