Philadelphia Freedom (song) Page, including flutes, horns, and strings. The song made its album debut on 1977's "Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II". The unedited version (without an early fade out) appears on the box set "To Be Continued..." and the 40th anniversary edition of the "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" album. Recorded in the summer of 1974, during breaks between sessions for "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy", the song was at the time the only song Elton John and Bernie Taupin had ever consciously written as a single, as John told journalist Paul Gambaccini. John was looking to
Dee Murray album, but this changed with "Honky Château" in 1972 when John exerted some of his skyrocketing popularity at the time to convince DJM to allow Murray and Olsson to also become full-time recording members of his band, so along with fellow new recruit Davey Johnstone on guitars, banjo, mandolin, sitar, fretted string instruments and backing vocals, Murray and Olsson played on John's hit albums, including the milestone album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", singles, and world tours for several years. In 1975, after recording "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy", Murray and Olsson were released from the band because John