Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy appear on later albums as guest musicians, this was the last album with the original lineup of the Elton John Band (guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson). Murray and Olsson, who had formed John's rhythm section since 1970, were sacked prior to the recording of the follow-up album "Rock of the Westies", while Johnstone would leave in 1978. It was certified gold in May 1975, two weeks before it was even released, and was certified platinum and 3x platinum in March 1993 by the RIAA. In Canada, it also debuted at number 1 on the "RPM"
Tripping the Live Fantastic his recent hit album, "Flowers in the Dirt", while also including some unique covers. Interspersed throughout are occasional soundcheck recordings as well. The title is an allusion to the phrase "tripping the light fantastic", meaning to dance or move to musical accompaniment, originally from the poem "L'Allegro" by John Milton. Although he had reversed the Lennon–McCartney credits on "Wings over America" in 1976, McCartney left the credits for his Beatles songs on "Tripping the Live Fantastic" in their original form. The album produced a few singles that contained live B-sides from the world tour. These B-sides were songs that were