Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
by Elton John

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
Year: 1975
Release date: 1975-05-23
Overall rank: 1,124th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 443 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1975 (18th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (231st)
Award Best albums of all time (1,124th)

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ELTON JOHN CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY [50TH ANNIVERSARY] [2 LP]
Condition: New


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ELTON JOHN CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY VINYL 2016 RECORD BRAND NEW
Condition: New


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Elton John Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy CD 1995 Mint Condition
Condition: Like New


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Elton John bestography

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is ranked 3rd best out of 56 albums by Elton John on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Elton John is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which is ranked number 211 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,340.

Elton John album bestography « Higher ranked (1,045th)
Madman Across The Water
This album (1,124th)
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Lower ranked (1,188th) »
Tumbleweed Connection

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

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14
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Electric Elton - A Tribute to Elton John
Bakersfield Fox Theater, Bakersfield, United States. United States
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Mar
15
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Face 2 Face - Elton John & Billy Joel Tribute
The Charleston Music Hall, Charleston, United States. United States
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Mar
15
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Face 2 Face - Elton John & Billy Joel Tribute
The Charleston Music Hall, Charleston, United States. United States
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Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,124th | 1970s rank: 231st | 1975 rank: 18th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 197579/1001
2026amirmishaliTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s77/1005
2026 JMGL95Top 32 Music Albums of 197520/322
2026LittleM1971Top 66 Music Albums of 197565/660
2026fabm0List 197512/100 -
2026 dihansseTop 49 Music Albums of 197530/492
2026stevengnzTop 100 Music Albums of 197539/1003
2026 neilgeeTop 100 Greatest Music Albums100/1001
2026jonny5244My Favourite Album by Year52/74 -
2026 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 197596/1000
2026UntitledTop 26 Music Albums of 197517/262
2026 videoheadcleanervideoheadcleaner's 301-40050/100 -
2026gregthealienTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s59/1008
2026jlsfourthTop 100 Albums of the 20th Century79/100 -
2026JohnnyoMost listened to albums in March 2021 (To delete)67/95 -
2026matterhornriderTop 56 Music Albums of 19757/564
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s55/1009
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 197512/1004
2026 RockyRaccoonTop 100 Music Albums of 197566/1002
2026gregthealienTop 101-200 Greatest Music Albums81/100 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 334
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 1,545
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy collection

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 443 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 443 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
02/23/2026 20:29 alexandermause  Ratings distribution  1,55586/100
 
10/100
 
02/19/2026 15:38 serge1957  Ratings distribution  23566/100
 
15/100
 
02/10/2026 08:30 Leginlists  Ratings distribution  2,62884/100
 
80/100
 
01/09/2026 17:26 Vinyl  Ratings distribution  51680/100
 
75/100
 
12/28/2025 05:57 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  7,79370/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.4/100, a mean average of 76.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.

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Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 31 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
75/100
From 03/09/2025 12:18 | #307939
Shortlisted at the Grammy's in 1976 for album of the year. the winner was Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/15/2023 14:49 | #298124
This album exposes a flaw in the site’s ranking methodology. It’s a fine record, but not one with any business ranking ahead of the far superior Tumbleweed Connection. While the ratings are strangely close, the community narrowly prefers TC, but CFatBDC tacks on loads of points from best-of-the-year lists because it arrived in a lackluster year, while TC competes with dozens of all-time classics.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/06/2022 15:44 | #289310
My personal favorite from EJ
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/23/2022 15:27 | #284533
I have totally missed this album. 87&100
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/03/2022 21:19 | #283784
An interesting album to explore in terms of its concept and it is very enjoyable to look into the lyrics behind each song. Elton John's vocal is brilliant all the way through and he really delivers the lyrics with a passion on this release. Songs like the Title Track and the ballad Someone Saved My Life Tonight really emphasise this. It is quite a complex album with its instrumentation as well which gives us lots of reasons to come back and discover more on later listens. However, what lets this album down is the lack of really good songs. Every song is decent but there are not many which truly push the limits of the music. This makes the record feel quite repetitive due to the high level of filler. Overall, a consistent release that lacks that edge to propel it to the next level but I feel like if I was a mega fan of Elton John this would probably be my favourite release of his.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/28/2021 18:55 | #267892
Foi um clássico imediato por uma boa razão, não tem uma música ruim!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/28/2020 20:04 | #256373
This grew on my quick. Rating (79.00)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/22/2020 16:20 | #249011
I'll never forget listening to this album while waiting in line to get tickets for Elton's 1975 Tour Shows in Oakland. They sold out just before I get to the door, but luckily a high school friend got two! Amazing show with Elton at his peak. This album along with Physical Graffiti, Wish You Were Here, One of These Nights and Venus & Mars (Wings) take me right back to my Junior Year of High School here in S.F.

Favorites: the entire Album!!!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/28/2020 01:28 | #247240
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy has a cool concept. The songs on the album aren't really to be consumed on their own, Only as part of the story. With the exception of Someone Saved My Life Tonight and possibly the title track. I also like the first half a bit more than the second. I'd probably rank at least 3 Elton John albums higher than this one.

Key tracks: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Bitter Fingers and Tower of Babel.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/06/2018 08:25 | #214270
Mayhaps I only think so highly of this album because of nostalgia. Regardless, I think this is Elton's best, im in love with that title track. But also nearly every other song is jammy and catchy too. yeah this all might just be nostalgic drivel. Oh well, it's all the same to me, I love it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1975
1. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
2. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
3. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen
4. Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
5. A Night At The Opera by Queen
6. Another Green World by Eno
7. Horses by Patti Smith
8. Tonight's The Night by Neil Young
9. Fleetwood Mac by Fleetwood Mac
10. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell
11. Mothership Connection by Parliament
12. Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith
13. The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett
14. Zuma by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
15. Young Americans by David Bowie
16. Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti & Africa 70
17. The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan & The Band
18. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
19. Sabotage by Black Sabbath
20. Katy Lied by Steely Dan
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