He Who Rides the Tiger

He Who Rides the Tiger is the 1980 second solo album by longtime Elton John lyricist, Bernie Taupin. It is his follow-up effort following his 1971 spoken word album Taupin. Taupin co-wrote all the songs in the album with the Buckinghams former guitarist Dennis Tufano and sang lead vocals in all of them. Although the album was recorded during a time when John and Taupin had interrupted their collaboration, John lent backing vocals on "Love (The Barren Desert)". The album was re-released on CD by American Beat Records on March 10, 2009.

Critical reception
In a review of May 3, 1980, Billboard said that the album's "biggest strength lies in his lyrics" and that "Taupin isn't a bad vocalist," but his vocals "become a bit too stagnant."

Track listing
All songs written by Bernie Taupin (words) and Dennis Tufano (music).


 * 1) "Monkey on My Back (The Last Run)" (4:04)
 * 2) "Born on the Fourth of July" (4:47)
 * 3) "Venezuela" (4:11)
 * 4) "Approaching Armageddon" (5:36)
 * 5) "Lover's Cross" (4:40)
 * 6) "Blitz Babies" (4:31)
 * 7) "Valley Nights" (4:23)
 * 8) "Love (The Barren Desert)" (5:32)
 * 9) "The Whores of Paris" (6:22)

Personnel

 * Bernie Taupin - lead vocals
 * Joey Carbone - keyboards
 * Kenny Passarelli - bass guitar, vocals
 * Dennis Tufano - rhythm guitar, vocals
 * Carlos Vega - drums
 * Paulinho da Costa - percussion
 * Dee Murray - bass guitar
 * Richie Zito - electric guitar, acoustic guitar
 * Jeff Porcaro - drums
 * David Foster - keyboards, synthesizer
 * Tom Scott - saxophone, flute, lyricon
 * David Hungate - bass guitar
 * Steve Lukather - electric guitar
 * Ralph Dyke - synthesizer, programming
 * Jay Graydon - electric guitar
 * Paul Lani - percussion
 * Michael Boddicker - keyboards, programming, synthesizer
 * Erich Bulling - charango, flute, acoustic guitar, ocarina
 * Elton John - backing vocals
 * Alan Gorrie - backing vocals
 * Hamish Stuart - backing vocals
 * Bill Champlin - backing vocals
 * Venette Gloud - backing vocals
 * Paulette Brown - backing vocals
 * Tommy Funderburk - backing vocals
 * Tom Kelly - backing vocals