and "A Dandelion Dies in the Wind" and mailed them to him. Both were folk songs reflecting Taupins life growing up on a farm. Eventually Williams brought Taupin to the recording studio where John was doing session work and with the simple words "meet Bernie" ignited one of the longest-lasting and most commercially successful partnerships in the music industry. Perhaps an unconventional pairing, the synergy between John, trained in classical music, and Taupin, a farm boy who nevertheless loved classical poetry by Coleridge and Tennyson, birthed some of the most emotion-evoking songs in music history. Taupin was impressed with how much John knew about music; John recognized that Taupins lyrics, though sometimes cryptic, had an intriguing, mystical, earthy quality that connected at a deeper emotional level than any- thing he had written himself. It wasnt long before Taupin (who soon became the brother John never had) moved into the home where John and his mother still lived. Their brotherhood would provide the foun- dation for a lifelong collaboration and help them survive strains that might sever other, less personal partnerships.     The team tackled the creative process just as they had on their first collaboration, which would become a hallmark difference between their collaborative team and others in the business. Taupin wrote the lyrics first, then handed them off to John, who wrote the music around them, abandoning the traditional process in which lyrics are written after the music. As a result, the music is lyric-driven rather than music-driven, and to this day, that is how the team works. "Im a musical mouthpiece for his lyrics, which I love," John explained on VH1s Behind the Music. Although confetti didnt fly with the release of the teams initial recordings, some songs did catch the attention of other artists. For example, Three Dog Night included "Lady Samantha," written and composed by the duo, on its Suitable for Framing album in 1969-a form of flattery if not success for John and Taupin at that point in their careers. Empty Sky, released in 1969, was the teams first album featuring Elton John. Overall, it was far from a perfect product, sell- ing only 4,000 copies, but it demonstrates that everyone-whether entrepreneur or musical group-has to start somewhere, even with little initial success.     Your Song---Giving Fans What They Want   Up to that point, John and Taupin had been trying to sell-generally unsuccessfully-what they had created, relying only on their own ideas and creative talents. But sometimes those most involved in the creative side of business are those least likely to have a connection to what customers really want to buy because of an all-too-common disconnection from mass-market audiences. The shift to a marketing orientation started with changing their product. Taupin and John continued to do what each did best, but they added producer Gus Dudgeon, an industry veteran with the experience needed to elevate the music quality, and an arranger, Paul Buckmaster, who offered up elegant string arrangements, complete with a studio