Elton John takes
another run at Peachtree Road

Elton John will on November 22 release an expanded double-disc edition of his 2004 Universal album, Peachtree Road. In addition to the original album, the first disc features three tracks John penned for the British play Billy Elliot: "The Letter," "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher," and "Electricity." A DVD will also be included featuring nine live performances of Peachtree tracks recorded last November in the Tabernacle in Atlanta.

Peachtree Road debuted at number 17 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 314,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, but John admits he is not satisfied by that number. "It is frustrating," he told Billboard recently. "I'm not storming around saying, 'Why isn't my f***ing record doing better than this?' I just had to look at it and say, 'Was it a s*** record?' And it wasn't--it was the best I could do. I'm 58 now, and my time in the sun, as it were, is gone. I have to accept that. Was I disappointed? Yeah, because I put my heart and soul into it."

In addition to his ongoing touring schedule and his The Red Piano engagement in Las Vegas, John is working on a number of projects, highlighted by a new studio album to be released in 2007. Lestat, the musical he copenned with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, premieres December 17 at San Francisco's Curran Theatre. (Jonathan Cohen, Reuters)