The offered black leather jacket was owned and worn by Elton John in the late 1960s to early 1970s, and he appears wearing it on the inside gatefold of his 1971 album Tumbleweed Connection. The jacket was designed for Elton by Stirling Cooper, a well-known London clothes designer famous for making outfits for many rock and roll icons of the period, including Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and they also redefined UK fashion in the late-1960s. The impressive and elaborate framed display in which the jacket is now presented features photos of Elton wearing the jacket, most notably for the Tumbleweed gatefold. All the photos for the album were taken at the Sheffield Park railway station in Sussex, England, because the station was a handy stand-in for a rural American landscape. The other photo shows Elton wearing the jacket before a concert in 1970 with bandmates Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray.
The jacket was later given to noted photographer/printer Bill Rowlinson, a contemporary of Elton John and the London music scene of the time. Bill's later gave the jacket to his nephew, whose letter recounting what he knows of the story accompanies. It reads in part:
I have known about Elton John's leather jacket for about 30-35 years. It was owned by my uncle, Bill Rowlinson, who lived in London, England from about 1960 until his death last year (2008)..he partied with many great musicians in the heady years in London. The jacket was acquired either through Chris Seddon or Julian Seddon in about 1971/72. My uncle always referred to iat "Reggie's coat." It was a one-of-a kind made by Stirling Cooper, a clothier for musicians on Carnaby Street in London in around 1970...I think it was left at a recording studio or party around the time that Elton left England to go to France to do Honky Chateau...I acquired the jacket from my uncle. He gave it to me along with the story when he became sick with cancer in (the) mid 90's. I wish tha I had listened closer, but I always knew who had owned it...I now have cancer myself, and it is my wish to let the jacket go to a true collector and not just keep it in a box in my closet.
Guitarist Chris Spedding played guitar on Elton John's 1971 LP Madman Across the Water in February 1971, so it follows that Mr. Rowlinson, Spedding and Elton John were running in the same circles at the time. As referenced in the story above, Elton John does leave for France, to record Honky Chateau in January 1972. While a good quantity of Elton John's more modern clothing from the last 20-25 years has been made available at his various "Out of the Closet" charity sales, the offered jacket is a much rarer thing, indeed, and is a quintessential example of rock and roll clothing from those early days when Elton John was ascending to super-stardom.
Also included with the jacket is a copy of Tumbleweed Connection. The large display measures 46 x 46 inches, and the jacket presents with heavy wear, with distress to the lining and various scuffs and scratches. It was worn quite a bit. Excellent condition.