I’m not the world’s biggest fan but there are at least a handful of essential Elton John songs lurking amid his vast catalogue, Including this rarity from the archives.

It’s the title track of his fourth album, Madman Across The Water, released in 1971. But this epic 8-minute version was recorded during the sessions for Tumbleweed Connection the previous year.

It features the two most talented guitarists ever to come from Hull – Mick Ronson on lead and the very recently departed Michael Chapman on acoustic – plus the great Herbie Flowers on bass.

Chapman, who shared a producer (Gus Dudgeon) with Elton, later said of the session: “I went down to do some recording with Elton and I took Mick Ronson with me as well and we recorded the first version of Madman Across the Water.

“Elton took it to the record company, to Dick James, who went nuts and said, ‘Go and do it again, it sounds like you singing with his fucking band!’ Because me and Mick kind of took over.”

This is true. Ronno always took over. He was so talented, and his style so distinctive, that he left an indelible mark on whoever he collaborated with – most famously Bowie, and later Ian Hunter.

And he’s never sounded better than he does on this recording, which only saw the light of day when it was unearthed in 1992, but passed me by until yesterday.

Elton is also at the height of his powers; powers which many of my fellow music lovers seem to refuse to acknowledge, perhaps blinded by the silly outfits and funny glasses and obnoxious rock’n’roll behaviour that have marked much of Reg Dwight’s career before he got old and fat (ok, fatter) and married with kids, and was thus anointed a national treasure and given a knighthood.

As for those essential songs in his repertoire, they came early in his career with Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer and, although it’s become marred by overfamiliarity, Your Song. And, in my view, also his very early song Skyline Pigeon (Elton on harpsichord and organ), plus pretty much all of Tumbleweed Connection, especially Levon.