For John Lennon and Elton John fans, there is one pivotal moment in their friendship they were kind enough to share with the music world and that is when Lennon took the stage with Elton at New York’s Madison Square Garden in November of 1974. Up until this point, only photographs and an official audio recording of the concert were thought to exist. Now, what can only be described as the “Holy Grail” of unknown rare film footage has just surfaced on YouTube.

As many fans know, John Lennon had not performed live for quite a while when he took the Madison Square Garden stage via an invitation from Elton John on Thanksgiving Day, 1974.  Really, Lennons appearance was more of a “demand” from Elton as it was the repayment of a debt of sorts. Lennon had jokingly promised Elton he would perform the song ‘Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” with Elton live on stage if it ever reached #1. Recorded in June and July of that year and released in the US in late September, Elton didn’t have to wait long to call in this promise, as it reached #1 shortly thereafter.  After trying to back out of the promise a few times, Lennon would only go on stage by dragging Bernie Taupin out with him – at which point Taupin gave Lennon a final push into the limelight and left the stage.

Elton and Lennon performed three songs, “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There” and the tracks from this performance have become legendary.  For the past 35 years, a fan who was there that night close to the stage has had in their possession a film of segments of the concert they made with their Super-8 camera. Thankfully for all of us he had saved enough film for the moment John Lennon took the stage.

Super John Lennon Elton John Film Captured by Super 8

How cool is this Elton John Lennon video to fans? In short, it will have Elton and Lennon fans needing to replace their keyboards, because the drool that lands on them will almost certainly make them short circuit.