Elton John fans take the mike

As a longtime Elton John fan whose first concert experience was catching his famous Dodger Stadium show at age 10, I generally enjoyed Mikael Wood’s article [“The Music Was in Him,” June 6]. But I take exception with Wood’s dismissive take on John’s “Blue Moves.” While not on par with such earlier classics as “Tumbleweed Connection” and “Madman Across the Water,” it is an album that at its best (“Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word,” “Someone’s Final Song” and “Idol”) captures the fragile, melancholic state of mind that John was haunted by more directly than any other of his releases. It is the perfect bookend to 1975’s “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,” which documented John’s humble beginnings and climbed to the top of the pop universe. “Blue Moves” is the sometimes harrowing testament to the loneliness and despair he found once he got there. Allen Callaci Claremont

Wood should have mentioned that John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

I saw “Rocketman” the day it came out and thought it was great. Taron Egerton, the actor who played John, should be nominated for an Oscar. Barbara Hardesty Los Angeles

I was thoroughly entertained by “Rocketman,” and believe I deserve a bit of recognition for John’s success. When his album “Madman Across the Water” was released, I was managing the stereo, TV and record section of a department store in San Francisco. I loved the album so much, especially “Tiny Dancer,” that I started playing it every day in the store for shoppers to hear. This was breaking all the rules of department stores in those days.

But we started selling so many albums, the store manager looked the other way. The store ended up getting an award from the distributor for selling more copies of the album in a month than any other record retailer in San Francisco. Alan Segal San Diego