It has often been said that on reaching the top of mountain there is nowhere to go but down. In terms of popular music with regard to the 1970s and in particular 1975, the highest peak on the range was occupied by Elton John, whose fame, success and worldwide popularity had only previously been experienced by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
In truth Elton John (born Pinner, Middlesex 25/3/1947) had bestrode the rock world as its single most successful figure for the past three years. ‘Honky Chateau‘ (1972), his fifth release, began a run of massive selling albums on a global scale, becoming the first of six successive releases that would top the U.S. charts.
The extraordinary level of public demand for his fusion of affecting piano balladry and agreeable soft-rock reached an unprecedented height in May 1975 when John’s ‘Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy‘ set achieved the unique feat of entering Stateside listings at number one.
Alongside the colossal appeal of his songs, crafted in collaboration with lyricist Bernie Taupin, (their partnership about to yield a seventh L.P. in a little over three years), John had also gained renown for flamboyant stage costumes and an extravagant lifestyle. Whether the music was actually enhanced by garish attire was beside the point, it being hard to imagine a contemporary such as Randy Newman playing concerts in an outfit flecked with boa feathers, but year-on-year Elton John concerts became more spectacular in design as tickets for enormous venues sold out in minutes.
So prolific were John and Taupin as a songwriting duo the issue became less about filling albums with material, but more the consistency of their work. While his early albums had been largely string-laden affairs with, on occasion, over-wrought lyrics (the exception being ‘Tumbleweed Connection‘ (1970), a loose concept album set in the Old West), with ‘Honky Chateau‘ John commenced a series of records loaded with pop overtones and radio-friendly inflections – Elton on piano from this point leading an effective backing ensemble consisting of Dee Murray (bass), Nigel Olsson (drums), Davey Johnstone (guitar) and more latterly Ray Cooper (percussion).
Both ‘Honky Chateau‘ and ‘Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player‘ (January 1973) were eminently likeable, but the October 1973 double-set ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ showed a marked upturn in the creative powers of John and Taupin, becoming the high-water mark of their combined achievements.
The standard of accomplishment dropped noticeably on the lacklustre ‘Caribou‘ (June 1974) but such was the burgeoning progress attached to his career it effortlessly became a best-seller. The subsequent ‘Captain Fantastic‘ collection, a thematic, if uneven piece recounting the days when Elton and Bernie were struggling songsmiths, was a commercial triumph of remarkable proportion, even in the face of mixed critical reaction.
Through the summer of 1975 there was no let-up in his omnipresence. John featured as the ‘Pinball Wizard‘ in the Ken Russell-directed film version of ‘Tommy‘ the 1969 rock opera double-album by The Who, while he also headlined a massive London gig at Wembley Stadium, where in the wake of releasing ‘Captain Fantastic‘ a couple of weeks before, unveiled a larger, reconstituted support band.
On terminating his working relationship with Murray and Olsson, he retained the services of Johnstone and Cooper but recruited Roger Pope (drums) and Caleb Quaye (guitar) – both of whom had played on formative Elton John albums – along with Kenny Passarelli (bass) and keyboard player James Newton-Howard.
This seven strong troupe were heard on vinyl for the first time when ‘ROCK OF THE WESTIES‘ appeared in October 1975. His tenth studio album it coincided with Elton John fever reaching its pinnacle, although metaphorically speaking the artist caught a cold when the nine track offering met with a chilly response from the critics.
Like its predecessor the record debuted in top spot on U.S. chart listings and while some marveled at his ongoing productivity in releasing two albums in just five months, (give or take a couple of weeks, The Who had only released two albums of new material in five years), others accused John of selling himself and his audience short by issuing fitful albums on a frequent basis – Rolling Stone magazine leading the critical backlash by describing ‘Rock of the Westies‘ as ‘a glib and slapdash effort.’
In truth, John was no stranger to brickbats from the music press. ‘Caribou‘ had been roundly panned, a couple of his initial efforts criticised for their vague lyricism and over-orchestration. But now the negativity was particularly disparaging as ‘self-indulgent‘ and ‘synthetic‘ were among the terms used in relation to the record, although to this end ‘boring’ was perhaps the more apt and most damning, something that for all its inconsistences the music of Elton John had rarely been before.
Overall the misgivings aired about the record when it first appeared still hold true. While the decision to extend his backing band is justified as they prove themselves a fulsome, fluid unit, there is a sense they would welcomed the challenge of superior songs – which from track to track have a habit of swinging back and forth between complacent and contrived, both facets in evidence on opening cut ‘Medley‘ (Yell Help-Wednesday Night-Ugly).
Infused with funk rock sensibilities and bolstered by backing vocals from female soul trio Labelle, the three segments are seamlessly interwoven, the performance far more palatable than some crass, misogynistic lyrics. Clearly thought has been given over to the arrangement in the way each section is reprised as the track draws to a close, Elton not so hot on quality control when accepting couplets such as ‘Now hell, I don’t mind/Women of her kind/I’ll even pay sometimes for a woman that’s ugly.’
The credibility of John and Taupin as writers is done no favours either by ‘Dan Dare‘ (Pilot of the Future). Not for the first time Elton is presented with lyrics featuring a fictional figure, Taupin coming up with the witty and poignant ‘Roy Rogers‘ on ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.’ Here, however, in depicting the comic book superhero, his words come across as clumsy rather than concise:
‘He’s our flyin’ ace, pilot of the future/In an endless space, holy cow/My eyes never saw a rocket that was quite that size.’
To flesh out the space-age connotations of the piece, John incorporates pulsing keyboard sounds and voice box guitar into the light jazz refrains of the melody, but like the worst Sci-Fi films it amounts to all special effects and no real story.
The tone set by a calypso-based melody and Elton delivering a number of lines in a faux-West Indian accent (that today sound cringeworthy to say the least), ‘Island Girl‘ maintains a cheery disposition despite being the tale of a young West Indian woman working as a New York prostitute.
‘I see your teeth flash, Jamaican honey so sweet/Down where Lexington cross 47th Street/Oh, she’s a big girl, she’s standing six-foot three/Turning tricks for the dudes in the big city.’
Such is the catchy chorus, the subject matter and casual racial stereotyping (‘Well she’s black as coal, but she burn like a fire/And she wrap herself around you like a well-worn tyre‘) were largely overlooked as ‘Island Girl‘ raced up the U.S. singles charts to spend three weeks at number one during November 1975.
From one led-astray soul attention turns to another in ‘Grow Some Funk of Your Own‘, a propulsive rock track depicting a dream where an Englishman comes under threat down Mexico way:
‘Oh, I dreamed I’d been in a border town/In a little cantina that the boys had found/I was desperate to dance just to dig the local sounds/When along came a señorita/She looked so good that I had to meet her/I was ready to approach her with my English charm/When her brass knuckled boyfriend grabbed me by the arm.’
Amidst the crackling electric guitars (Johnstone receiving a co-write credit as he does on ‘Medley‘), the marimba and castanets of Cooper add to the Latin-American ambience. John downplays any perceived seriousness with some humerous interjections at the end of each chorus, pick of the bunch being ‘I mean, the situation was ridiculous’ – the album title itself a product of his sense of humour, Elton rearranging the ‘West of the Rockies’ location of Caribou Studios in Colorado where the album was recorded.
Over on side two, ‘Street Kids‘ and ‘Hard Luck Story‘ are of similar strident ilk, but each contains too much bluster for its own good. The players acquit themselves well on both pieces, the former being an unimaginative account of youths being drawn to gang culture (‘With my boot lace tie and my hand-me-downs/You know I run the toughest bunch this side of town’), Taupin having made similar observations only with more panache on ‘Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting‘ back in 1973. Elton for his part indulges a formulaic rocker in allowing it to run for over six minutes.
The latter, one of several songs to feature the harmony vocals of Kiki Dee (with whom John would have the number one hit ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart‘ the following year), moves with slightly more restraint in describing the frustrations of everyday life seen through the eyes of a husband unhappy with himself and his lot, ‘All you hear are hard luck stories/And the ways I look at life/And the way I think the world treats me/And the way that I treat my wife.’
Aside from showing his new ensemble can play at a fair old lick when the need arises, neither piece serves much purpose other than keeping up the quota of fast-paced tracks required for a mid-70s Elton John album. Their humdrum manner is reminiscent of lapses now apparent on Rolling Stones albums, some mediocre pieces on their forthcoming ‘Black and Blue‘ set (April 1976) sounding not dissimilar to these largely forgettable Elton/Bernie efforts and vice versa.
Neither is there much of consequence to be found in ‘Billy Bones and the White Bird‘ the leaden affair that brings this generally ponderous entity to a close. Taupin conjures images of the drunken pirate in ‘Treasure Island’ (‘Take the wheel I think this ship is sinking/Jamaica seems so far and I’ve been thinking/Old Billy Bones has gone to sea and quit his dockside drinking‘), the laboured rock motifs and tedious ‘Check it out‘ refrain creating an impression of washed up rather than ebb and flow.
Containing a great deal more ballast, however, is side two cut ‘Feed Me‘ a harrowing depiction of drug dependency from the perspective of a frightened, city-dwelling addict.
The Philly-Soul dimension of the melody provides a vivid, urban atmosphere, John coming up with a nuanced vocal in delivering some emotive lines:
‘Don’t close the shades/I’m scared of the darkness/I’m cold as a razor blade Inches from madness/Don’t let me sleep here/They’re all trying to kill me/I’ve seen the walls moving/They’ve all heard me screaming.’
On the track that stands head and shoulders above the rest it is the personal travails of Taupin that are brought into focus – who uses the metaphor of a Wild West assassin for his culpability in a broken marriage.
The title of striking piano ballad ‘I Feel Like a Bullet‘ (In the Gun of Robert Ford) refers to the hired killer who gunned down the outlaw Jesse James, the lyricist feeling shoddy and sad as the consequences of his actions take hold:
‘Like a child when his toy’s have been stepped on/That’s how it all seemed to me/I burst the bubble that both of us lived in/And I’m damned if I’ll ever get rid of this guilt that I feel/And if looks could kill then I’d be a dead man/Your friends and mine don’t call no more.’
Fleshed out with an expressive guitar solo from Johnstone, poignant lead vocals and sympathetic production from Gus Dudgeon (doing the honours for the ninth Elton John album in a row), it rightly stands as one of the most distinguished examples of their combined talents – and easily the finest hour here among what is for the most part, a sequence of off-days for the John/Taupin songwriting axis.
But even the undoubted excellence of ‘I Feel Like a Bullet‘ (In the Gun of Robert Ford) could spare ‘Rock of the Westies‘ from receiving harsh treatment at the hands of reviewers, the New Musical Express being particularly disparaging (‘superficial‘). Not that such disdain cut any ice with legions of Elton John devotees who ensured the album quickly attained gold record status, although a U.K. peak of number five did represent a drop from previous high placings of his more recent album releases.
Indeed, in the course of their negative review the NME went so far to suggest John was simply marking time until expiry of his contract with DJM. His seven year association with the label came to an end in April 1976 with release of the live set ‘Here and There‘ which subsequently allowed him to sign for Rocket, a record company he had formed three years earlier.
In the meantime 1975 ended the same way as the two or three years that precede it with any number of his albums populating the charts – Elton John, not always in favour with the critics, but still reigning as the world’s favourite rock star.
ELTON JOHN – ROCK OF THE WESTIES (Released October 24 1975):
Medley: (Yell Help-Wednesday Night-Ugly)/Dan Dare (Pilot of the future)/Island Girl/Grow Some Funk of Your Own/I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)/Street Kids/Hard Luck Story/Feed Me/Billy Bones and the White Bird;
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