Elton John - Rock of the Westies
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Elton JohnEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1996-05-14
Music Label: Island
Soundtracks:
- 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
- Planes [*]
- Sugar on the Floor [*]
Free Music Notes for Rock of the Westies
Free Music Review: The last truely great Elton John album
Hit: 5 Stars
By 1975,Elton John was clearly the most famous rock star in the world.In five short years,the dimunitive,once shy English singer/songwriter had transformed into a one man hit machine.Number one singles and albums left and right,record smashing live performances.Rock and Roll had found it's new crowned prince,even if that crown took the form of oversized spectacles in every shape and color,feather boas,and huge platform shoes.He had just made history,having the first album EVER to debut at Number One (Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy).If the Carpenters were sitting at "The Top of The World",Elton was looking down from the moon,maybe another planet.So,if your in such a position,what is the first thing one does?If you were Elton John in 1975...you would fire half your backing band.So long Dee murray and Nigel Olsson(...until 1983 anyway).Hello,James Newton-Howard,Caleb Quaye,Roger Pope and Kenny Paserelli who along side holdovers Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper became the New Elton John band.At the time,Elton had said he wanted to have a harder rock edge to his sound,and this new band certainly obliged.(For evidence,check out disc 2 of "Captain Fantastic"'s recent reissue,which includes a live run through of the CAPTAIN FANTASTIC album from a concert at Wembley Stadium circa mid 1975.)The new band,Elton,Bernie Taupin and Gus Dudgeon returned to Caribou Ranch where both Caribou and Captain Fantastic were recorded,to begin work on what would become "Rock of The Westies". I will confess,I own both the CD reissue from the mid nineties and the original Vinyl LP,(which was passed down to me by my Dad),and I always find myself putting on the LP from start to finish.It's one of those albums that as soon as the stylus dropps into the groove,I have to listen to it all.It's clear even from the front cover photo of an unusually scruffy Elton,realatively conservatively dressed in a hat and shades,head resting on hand with a mischevous smirk,that this album was going to be a departure from past efforts.The rest of the album art introduces the band,complete with humerous blurbs(presumably written by Elton himself) and good natured faux-critisism of both himself and Taupin.(Elton describes himself as a "boring little musician who rose to fame without the aid of payola")Then you put the album on...and suddenly your blasted out of your seat by the beginning of "Medley",which starts with the bluesy "Yell help", segues into "wednsday night" and then goes into "ugly" before wrapping up in an explosive fade out which shows off the new bands cred with aid from "Labelle" on backing vocals.Next up is "Dan Dare(Pilot of the Future)" which sounds like a fun novelty version of "Rocket Man" and is a tribute to English culture's answer to Buck Rogers.Next are probably well known if you own "Elton John Greatest Hits Volume two",The jaunty,island flavored tale of a prostitute ("Island Girl") and goes into a rocker about a boys night out which turns out wrong ("Grow some Funk of your own").The last song on the first side is the oddly titled "I Feel Like a Bullet(in the Gun of Robert Ford)"the albums lone ballad,which sounds a bit like "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" upon first listen."Side Two opens with the funky "Street Kids" which fades out to my favorite track "Hard Luck Story" with Elton singing in fine form to a heavy backbeat and an irisistable hook and chorus.You will be singing along to it by the end,I guarantee!The next track is the stark "Feed Me",a song that would sadly become autobiographical for Elton as the later half of the 70's gave way to the 80's.The last song is "Billy Bones and the White Bird" a silly excuse for the band to rock out,and whats wrong with that? Over the years,a lot of critics have derided this album as nothing more than fluff.Bullcrap,I SAY! Is it as great as diverse as "goodbye yellow brick road"? No.Is it a masterpiece on the magnitude of "Captain Fantastic"? No. Is it a great Elton John rock and roll record? Hell yes!Elton was just having fun here,and it shows.His voice is better than ever and his trademark showmanship is dripping off of it!I am still a fan of Elton,even today.He still does fine work,but in my opinion,"Rock of the Westies" was his last truely great album,and certainly his last really Good album until "Jump Up!" in 1982(even though Blue Moves,A Single Man,21 at 33 and The Fox all had their shining moments).This is pure Classic Elton as most people remember him! A must have in ANY format!!
Rock of the Westies Poster
Although it was viewed as one of Elton John's more lightweight efforts upon its 1975 release--possibly because it followed only half a year after the acclaimed Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (and partially because many thought the album was released to fulfill a contractual obligation)--Rock of the Westies appears in retrospect to be his last great rock album. It certainly does rock consistently harder than any other John album, with guitarist Davey Johnstone even getting cowriting credits (with John and Bernie Taupin) on the opening "Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday" and "Grow Some Funk of Your Own." Lyricist Taupin seems to be going off the deep end here at times with titles like "Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)" and "Billy Bone & the White Bird," but "Island Girl" was another huge hit for the pair. And the CD version adds the wonderful pop gem "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart," which turned KiKi Dee into an eternal Trivial Pursuit answer. --Bill HoldshipClassic Rock Music CDs
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