Eight Elton John Different Types of Rock Songs

I’ve noticed that Elton John has recorded rock songs in many different types of rock. Examples of these include rock & roll, soft rock, pop rock, country rock, etc. I compiled a collection of eight Elton John songs which showcase his songwriting versatility as they are different types of rock songs. In all but one of the songs featured, Elton wrote with his lyricist Bernie Taupin. I’m going to start with the opening title track from Elton’s 1969 debut album “Empty Sky”.

Progressive Rock - Empty Sky (1969)

This song starts with a catchy conga beat and Elton brings in piano notes which come in and out of the song. Following this, it becomes a full band song with strong guitar. Caleb Quaye plays both the guitar and the congas. Elton also plays an organ which can be heard in some of the song’s sections. There’s a flute and a harmonica featured in parts of the song. In going with progressive rock, there are long instrumental sections. Close to the end of the song, the instruments go quietly and Elton sings in a whispering way. The instruments come back up powerfully with Elton playing a glissando. This is an epic eight and a half minute long progressive rock song.

Rock & Roll - Crocodile Rock (1973)

This is one of Elton’s most popular songs. It was his first Number 1 hit in the US. Elton plays both piano and farfisa organ. This song features Elton’s original band of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Nigel Olsson (drums) and Dee Murray (bass). This song is the style of 50s rock & roll. Davey’s guitar parts authentically bring that sound. While Elton does rock out on his piano, he doesn’t play the traditional rock & roll piano on this song. He brings rock & roll vibes through the piano & organ combination. Crocodile Rock is a rock & roll hit that continues to be played for over 50 years and counting.

Hard Rock - Hard Luck Story (1975)

This song opens with the band playing softly and the instruments slowly get louder. This track is from the “Rock of the Westies” album. Elton’s band for that album features both Davey Johnstone and Caleb Quaye (who worked with Elton at the start of his career). The combination of the band produces good results. They include Elton’s piano, the two guitarists, Ray Cooper’s percussion and James Newton Howard’s keyboards. Elton plays incredible rock piano towards the end of this song. This is a good example of Elton doing a hard rock song.

Country Rock - Strangers (1978)

This song is the only song not written with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The lyrics are by Gary Osborne who Elton was writing with at that time. It opens with Elton’s piano. He starts singing and it soon becomes a full band sound. Elton sings very melodically and I like how he sings in a country way. There are great guitars which are featured most prominently in the choruses. I’m assuming the guitars are played by Tim Renwick as he was the main guitarist on the “A Single Man” album. This song is a B-Side recorded during that album’s sessions and ended up as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. Both the piano & the guitars reflect the musical styles of country and rock. We get a tambourine that sounds like Ray Cooper near the end of the song. Strangers has the melodic country rock sound which was common in songs of the 70s.

Soft Rock - Nikita (1985)

We’re going to something softer which matches the soft rock style. This is a big hit which is one of Elton’s great electric piano ballads. He sings in a warm and soulful way. Two popular 80s English singers appear on this song who are George Michael on backing vocals and Nik Kershaw on electric guitar. I like the sound of Nik’s understated guitar. George makes good sounds with his voice near the end of the song. Elton plays both GS piano & synth. Elton’s then keyboardist Fred Mandel also plays synth. I’m assuming the great synth solo is played by Fred. The way I consider this song as soft rock is it being a relaxing ballad with a light rock feel.

Pop Rock - Cold (1995)

This is Elton’s signature piano ballad sound. Davey adds to the song with his guitar playing. There’s an orchestral arrangement by Paul Buckmaster. Davey plays a guitar solo which matches with the orchestra. Elton sings greatly expressing the strengths of his voice. Elton closes off the song well in a rock feel with his piano notes. This is Elton doing a pop rock ballad which he excels at.

Blues Rock - The Wasteland (2001)

This song opens with people talking in the studio and they count down the song. It’s about blues singer and guitarist Robert Johnson. Davey’s guitar playing is incredible. Nigel Olsson’s drumming is powerful. Elton plays a melodic piano solo. Davey supports Elton’s solo well. We have a bluesy organ which matches with the sound. I like how Elton sings “yeah, yeah” near the end of the song. In keeping with the subject matter, Elton crafted a powerful blues rock song.

Gospel Rock - I Can’t Keep This From You (2004)

The opening is led by the organ played by Elton’s late keyboardist Guy Babylon. Elton’s piano goes with Guy’s organ. The gospel feel of this song is augmented by Davey’s guitars that bring rock vibes. Elton sings very soulfully and the choir backs him very well. We get Guy's organ solo followed by Davey’s rocking guitar solo. Elton sings a backing vocal part near the end of the song that works very well. Elton creatively fused gospel and rock with this song.

This set of songs showcase the diverse types of rock songs Elton John has written and recorded. They range from soft rock ballads like “Nikita” to hard rockers like “Hard Luck Story” and give an example of Elton’s music beyond the popular hits. Elton is an iconic rock artist who contributed greatly to that style including the piano’s place in it.

Elton John & Boz Scaggs' Similar 70s Songs

I like Boz Scaggs’ hit song “Lido Shuffle”. I’ve noticed it sounds like an Elton John song and mentioned that when it was featured in my article “Ten Great Songs Featuring David Paich”. David is the keyboardist and co-writer of the song and would co-found the rock band Toto soon afterwards. Elton is a hero and an influence of David’s. I decided to write an article comparing it to an Elton John song, which is “Elderberry Wine”. That is the Elton song that comes to mind when I think of “Lido Shuffle” being like Elton’s music. Elton’s song comes from his album “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” (1973) and Boz’s song comes from his album “Silk Degrees” (1976). I’m embedding both songs with a paragraph about each one followed by a comparison of them.

Elderberry Wine (1973)

Elderberry Wine opens with Elton’s piano accompanied by drums and is soon joined by all instruments. The horns come in during the chorus and enhance this song. Elton sings with passion. The song closes with Elton singing the song title over and over again with Davey Johnstone’s guitar riffs in between them. This is a fun, melodic rocker.

Lido Shuffle (1976)

Lido Shuffle opens with bass and drums. Boz sings over it and all instruments soon come in. Just before the chorus, the horns start to appear and are most prominent in the choruses. David Paich plays all the keyboards on this song including both piano and synth. David’s piano provides a solid musical base and he provides creative synth work in parts of the song. Boz sings passionately. This is an iconic 70s rock hit.

Comparison

These are two 1970s pop rock songs featuring horns and piano. In my view, the melodies on both tracks sound alike. Elton and Boz sound similar including the way they sing. Elton’s song is more piano driven, although it does have a similarity in its opening. Elton’s song is opened with piano and drums and Boz’s song is opened by bass and drums. In both of them, this is followed with all the instruments coming in. Lido Shuffle’s horns are featured in more of the song than “Elderberry Wine”.

Both songs have similar runtimes with “Elderberry Wine” being 3:34 and “Lido Shuffle” being 3:43. It’s interesting that the number of seconds in Boz's song is the inverse of Elton’s song. One song (“Lido Shuffle”) is a hit song, while the other song (“Elderberry Wine”) is an album track. Elderberry Wine is connected with one of Elton’s hits as it was the B-Side to “Crocodile Rock”. In both cases, the singer wrote the song with a collaborator. Elton wrote it with his lyricist Bernie Taupin and Boz wrote it with David Paich who was the keyboardist of his “Silk Degrees” album. I consider them both to be great songs.

Bitter Fingers by Elton John

I decided to write about an album track from Elton John. An album track means a song from an album which wasn’t a hit and/or a single. The song I’m writing about is “Bitter Fingers” from Elton John’s 1975 album “Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy”. This was during the peak of Elton John’s success. This song was written with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. It features his original band of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Nigel Olsson (drums), Dee Murray (bass) & Ray Cooper (percussion) and is produced by Gus Dudgeon. I’m embedding the YouTube audio of the song and am discussing it below.

The song opens with Elton’s piano. There is a subtle melodic part with his piano. I suspect this instrument is bells or belltree. They are two of the instruments percussionist Ray Cooper is credited with playing alongside tambourine and congas. Elton then begins singing. Soon subtle bass by Dee Murray appears. This is followed by understated rock guitar by Davey Johnstone and barely audible drums from Nigel Olsson. When the chorus starts, Nigel’s drumming properly comes in and it becomes a full-on rock song. Nigel’s drumming and Elton’s piano rock well together in the chorus. Davey’s guitar comes in and out during this section. Davey, Nigel and Dee sing backing vocals in the chorus and at the end of the song.

After the first chorus, it goes back to the piano intro of the start. Davey’s guitar then comes in, doubling the piano which sounds good. Towards the end of the second verse, Nigel brings his drums properly in a bit before the chorus. Dee’s bass seems to be louder from the second chorus to the end of the song. After the last chorus, Davey gives a good guitar solo to conclude the song which is followed by it going into the chorus with the song soon fading. Elton is credited with playing pianos on the track so it seems he’s playing two pianos. I’m interested to know how the two pianos are featured.

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is an autobiographical album chronicling the early days of Elton John & Bernie Taupin’s careers before Elton became a superstar. Bitter Fingers is about Elton & Bernie’s struggles as staff songwriters at Dick James Music (DJM) where they had to write songs they weren’t interested in which were popular at the time. Steve Brown who worked in promotions at DJM told Elton & Bernie their work was awful and to instead write music they believed in. This resulted in them writing the rocking single “Lady Samantha” in early 1969. More songs recorded by Elton came out that year which were the single “It’s Me That You Need” and his debut album “Empty Sky”. Steve produced those singles and the debut album. While he didn’t produce any more songs for Elton, he set Elton & Bernie on the path to be the globally successful songwriting team they became.

Bitter Fingers is a great album track by Elton John. It’s representative of his style of music being similar to some of his well-known songs. I really like Bernie’s line about “the keyboard player’s hollow haunted eyes”. While this song was recorded in America, it has a definite English feel both lyrically and melodically. This makes sense as it deals with Elton & Bernie’s experiences in England. Gus Dudgeon did a very good job producing this melodic 1970s rocker. This song represents the songwriting of Elton John & Bernie Taupin at their best.

Ten Great Elton John Songs by Ten Different Guitarists

I decided to post a collection of Elton John songs whose main guitar part is played by ten different guitarists. These songs showcase the mix of guitar and piano where you hear how well Elton plays piano with many guitarists. Elton’s lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics for six of the songs. We’re beginning with one of Elton’s most popular songs.

Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting - Davey Johnstone (1973)

It opens with Davey Johnstone’s charging guitars. It’s mainly guitars you hear at the start. Elton soon brings in his piano with a glissando just before the chorus. This glissando is repeated at the same spot throughout the song. Davey really rocks powerfully with all the guitars he plays on this song. Elton’s piano playing supports Davey well. Right at the end of the song, his rock & roll piano parts offer a good contrast with Davey’s guitars.

Street Kids - Caleb Quaye (1975)

Caleb Quaye & Davey Johnstone both play rhythm guitars. Davey also plays slide guitar. It opens with a guitar effect and then all the instruments come in including Elton’s piano which is mixed in well. Elton is singing aggressively. There are these strong guitar riffs throughout the song I’m assuming is played by Caleb. Caleb gives us a long creative guitar solo. The solo is so rock sounding yet it seems like he’s taking inspiration from jazz the way he changes notes so fast. This is a hard rocking guitar & piano song.

Earn While You Learn - Tim Renwick (1978)

Though this song appears as a bonus track on 1983’s “Too Low For Zero” album due to being a B-Side from that time, it was recorded during the sessions for the 1978 album “A Single Man”. This instrumental is written solely by Elton. It opens with “Earn While You Learn” (the song title) spoken by someone and then Tim’s guitar riff before being joined by all instruments.

When all instruments come in, we get Elton’s keyboards. Elton’s keyboards include prominent organ and synth parts with his piano underneath everything. At about the two minute mark, Tim plays his riff again with Elton’s piano coming in louder and Tim giving a guitar solo. This happens again later on without another guitar solo. This is powerful melodic instrumental rock. Elton gives good rock piano parts including a glissando in the last quarter of the song.

Two Rooms At The End Of The World - Steve Lukather (1980)

The guitar is played by Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Steve’s guitar matches well with Elton’s electric piano. The drums drive this song as there are brief moments of just drums and Elton’s vocals. Just before the one minute mark, horns come in. The horns give a musical presence throughout the song. It’s nice how Steve’s guitar doubles with the horns and there is a section of good back and forth between guitar & horns. Elton gives an interesting electric piano solo. During Elton’s solo, the guitar & horns come in and out of it. Bassist Reggie McBride does some slap bass playing making his instrument more noticeable.

Dear John - Richie Zito (1982)

This song features another Toto member which is their late great drummer Jeff Porcaro. The lyrics are written by Gary Osbourne who Elton had written with during this period. This is a rock & roll song featuring guitars by Richie Zito. Richie played guitar in Elton’s band in the brief period in the early 80s when Davey Johnstone wasn’t in the band. There is a piano solo featuring synth flourishes by James Newton Howard. Richie’s guitars give a driving energetic presence.

Runaway Train - Eric Clapton (1992)

Elton & Bernie co-wrote this song with Olle Romo who plays drums on it. Eric plays lead guitar and sings this duet with Elton John. Elton’s piano is low in the mix. The rhythm guitar is played by Elton’s guitarist Davey Johnstone. The song has a guitar opening which is soon taken over by Eric’s aggressive lead guitar part. The singing goes back and forth between Elton and Eric. Eric then plays a guitar solo in the middle of the song which is followed by Elton’s organ solo. Eric adds guitar flourishes to the organ solo. There are other similar organ parts in the song. I’m not sure if Elton is playing them. The last chorus is sung by Elton. Eric brings his signature blues rock sound to this song.

If You Were Me - Chris Rea (1993)

After so many intense rock songs, we’re now going to something gentle. This is a duet with singer Chris Rea who wrote the song, produced it and played the guitars & keyboards alongside Max Middleton. The song opening is keyboards which includes electric piano. There are subtle guitars. After Elton & Chris sing, Elton’s piano comes in. Chris’ guitar parts are both acoustic & electric. This seems to be a pop song with blues elements. Chris gives a blues vibe with his guitar playing including his solo.

Birds - Rusty Anderson (2001)

I had written a blog post about this song three years ago. This country rocker opens with drumming following the mix of Elton’s piano and Rusty Anderson’s guitar riff. Once Elton starts singing, the guitar stops and we can make out harmonium which Elton plays in addition to his piano. Just before the chorus, David Channing’s dobro (a type of acoustic guitar) comes in which remains for the song. Rusty’s guitar comes in throughout the song including a rocking solo. Elton also provides a piano solo. Rusty concludes the song with good rock guitar playing.

Rock This House - B.B. King (2005)

This song is another duet with a singer-guitarist. Unlike the previous two who are English, the late B.B. King is American, specifically African-American. This song was recorded with the Elton John Band. Davey Johnstone plays the rhythm guitar and B.B. King plays the lead guitar. The song opens with Davey’s guitar riff before all the instruments come in. B.B.’s guitar is in the right speaker. This is a cover song by blues singer Jimmy Rogers which gives off a blues rock vibe. Both B.B. and Elton give solos. They sound like they’re having so much fun rocking this house. I like how there are horn parts in this song.

Take This Dirty Water - Doyle Bramhall II (2013)

This is an americana song primarily in the gospel genre with some country, soul and blues elements. In this song, the guitar has a supportive role. Elton’s piano opens the song. Doyle soon gives his guitar flourishes. Elton sings “in and out of everything” which reflects how Doyle’s guitar keeps coming in and out of the song. Around the three minute mark, Doyle gives a short guitar solo. I like the optimistic feel of this song. Elton sings so soulfully with good gospel sounding backing vocals.

Many of these songs are guitar driven and have a harder rocking sound. They show how great a rock performer Elton John is. In addition to rock there are also elements of pop, blues, gospel, soul and country. Interestingly, the duets all go in a blues direction. The Elton John Band guitarists who played on these songs are Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, Tim Renwick & Richie Zito. Davey is the only guitarist who also plays rhythm guitar on some tracks as he’s Elton’s original and long-time guitarist. I hope to hear more rocking songs like this from Elton in the future.

The Making of Elton John's Songs From The West Coast - 20 Years On

This month marks the 20th Anniversary of Elton John’s 2001 studio album “Songs From The West Coast” which was released in October 2001. This was a comeback album that had a back to the 70s

approach. The album was produced by Patrick Leonard. It featured a mix of session musicians and

Elton John’s original band members Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson on it. According to Jennifer

Hilliard, one of the album’s assistant engineers, the musicians who played on the album were chosen

by Elton John and producer Patrick Leonard. 

The songs were written by Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin. Arranger Paul Buckmaster, who had done arrangements and conducting for Elton in the 1970s, worked on this album arranging and conducting strings on four songs & horns on the opening track. I consider “Songs From The West Coast” to be one of Elton John’s best albums. I decided to write an article about the making of the album for its 20th anniversary. I had previously written a blog post about the song “Birds” from this album. 

The songs alternated with guitar and drums played by Rusty Anderson & Matt Chamberlain and Elton’s band members Davey Johnstone & Nigel Olsson. There was an interesting contrast in the playing of these two groups. Rusty & Matt’s playing was more modern and Davey & Nigel’s playing was more traditional. There were some other guitarists on this album, but Rusty & Davey were its main guitarists. Interestingly, Rusty & Davey played together on the two tracks “Dark Diamond” and “Mansfield”. Matt also played percussion on one of the seven tracks he was on which was the song “Birds”. I was wondering what percussion part he played. According to recording engineer Brian Scheuble, “he has a large array of percussion. I’m not sure exactly what he played on Birds other than some shakers & a few odd percussion. All combined to make a sound that would work for the song.”

The album was recorded mostly in Los Angeles and began its recording from September to October 2000 at Cello Studios with another set of recording sessions from January to February 2001 at Sony Studios. There were other recordings carried out during the first half of 2001 in Los Angeles with Elton’s vocals recorded at The Townhouse in London. According to Jennifer Hilliard, most of the album was recorded at the initial 2000 sessions, probably about three quarters of the album. 

According to tracking and mixing engineer Joe Chiccarelli, “the songs were built from piano and guide vocals on up. The band was added after the initial songwriting piano/vocal tracks were recorded.” The guide vocals are the vocals Elton initially uses alongside his piano playing while recording. Brian Scheuble says the following on how the songs were recorded, “Elton recorded with the band. Elton was in the piano booth and would play and sing live with the band. We would do a few takes of the song & pick the best take.” 

Jennifer Hilliard pointed out that each day could be very different. She says “from recording the main part of the songs on some days and then recording orchestras on some other days. When we were recording the main part of the songs it was usually a few songs a day. It was honestly the most amazing session I worked on in regards to how fast we would get songs recorded.” She further says the following of the songwriting process: “Bernie Taupin would bring in a stack of lyrics, Elton John would go through them and pick a song. Then he would sit behind the piano and play and then they would record it. 20 minutes later we’d have a mostly completed song.” 

When it came to Elton’s vocals, Joe Chiccarelli mentioned that Elton provided great guide vocals in Los Angeles. He says “We all felt the initial vocals were exceptional and passionate and exciting but Elton wanted to try and beat them. He wanted to fix the little idiosyncrasies in the guide. He wanted to go back home to London. We worked at Townhouse Studios in Shepherd’s Bush near his London home.” As Elton is known to work fast, that was also the case with recording his vocals. Joe Chiccarelli who recorded them states “they were only one or two takes with some touch ups. He would then go about adding double tracks or harmonies to the vocal. It would never take more than an hour to record one song. ... He knows what is a great vocal take and is very hyper focused on achieving that quickly so he doesn’t lose the inspiration by over thinking.” 

It’s interesting to note that Elton John wanted to feature banjo on this album. Joe Chiccarelli elaborates “I think he wanted to regain some of the character of the “Madman Across the Water” album. We tried overdubbing banjo on several songs on the record but none of it ever made the final cut. It just didn’t seem like the appropriate texture for the songs. Eventually one day I found the banjo in the dust bin with a note on it saying that it had 'outlived its usefulness'.” Brian Scheuble has this interesting story: “I would say the one thing that was pretty cool & I’ll never forget was that Pat the producer always wanted Elton to feel at home & inspired. So everyday there would be a new huge arrangement of flowers. One arrangement was flowers all around a bicycle & a bike basket full of flowers. Another day there was an Elton John pinball machine with flowers all around it.” 

Contributors to the album have very positive experiences of working with Elton John. Joe Chiccarelli says “Elton is a true pro, focused, passionate and an absolute pleasure to work with. Always funny, in great spirits and excited to go about the process of recording.” Jennifer Hilliard had similar experiences saying “Elton John was great to work with. He was very nice and generous with everyone that worked on the session.” She also says of working on the album: “this session was such an amazing experience. ... It was truly amazing to see such high levels of talent by everybody on that album.”

The album’s singles were the songs “I Want Love”, “Original Sin” and “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore”. I Want Love is the most popular song from the album which is famous for having the video of Robert Downey Jr. lip-synching the lyrics while walking around a house. I Want Love has the signature Elton John rock ballad sound featuring Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson. Davey delivers a powerful guitar solo on it. Personal highlights for me include the intense country rock song “Birds”, the blues rocker “The Wasteland” about Robert Johnson, the ballad “Dark Diamond” featuring Stevie Wonder on clavinet & harmonica and the upbeat pop rock song “Look Ma, No Hands”. 

The pop rock song “Look Ma, No Hands”

Video of “I Want Love” featuring actor Robert Downey Jr.

Thank you very much to Joe Chiccarelli, Jennifer Hilliard and Brian Scheuble for your contributions to this article. You helped me to learn and write about how this album was made. Patrick Leonard did a great job with the production. He made an album that sounds fresh, doesn’t date, is unlike any other Elton John album yet so faithful to the Elton John sound. The album has an organic sound with all its different instruments mixed well into a cohesive whole and does rock. I would like to see Elton make an album with producer Patrick Leonard again. Songs From The West Coast showcases Elton’s strengths as a singer, songwriter and piano player.

Elton John & Billy Joel's Rocking Rivers of Gospel

In the 1990s, there were two similar songs dealing with rivers in the gospel rock style. One song was from America and the other was from England. They were by popular piano playing singers Billy Joel & Elton John. They both came out in significant periods of their careers as in Billy’s case “The River Of Dreams” was the title track of his last studio album of popular music and in Elton’s case his song “If The River Can Bend” came out shortly after his releasing the most popular worldwide single “Candle In The Wind 1997” for Princess Diana. That single was paired as a double A-side with “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”. If The River Can Bend comes from the album “The Big Picture” that features “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”. I recently featured Billy’s song in my article “Ten Great Non-Relationship Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers”. I’m embedding the official YouTube audio of the songs below and will discuss and compare them. 

Billy Joel - The River Of Dreams (1993)

Elton John - If The River Can Bend (1997)

The River Of Dreams opens with percussion, but soon a common opening forms with “If The River Can Bend” once the keyboards come in. Both songs’ opening features them singing sounds alongside keyboards and percussion with Billy going “ooohhoo ahahhhaa ...” and Elton going “oh oh …”. They both bring in their piano following this. Just after the middle section of each song, there is a rocking piano solo. Both feature a gospel choir. The protagonists of both songs have things they don’t know, such as where their destination is going.

I’ll now go into some of the differences. The River Of Dreams was a hit song, whereas “If The River Can Bend”, released as a single, was not a hit song. It did reach a modest Number 32 in Elton’s native UK. Elton’s song seems to relate to a relationship or friendship unlike Billy’s song. Billy sings about “searching for something” and Elton sings about finding someone waiting “if the river can bend”. The River Of Dreams obviously deals with dreams unlike “If The River Can Bend”. If The River Can Bend has an orchestra. While the guitar parts are similar on both songs, they are more prominent in Elton’s song, especially towards the end. A well-known difference is the songwriting of each singer as Billy writes both the music and lyrics while Elton writes the music with lyrics by a lyricist who for this song is his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. 

As I Christian, I find the gospel music and themes in these songs interesting. Unlike Elton John, Billy Joel makes some clear Christian references in his song. As Bob Seger is one of the topics I write about on this blog, I like the fact that Billy sometimes plays part of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll” in the middle of “The River Of Dreams” in his concerts. Infact, my previous blog post was about “Old Time Rock & Roll”. I was pleased to find out that Elton & Billy sang “Old Time Rock & Roll” together in their show on the 13th of October 2002 in Uniondale, New York. Similarly, it’s interesting to note that for Elton John & Billy Joel’s 1998 European tour, each singer performed their river song in their solo setlist. It was unfortunately only a few shows with Billy Joel in Europe due to Billy’s illness.

This is a similarity between Elton John and Billy Joel which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Feel free to give your thoughts on these songs. I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on the song meanings of these two river songs. I hope to write about other similar songs in the future.

Ten Great Non-Relationship Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers

While romantic relationships are the most popular song topic, I personally prefer lyrics about other topics. Therefore, I decided to compile a list of classic rock songs about other issues. I had previously written a similar article featuring many of the same artists called “Ten Great Piano Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers”. There is also piano on all of these songs as I like piano in rock music. Two of the songs use electric piano and more than half of them feature its piano part played by the singer-songwriter. I’m featuring the official YouTube embeds for each of these songs so you can listen to any or all of them if you wish.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Chicago (1969)

I’m discussing the arrangement of the album version which opens with a long jazz solo by pianist Robert Lamm, also the songwriter and singer of the song. After the solo the horns come in a good way. This song is jazz rock. There are good backing vocals by Peter Cetera and Terry Kath. I like how there is also some talking in the background. The song opens with someone being asked what the time is. He responds with a long humorous monologue beginning with “Does anybody really know what time it is”. This humorous monologue is the chorus which has two more different prompts leading to it.

Doctor My Eyes - Jackson Browne (1972)

This song is about a person talking to a doctor therapist seeking help. It deals with this person’s

perceptions of the world where he is talking to his doctor. Jackson plays the piano on this song. The

song has good congas by Russ Kunkel who also plays drums. Jackson’s YouTube channel recently

released a live performance of the song which is even better as it has rockier guitar and the addition of organ.

Kings - Steely Dan (1972)

This song is about English King Richard from the 12th century by jazz rock band Steely Dan. It talks about his issues which include his plundering which makes me think of corrupt heads of state. It also talks positively about his brother King John who succeeded him. I would like to give my views of these kings, but I won’t as I know hardly anything about them. This song has rocking piano and jazz influenced guitar including a solo. The piano part is played by singer and co-writer Donald Fagen.

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John (1975)

This is the opening track from Elton John’s 1975 album of the same name. It is about Elton John

(Captain Fantastic) and his lyricist Bernie Taupin (The Brown Dirt Cowboy). It opens with Davey

Johnstone’s acoustic guitars also featuring Elton’s electric piano. It sounds country in the first verse,

before making the sudden switch to hard rock in the chorus where Davey’s intense electric guitars

come in. The next verse goes back to the country sound but with a rock presence as there is some

electric guitar now. It ends with the same opening. Interestingly, a modified version of the same

opening/closing part was used in the closing title track of the 2006 sequel album “The Captain & The Kid”. The lyrics “The Captain and the Kid” were mentioned in this song. I love the lyric “From the end of the world to your town”. 

Hello Old Friend - Eric Clapton (1976)

I would classify this song as both pop rock and country rock. This song is about the pleasure of seeing a friend or acquaintance after a while. It has good positive vibes. There is a keyboard presence of piano and organ. Eric’s guitar shines throughout with his playing. 

The Logical Song - Supertramp (1979)

This is a Roger Hodgson Supertramp song in the light progressive rock style. Roger plays a notable electric piano part. This song deals with the meaning of life and has thought provoking lyrics. Roger

sings how special life was in his childhood, which unfortunately changed when he was sent to boarding school. He is critiquing what we are taught at school. There is a reference to cynicism which is a view I personally am not fond of. There is a nice saxophone solo by John Helliwell. 

I Gotta Try - Kenny Loggins (1982) 

This song was written by Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. Michael first released his version in August 1982 and Kenny released his version one month later. While both versions are soft rock,

Kenny’s version rocks better. Michael does play keyboards on this version too. The song seems to talk about the importance of trying to make your life better. It points out how people’s perceptions differ with truth being a theme of this song. The importance of persistence is given. I love the lyrics “They say it’s a hopeless fight, but I say I gotta try”. There are some lyrical similarities with the previous song as both deal with issues we face in this world.

Sometimes - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1986)

It’s now time to change the pace up with a harder rocking song. This song has very good lyrics about someone who has issues with his life connected with where he lives so he wants to move somewhere else. There’s a saxophone solo by the late Alto Reed. Alto was Bob Seger’s saxophonist in the Silver Bullet Band who sadly passed away in December 2020. The saxophone solo is followed by a melodic piano solo and an intense guitar solo. There are horns throughout the song. Towards the end of the song, there are good piano notes. 

The Doctor - The Doobie Brothers (1989)

This song opens with a good piano/guitar rocking combination. I suspect the piano is played by Bill

Payne, who was the piano player on the previous song. It is about the healing power of music,

referring to music as the doctor. This is the second doctor song on this list. It is sung by Tom Johnston and is the last hit single by The Doobie Brothers. It features a powerful guitar solo by Tom. This song reminds me of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll” with its lyrics and musical sound. There are the similar lyrics “good time rock and roll”. I love the lyrics “Music is the doctor of my soul” which rings true to me. 

The River Of Dreams - Billy Joel (1993)

This is a gospel rock song which seems to be about the meaning of life. Billy sings about “searching

for something” in his dreams involving a river which he is required to cross. Crossing this river is

difficult. There are prominent gospel style backing vocals. This song is very melodic and has a brilliant rocking piano solo by Billy.  

I hope you enjoyed reading about and/or listening to these songs. They address a variety of themes

which include politics, identity, loneliness, persistence, the meaning of life, the state of the world and

friendship. Feel free to give your thoughts and interpretations on any of these songs. I’d be interested in hearing them.