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.

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 Powerful Rock Ballads by Elton John

I’m a fan of Elton John so I decided to write an article highlighting ten powerful rock ballads by Elton

John. I like piano in rock music, and the piano in these songs is played by Elton who’s the world’s

most successful singing pianist. I featured some of his hit songs in this list. I tried to select songs that

are both rock and ballad. If you don’t agree with my assessment of a song being a rock ballad, I

hope you’ll at least be interested in the song. All these songs are composed by Elton John with lyrics

written by his lyricist Bernie Taupin. I mention some of the musicians who played on these songs in

this post, most of which are Elton John’s band members as well as session musicians he’s worked

with. The most prominent member is Elton John’s guitarist Davey Johnstone who appears on eight

of the ten tracks. We begin with a song from the most popular period of Elton John’s career. 

Candle in the Wind (1973)

This song is part of Elton’s most successful studio album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and was

recorded with the original Elton John band line-up of Davey Johnstone (guitars), Dee Murray (bass)

and Nigel Olsson (drums). The piano is most prominent in the verses. It has both acoustic and

electric guitars. The electric guitars give the song a rock feel, featuring the great guitar riff played

throughout the song. This is one of Elton’s most well known songs which is a showcase of his

melodic songwriting skills. I would like to see Elton record a whole album with just the four

instruments in this song (piano, guitar, bass, drums) and nothing else (meaning no keyboards,

percussion, strings, horns, etc) except backing vocals.  

The Fox (1981)

It opens with a piano which is soon joined by harmonica. After that Elton sings, with subtle drumming

by Nigel Olsson. A few guitar notes by Richie Zito are played. Dee Murray’s bass gets a bit louder.

After about a minute the drumming gets more intense with the guitar parts played a bit more. This

song has a country/americana element with the harmonica giving a sound different to the usual Elton

song, but at the base it has the traditional Elton John song structure. This song is a good example of

Elton mixing his own style with something different. This song’s rock elements come most

prominently from Elton’s great piano playing.

Healing Hands (1989)

This is my favourite Elton John song. It opens with Jonathan Moffett’s drums which is joined by the

piano four seconds later. The piano is joined by Davey Johnstone’s guitar and there is some

synthesizer parts. The guitar parts may not be very loud, but they do have a rock feel. Elton plays a

great piano solo that rocks at about the two and a half minute mark. Elton does great powerful

singing and I really like the optimistic message of the lyrics. I love the lyric "There’s a light, where the

darkness ends" in it.   

Amazes Me (1989)

The song has good backing vocals in the opening part and later on in the song. Elton delivers soulful

strong vocals. Davey plays rock guitar throughout the song. There is suddenly an intense guitar solo

giving the song a sudden jolt which contrasts with what was heard before with its stronger rock feel.

Near the end it is good to hear Elton sing the chorus line "could be this tune" very expressively unlike the previous instances.

The One (1992)

This is an epic long rock ballad going on for five minutes and fifty three seconds. It starts off simple

and slow, and the song gets more intense about fifty seconds in with the drums. In the first chorus

there is an acoustic guitar part. The piano and the drums give some rock in the chorus. The second

verse starts off slower with subtle drumming and then brings back the intense drumming and some

electric guitar comes in. Elton delivers a good piano solo which is supplemented with synthesizer.

Elton’s part at the end of the song is similar to his piano solo which is soon joined by a good rock

guitar part. The guitars on the song are played by Adam Seymour and Davey Johnstone. I assume

that the electric guitar parts are played by Davey, but I don’t know for sure. This song is reminiscent

of "Candle in the Wind" as both songs have acoustic & electric guitars and a rock guitar part, but no

guitar solo.

Believe (1995)

It opens with piano and subtle acoustic guitars. Drums soon join in. There is an orchestra and some

electric guitars. Near the end of the first verse, the electric guitars become more prominent which are

a strong part of the chorus. The electric guitars give the song a rock element. There is also a good

electric sitar solo by Davey Johnstone. This song can be described as a power ballad. 

Something About the Way You Look Tonight (1997)

This is his biggest hit as it was paired together with "Candle in the Wind 1997". It opens with all

instruments featuring a memorable opening played by the orchestra doubled on guitar. After that

piano is the dominant instrument which it continues to be during most of the verses. It features organ

by Paul Carrack. It has a great melody. About three minutes in, there is a good guitar solo played by

Davey Johnstone or John Jorgenson (who were both in Elton’s band on this album). Following that

there are some more prominent guitar parts.

I Want Love (2001) 

This song comes from his great 2001 comeback album "Songs from the West Coast". The album

had a back to the 70s approach, yet also is the most modern sounding album he’s made. The album

featured session musicians and his original two band members Davey Johnstone (guitar) and Nigel

Olsson (drums) who are both on this track. It opens with the great piano opening that’s joined by the

acoustic guitar played by Bruce Gaitsch. Interestingly, Bruce co-wrote Richard Marx’s 1987 hit rock

song "Don’t Mean Nothing" that I like. We hear some bass guitar notes, Nigel Olsson’s drums and

about twenty seconds later Davey Johnstone’s rocking electric guitar parts come in. There is a

bridge which gives a good change to the melody followed by Davey’s great guitar solo. This is one of

Elton’s best songs showcasing his strength in writing a melodic rock ballad.

Tinderbox (2006)

This song has a 70s Elton feel and also features both original band members Davey Johnstone

(guitars) and Nigel Olsson (drums). There is both acoustic and electric guitars, with the electric

guitars coming in at about the two minute mark. The bridge has more guitars and rocks well. There

is also good organ on the song by Elton’s late keyboardist Guy Babylon who died in 2009. His late

bassist Bob Birch is also on the track. Bob plays noticeable bass notes in the opening part as he’s

the only instrument other than piano in that section. Bob Birch died in 2012. The album "The Captain

& the Kid" that it's from is the last Elton John studio album that they both appeared on.

Candlelit Bedroom (2013)

This is a very Elton John song, having his signature piano based rock ballad sound. Doyle Bramhall

II’s guitar joins in about a minute in giving a good addition to the song. About two and a half minutes

in, there a rocking guitar solo which is good to have. We then go back to the chorus. It’s fitting that

this song list both opens and closes with a candle song which interestingly were released forty years

apart.  

I hope you enjoyed reading this list of Elton John rock ballads. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts

on any of these songs. If you enjoyed this article, you may be interested in my previous article "Sci-Fi

Elton John Songs".

Sci-Fi Elton John Songs

As a fan of both sci-fi and Elton John, I decided to write an article listing sci-fi Elton John songs where I give my thoughts on them. This list includes his two hit songs “Rocket Man” and “Bennie And The Jets”. All these songs have the lyrics written by Elton’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Let’s begin.

Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time) - 1972

This song comes from the album “Honky Chateau”. It was the first album Elton recorded with his

band featuring newest member Davey Johnstone on guitar. This song deals with an astronaut on

Mars who misses the earth and his wife. It’s a light pop rock song, with Davey’s guitar parts being

mainly an acoustic one and the good electric slide guitar effects that appear most prominently on the

chorus. The song does a good job conveying the loneliness of space.

Bennie And The Jets - 1973

This song is from Elton’s most successful studio album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” about a rock

band in the future called Bennie And The Jets led by a female singer named Bennie. The band are

supposed to be androids from what I understand. The song’s narrator is a fan of this band. This a

rock song that is piano driven and it has a good piano solo in it. There are electric and acoustic

guitars, with the electric guitar being low in the mix and the acoustic guitar being louder in the mix at

one point.

I’ve Seen The Saucers - 1974

This song comes from the “Caribou” album. EIton’s opening piano notes which is used throughout the song is reminiscent of his opening piano notes from his 1973 rock classic “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”, however this song goes in a completely different direction to that one. The narrator is describing the saucers he’s seen. He claims to have not only seen them but has been taken by them as well. This song has more electric guitar than the previous two, and it’s the first song on this list not to have any acoustic guitar. The trend of a song whose guitar parts are only electric continues on the next two songs.     

Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) - 1975

This song is from the “Rock of The Westies” album. It’s about the British comic book series Dan Dare which I confess to having not read. This song rocks harder than the previous three. This is the first and only song on the list to have a guitar solo which is played with a talk box. A talk box is a device that allows a musician to modify their instrument parts with their voice. Davey Johnstone’s talk box guitar parts are featured throughout the song. The song also features conventional electric guitar played by Caleb Quaye. This song has a few things in common with “Rocket Man” as it mentions Mars and a rocket.

I Am Your Robot - 1982

This song comes from the “Jump Up” album. It rocks even harder than the previous one being the hardest rocking song on this list. It’s the fastest song on this list as well. It opens with an electronic effect that is probably a synthesizer and is then joined by the other instruments led by Richie Zito’s guitar. The lyrics aren’t strong as some of it is a bit silly. It seems to be about a robot who is in love with a woman who could be a client of his. He mentions that he is programmed to love her. Despite some lyrical weaknesses, this song works very well musically. The piano and guitar parts go well together and there are good synthesizer parts on the song. Having “I Am Your Robot” after “Dan Dare” is a good fit as they are the songs that rock the strongest on this list.

Look Ma, No Hands - 2001

This song comes from Elton John’s comeback album “Songs From The West Coast” which was compared with his early work. It’s fitting to end with this song as it has both Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson like the first song “Rocket Man”, and it sounds musically similar to that song too. Like “Rocket Man”, this song is pop rock and has both acoustic and electric guitars. It’s a piano driven song which features a piano solo by Elton. This song is about a person telling all his achievements to his mother trying to get her appreciation. It’s only sci-fi parts are two lines about having been in Roswell when the Martians were there. It gives the impression that the aliens really came to Roswell in the universe where this person sings in, though he could be simply saying it in reference to the Roswell theory or just believes in the Roswell incident without seeing it himself. I think this is probably the best song on this list.

So that’s the sci-fi songs Elton has done. I hope I didn’t miss any other sci-fi songs of his. Let me know if I did. Regarding the song lyrics, the three songs that go after each other (“I’ve Seen The Saucers”, “Dan Dare” and “I Am Your Robot”) seem to be humorous. I think the lyrics for “Bennie And The Jets” seem unusual, but it’s of a higher quality than those other three and consider the first and last song (“Rocket Man” and “Look Ma, No Hands”) to both have strong lyrics.

I’ll mention common themes throughout these sci-fi songs. Mars is one as it is the main subject of “Rocket Man”, is mentioned in “Dan Dare” and “Look Ma, No Hands” mentions the Martians of Roswell. Robots are part of two songs dealing with the apparent robotic band in “Bennie And The Jets” and the robot character in “I Am Your Robot”. Spacecrafts are a part of “Rocket Man”, “Dan Dare”, “I’ve Seen The Saucers”, “I Am Your Robot” and “Look Ma, No Hands” due to the Martians of the Roswell story coming in a spacecraft.

I’ll now list some interesting statistics about these songs. The first three songs feature the original Elton John Band line-up of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Dee Murray (bass) and Nigel Olsson (drums). Davey plays on all tracks except “I Am Your Robot” which comes from the brief period when Davey wasn’t in the Elton John Band. The guitarist Richie Zito on “I Am Your Robot” was Elton’s guitarist in the early 80s. Davey shares the guitar parts with Caleb Quaye (a member of the Elton John Band during that period) on “Dan Dare” and with David Channing on “Look Ma, No Hands” where Davey plays electric guitar and David plays acoustic guitar. Both “Dan Dare” and “I Am Your Robot” feature keyboards by now famous film composer James Newton Howard who was in the Elton John Band when those albums were made. Dee Murray plays bass on all songs except “Dan Dare” featuring Kenny Passarelli on bass (Elton’s then bassist making his first appearance on an Elton album there) and the last one “Look Ma, No Hands” which has bass played by Paul Bushnell. Nigel Olsson plays drums on all songs except “Dan Dare” which featured drums by Roger Pope who was then in the Elton John Band and “I Am Your Robot” which has drums played by Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro. The last song and the first song both feature Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson. Regarding the producers of the songs, the first four songs was produced by Gus Dudgeon, “I Am Your Robot” was produced by Chris Thomas and “Look Ma, No Hands” was produced by Patrick Leonard.