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.

Great Elton John Keyboard Performances

Elton John is very skilled as a piano player. It’s not so well known, but he has also played other keyboard instruments on some of his albums. I decided to write about his keyboard playing where I write about a selection of songs where he plays keyboards. On most of these songs, he plays both piano and keyboards.

We’re starting with his non-album single “Lady Samantha” from 1969. This is a great rock song where Elton plays electric piano and organ. Elton’s organ has a good presence including prominent parts in the chorus. There is a great balance between Elton’s keyboards and Caleb Quaye’s guitars. Caleb also plays guitars on the next two songs. From Elton’s debut album “Empty Sky” released later the same year, he plays piano and organ on “Western Ford Gateway”. Elton’s piano forms the base of the song and his organ leads the song well musically. This song has the guitar in a more supportive role. Elton plays the same instruments on “Amoreena” released a year later. Amoreena is driven by the piano, with the organ and guitar playing a supportive role. The three instruments are mixed well together.

Lady Samantha (1969)

We’re now featuring two hit singles from 1973’s “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player” album. Elton plays both electric piano and the keyboard instrument mellotron on “Daniel”. Elton’s mellotron gives a nice sound like a flute. It’s credited as a ‘flute’ mellotron. The mellotron only appears in certain sections, but is very noticeable when it does. On “Crocodile Rock”, Elton plays both piano and farfisa organ. The organ has a good presence and it is a memorable part of the song. Elton is paying tribute to rock & roll music from the 1950s on this tune. Davey Johnstone’s rocking guitars go well with Elton’s keyboards.

Crocodile Rock (1972)

An interesting song is the satirical ballad “This Song Has No Title”. It’s a solo song featuring just Elton on piano, farfisa organ, mellotron and electric piano. The organ gives a great presence on the chorus. The mellotron is used for both the flute sound and the string sound. On “Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ’n Roll”, Elton plays the piano/farfisa organ combination on a rock & roll song similar to “Crocodile Rock”. The organ has a fun jolly feel including a good solo augmented by backing vocals.

On “Tell Me When the Whistle Blows”, Elton plays electric piano and clavinet. The clavinet is an electric keyboard instrument that uses guitar strings. On this mid-tempo song with rock and soul elements, Elton’s clavinet comes in and out of the song giving a quirky feel. It matches well with Davey’s guitar. On “(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket”, Elton plays clavinet with acoustic piano. This rock song is driven by Davey’s guitar. The clavinet has a supportive role. Elton is using his skills as a rock musician with these two keyboards. On the ballad “We All Fall In Love Sometimes”, Elton plays piano, mellotron and harpsichord. The mellotron gives warm soothing notes. The harpsichord has a minimal role with it heard nicely in the second half of the song.

On “Theme from a Non-Existent TV Series”, Elton plays electric harpsichord with his then keyboardist James Newton Howard playing electric piano and synth. I like this instrumental song which really sounds like the theme to a 1970s TV series. Elton’s electric harpsichord is behind James Newton Howard’s keyboards. A few years later, Elton had the mostly instrumental hit “Song for Guy” featuring a mix of piano, keyboard, percussion and bass. Elton is on piano, mellotron and synth. He plays two types of synth: polymoog and salena string. Song for Guy is led by piano. Elton gives atmospheric effects with his keyboards which come in and out of the song. He’s enhancing his piano playing with the keyboard parts.

Song for Guy (1978)

A Single Man, the same album as “Song for Guy” has the gospel themed song “Georgia” about the US State. Elton plays piano, church organ and harmonium. The church organ is present in much of the song, contributing to the full band sound. There’s an instrumental outtake from that album’s sessions “Earn While You Learn” which emerged as a B-Side in 1983. The song rocks well with Elton playing piano and multiple keyboards. His organ has memorable parts throughout the song. He also plays the familiar mellotron parts and seems to play an electric piano. Elton’s keyboards and Tim Renwick’s guitars wonderfully lead the sound of this song.

In Elton’s 1983 “Too Low for Zero”, he played all the keyboards including a lot of synth. I’m mentioning two songs from it. These are the first songs in this article not to feature any piano. On the minor hit “Kiss the Bride”, Elton’s synths go well with Davey’s guitars. This is an intense pop rocker. The synths give off a 1980s sound. Elton does something similar on “Whipping Boy” which is also a guitar driven rocker. I’m assuming Elton’s keyboards are synths. They can be heard more than the previous track. I get vibes from organic keyboards Elton has played like harpsichord and harmonium.

Kiss the Bride (1983)

On the pop song “Satellite”, Elton plays synths. Elton’s then keyboardist Fred Mandel plays keyboards and guitarist Davey Johnstone is credited with synth/guitar. While Davey could be playing synth and guitar, it’s more likely he’s playing synth guitar as he played that instrument on the same album. I’m not sure which keyboard parts are Elton. There is a light keyboard part sounding similar to an electric piano. I suspect Elton is playing this. There are nice atmospheric synth effects.

Satellite (1985)

Elton plays piano and organ on the blues rocker “Runaway Train”, a duet with Eric Clapton. Elton’s piano is low in the mix. Following Eric’s guitar solo, Elton unleashes an organ solo. His solo is really good which contrasts well with Eric’s guitar. It’s even more impressive that he’s able to do a solo like this as organ is not his main instrument. There are other similar organ sounds on the song. I’m not sure if Elton is playing them.

These songs are a selection of Elton’s keyboard playing. While Elton’s skills on other keyboards aren’t on the same level as his piano playing, he can play the keyboard well. He used his keyboard skills to augment his piano playing and in rare cases when there’s no piano as an alternative. The songs featured cover Elton’s strengths on ballads, rock songs and those in between.

Ten Great Electric Piano Elton John Songs

  

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Elton John is a globally popular singer, songwriter and piano player. When it comes to piano featured in his songs, it’s usually acoustic piano. However, there are songs by him featuring electric piano. I decided to compile a list of ten electric piano Elton John songs. Elton plays the electric piano on all songs on this list except for one of them. These songs showcase rock and a variety of other genres which are pop, soul, jazz & country. Elton wrote the music for all the songs with the exception of one song that he co-wrote the melody with Tim Renwick and the lyrics are by Elton’s long-time songwriting partner Bernie Taupin except for three songs whose lyrics are by Gary Osborne. I’d like to point out that I don’t discuss the electric piano used in every song with my focus being on the songs in general.

Lady Samantha (1969)

This is one of Elton’s early singles before he was famous. The song opens with electric piano and guitar parts which are soon joined by organ. I believe Elton is also playing the organ which has a good presence. This song rocks intensely. Caleb Quaye plays strong blues rock guitar and concludes the song well. This is reflective of late 60s rock.

Philadelphia Freedom (1975)

This is one of Elton’s most well known hits which came out at the peak of his popularity. There is an orchestra and rocking guitars by Davey Johnstone. Davey is Elton’s long-time guitarist who plays on six of the songs on this list. The electric piano is warm and has parts where it's more prominent as there are so many instruments on this song. This song is a mix of rock and soul. It’s a celebration of Philadelphia and also America.

Feed Me (1975)

This song’s electric piano is played by famous film composer James Newton Howard who joined the Elton John band for the “Rock of the Westies” album this song’s from. The guitar parts by Davey Johnstone and Caleb Quaye are throughout the song and there is a good rocking riff brought in at the last minute of the song. This song has a good 70s rock feel.

Shooting Star (1978)

This song and the next two are written with lyricist Gary Osborne who Elton worked with in the late 70s and early 80s. This song’s electric piano is credited to “Fender Rhodes”. As a Fender Rhodes is a type of electric piano, it is most likely Elton who played it. This is a jazz song. I like it when Elton does jazz. The bass is noticeable and there is a good beat. There is a saxophone which comes in about a minute into the song and continues its presence till the end.

Dreamboat (1978)

We’re going from a short song to a long song of seven and a half minutes. This was also recorded during the sessions for “A Single Man” (the album the previous song’s from), but appears as a bonus track on 1983’s “Too Low For Zero” as it was a B-Side to one of its singles. This song is co-written with Tim Renwick who plays the guitars on this song. It’s opened by a guitar riff which is soon joined by Elton’s electric piano and singing. Elton plays both electric piano and organ. Just before the chorus there is a second guitar part which rocks that comes in and out of the song. The lyrics “fires are burning down below” reminds me of the Bob Seger song “The Fire Down Below”. There are strings and some guitar solos in this song. At about the six minute and twenty second mark, there is a good electric piano part by Elton.

Take Me Back (1980)

This is a country song with Elton playing a Wurlitzer electric piano. The electric piano is prominent at the start of the song. Soon the other instruments such as the guitars come in louder. There’s a fiddle solo, a staple of some country songs. Elton sings in a southern accent and plays the electric piano in a country style.   

A Word in Spanish (1988)

This is a ballad which interestingly was a Top 20 US hit. Elton is singing powerfully and the electric

piano is prominent in parts of the verses. Two thirds into the song Davey plays a brilliant Spanish guitar solo. The song concludes with a good organ part. 

Club at the End of the Street (1989)

This song as well as the next three are from the “Sleeping with the Past” album which is one of my favourite Elton John albums. The album was influenced by soul music and the songs I selected have a soft rock vibe. All songs on this list from that album open with Jonathan Moffett’s drums. At times the melodic organ part is prominent by Fred Mandel who played keyboards and guitar on this album. Jonathan and Fred were both members of the Elton John band while this album was being recorded. This song showcases the power of Elton John’s voice. In the chorus, there is a good backing vocal part going something like “dowap do do do”. There’s an incredible saxophone solo by Vince Denham. This song’s style is interesting as it isn’t a proper rock song, but it’s not quite a ballad either. It has a good upbeat feel.   

Stones Throw From Hurtin’ (1989)

The song opens with a guitar riff that is played throughout the song. Elton sings in an unusual way that doesn’t sound like his normal voice. I read that he achieved this by whispering into the microphone. There is a light guitar part at about the two and a half minute mark. In the last minute there’s a sudden intense guitar solo by Fred Mandel. This solo makes it the rockiest of the three songs and this song is kind of blues rock.

Sacrifice (1989)

This is one of Elton’s most well known ballads. It opens with Elton’s electric piano. It's driven by Elton’s singing. There are prominent keyboard parts which come in and out of the song. About two thirds into the song, Davey plays an interesting electric guitar part which comes back at the end of the song. 

This was a showcase of electric piano Elton John songs. These songs reflect the melodic skills of Elton John as a songwriter including the diversity of the different types of songs he has written. The twenty year period these songs are from give us an insight into the Elton John sound at different periods of his career. The songs have been recorded in the UK, Denmark, France and the US. If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy my previous one “Ten Powerful Rock Ballads by Elton John”.