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.

Album Review: Wonderful Crazy Night by Elton John

Elton John released his new album “Wonderful Crazy Night” on the 5th of February. Before I review this album, I’ll share what I think of Elton’s recent work. In 2010, Elton began working with producer T-Bone Burnett on a collaborative album “The Union” with an artist named Leon Russell. I didn’t enjoy that album as I’m not into Leon’s music. He followed that album with 2013’s “The Diving Board”. I found it better than “The Union” as it was a solo album and thought it had many good tracks, but did not consider it to be a good album as it had too many ballads and a classical influence on some tracks which I didn’t like. I’ll say my issues with T-Bone now. Prior to this album, he used session musicians whom I don’t find as good as Elton’s band. His choice of drummers hit the drums too softly, and in some cases do subtle drumming which I don’t fancy. The production he had done before this album for Elton wasn’t clear sounding.

Now with this album, T-Bone remained, but it brought about the return of Elton’s band that he tours with on an album for the first time in nearly 10 years. Elton’s current band includes his original members (guitarist) Davey Johnstone and (drummer) Nigel Olsson as well as (percussionist) John Mahon and newcomers, (keyboardist) Kim Bullard and (bassist) Matt Bissonette (who both joined the Elton John band due to the tragic deaths of keyboardist Guy Babylon in 2009 and bassist Bob Birch in 2012). This album also features Elton’s original percussionist Ray Cooper on some tracks. “Wonderful Crazy Night” goes in a more rock direction (something I’ve been wanting more of from Elton especially in contrast to “The Diving Board” which had little rock, being a stripped-down album with not much guitar) and Elton co-produced the album with T-Bone this time, (a good sign as I think Elton’s a talented producer).

I will now go through the Deluxe Edition of the album track by track, followed by what I think of the strengths and weaknesses of the album.

1. Wonderful Crazy Night

This is a pop rock song with a blues influence that uses acoustic guitars. I think it’s produced well, the band plays well, has great piano playing from Elton including a solo. Although those aspects of the song sound good, it has a weak melody and the lyrics sound rather silly. Thankfully it is worst track on the album.

2. In The Name of You

This song is a real improvement from the previous one and does rock. It starts off with an interesting guitar effect. I should mention that I have a problem with the mix. Davey plays a lot of rocking electric guitar parts, but they are too soft in the mix and it doesn’t sound clear. Still, it’s good to have a guitar solo by Davey and I find it one of the best tracks on the album. The chorus feels so Elton which I like. This song had the audio officially shown on YouTube before the album’s release and I’m including it here.   

3. Claw Hammer

The song opens with a guitar riff that sounds like world music. Elton mentioned that this riff was written on piano. I think it would have sounded better on piano, but it does sound unique. Davey does simple brief rock guitar parts on the verses that add to the song. Elton gives a good counter melody on piano to the guitar riff when it returns. The song has a jazz influence near the end, where Elton does good improvisational playing which is added to by horn instrument sounds on the keyboards by Kim Bullard. This song is musically diverse.

4. Blue Wonderful

A good song, but I wouldn’t say I’m fond of it.

5. I’ve Got 2 Wings

I feel something is lacking in the melody compared to the rich lyrics. This is one of the few songs on the album where I thought the lyrics are better than the melody. The tune also seems too similar to ‘I Must Have Lost It On The Wind’ from 2006’s “The Captain and The Kid”. Getting to the lyrics, as a Christian I love it how Bernie Taupin (Elton’s lyricist) writes about Utah Smith, an African-American preacher born in 1906 who travelled with a Gibson guitar and two wings on his back preaching via music in the 20th Century. I find it great that Bernie wrote it from the preacher’s point of view (with Utah Smith reflecting on his life after he died) this time as when he mentioned religion in the past, it was usually not in a positive way. Every verse begins with the unique and innovative lyric of “I am the Elder Utah Smith”. I find the line in the Chorus “I went from paper wings to the real thing at last” very touching. There is also Elton’s humming in parts of the song which also sounds good.

6. A Good Heart

This is how you do a ballad with a good melody and the full band sound. It’s the best ballad and one of the best tracks on the album. Nigel’s powerful drumming is great here and Davey’s guitar playing though simple adds colour to the song.

7. Looking Up

This song is a bit like the title track, in that it’s a rock song that’s produced well, has great piano playing from Elton, the band’s plays very well, but with a melody that I wouldn’t say is the best. However unlike the title track, this is a good song, as it has much more energy being faster paced and rocking harder with electric guitars. Elton’s piano playing is excellent here and I really like the piano riff featured throughout. The lyrics have a positive message about looking up. The production of this song is done well as it places the piano and guitars prominent in the song without conflicting with each other.

8. Guilty Pleasure

This track sounds like something off the “Made In England” album, specifically ‘Please’. Although it is a rock song, it doesn't rock very well, as the acoustic guitars are too high in the mix (except for the electric guitar solo) and the piano and electric guitars sound too low. It would have been better if the piano was higher in the mix with the main guitar sound that of electric guitars and the acoustic guitars being minimal or not there at all. Still, I do like this song.

9. Tambourine

This song is good, but I feel it has a bit too much of a happy pop sound. The acoustic guitars are too high in the mix and Elton doesn’t play piano in the first verse. I suppose I don’t mind it the first time, but I don’t like it how Elton doesn’t play (or we can’t hear) piano in the second verse. As a Baptist Christian, I do like the line “like a Baptist banging on a tambourine”.

10. The Open Chord

I feel similar about this track to the previous one, although it has piano throughout the whole song. It seems too similar to ‘Too Many Tears’ from 2004’s “Peachtree Road”, which I didn’t find to be one of the best tracks from the “Peachtree Road” album but preferred it to this one.

11. Free and Easy

We’re now going into the songs of the Deluxe Edition. This track does have the happy pop sound of the previous two, but unlike those two I would come back to it often. The melody is nice.

12. England and America

It’s great to have a rock song once again, with this one being the hardest rocking song on the album. While some similarities can be found with previous Elton songs, this one doesn’t sound like Elton, but more like one another rock singer would have done in the 80s as it has a real 80s rock sound. This song has a good melody and Elton shows creativity writing a rock song differently to his usual style. Kim Bullard does great organ playing. Elton makes a special effect in the verses of the song where his piano notes go up the scale and there is a good moment where most of the other instruments stop and Elton’s piano sounds much louder. One of the best tracks on the album and a great way to finish it.

Now that I’ve gone through the album track by track, I will go into what I see as the strengths and weaknesses of the album. I would have liked it if the melodies were stronger and didn’t have the issue which sometimes comes up of a song sounding too musically similar to an existing song. Elton has been referring to the album as the most rock album he’s made since “Rock of The Westies” (1975), which was the hardest rocking album he’s ever done. While this is the most rock album he’s made in a while, I feel that it just isn’t true as he’s made albums that rocked harder than this, since “Rock of The Westies”. I would love it if Elton did make a Rock of The Westies 2 but with sophisticated Bernie Taupin lyrics. Anyway, back to the album regarding the rock issue. There are cases (like the Claw Hammer chorus and Guilty Pleasure) where the acoustic guitars are too high in the song when a rocking electric guitar sound would be better suited.

I still don’t think T-Bone is the ideal producer for Elton. Elton wanted to make a rock album, and as he loves working with T-Bone he chose him. As T-Bone is not known for making albums which really rock, he isn’t a great choice for that idea. However, I do think that T-Bone really improved as a producer on this album to the point that the album is almost well produced. This album has a mostly clear sound which he hadn’t produced for Elton before. The production does follow the Elton John sound on this album. I also think the improvement in production comes from the fact that Elton co-produced this album. I need to give credit to the Elton John band. They play with a lot of energy, and I love the presence of two original members Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson. Davey brings his familiar style of playing in both rock and slower material. Nigel drums powerfully on this album which is a welcome contrast to T-Bone’s choice of drummers previously. There are some songs where Nigel hits the drums softer in whole or part, but there isn’t a song featuring subtle drumming.  

I do have issues with this album, but I definitely am glad to have an Elton John album that I like for the first time in almost 10 years. It’s great to have the return of the Elton John band and an album that goes in a more rock direction. I do recommend this album, specifically the Deluxe Edition.