This year was very interesting. I had a hard time with the 5th pick. You have The Who and Led Zeppelin releasing albums and with me…normally I would go with the Who but in this year…Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti won out. I think it would be hard to say that none of these belong. I like all of them of course or they would not be on here.
Born To Run broke Bruce Springsteen through to the masses after two very good to great albums but commercial failures. Columbia Records got behind this album, too much so for Bruce’s tastes, and they hit gold with it. With his face on Newsweek and Time magazine…everyone was introduced to Mr. Springsteen. In simple terms… 1975 was Springsteen’s year.
This was on the great album Blood on the Tracks. In my opinion Bob Dylan‘s best album of the seventies. When I first got this album I couldn’t quit listening to it and I really wore this song out. I could sing this song in my sleep…I know every word because it’s ingrained in my head.
This would make my top 5 Bob Dylan songs. I’ve seen Bob 8 times and the first 6 times I saw him I kept waiting for this song because with Bob you don’t know what you will get. He finally played it on the 7th time and I was surprised the next time because it was the only older song he played.
Talking to Ron Rosenbaum, Bob Dylan once told him that he’d written “Tangled Up in Blue”, after spending a weekend immersed in Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue.
Queen used so many overdubs that the tape was virtually transparent on Bohemian Rhapsody. All the oxide had been rubbed off. They hurriedly made a copy so they could preserve what they had already. They were working with a 24-track machine but they still had to bounce tracks. They used `180 overdubs… The song took 3 weeks to record. The song was on A Night At The Opera album.
This made a huge comeback courtesy of Waynes World in 1991. The song was written by Freddie Mercury.
Elton John owned the early to mid-seventies Billboard Charts. Even Elton said he was tired of hearing himself in America on AM radio. Philadelphia Freedom was just another #1 for Elton.
Elton had an interesting B-side on this single. The B-side was a live duet of The Beatles hit “I Saw Her Standing There” that Elton recorded with his friend John Lennon. Elton had previously sung on Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Through The Night” and also released a version of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” which was written by Lennon. This song was written by Elton John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.
Led Zeppelin‘s Kasmir is one of their best if not their best song. It was on the Physical Graffiti Album released in 1975. The song did not chart but is hugely popular on the radio.
The song is hypnotic to listen to. The drums are the key to this song… Jimmy Page has said this about John Bonham on Kashmir… It was what he didn’t do that made it work.
The song was written by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Bonham.
After appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek in October 1975, Springsteen sometimes changed the words to “Tell your papa I ain’t no freak, ’cause I got my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek” when he performed it live. This wasn’t a “hit” at the time but it still lives on in classic radio and is a key song in Bruce’s catalog.
I’ve seen Bruce do this song live and it is special. It’s one of the best live songs I’ve ever heard along with The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again. The song is exciting as he pleads with Rosie and calls out the nicknames of their friends.
I was around 7 years old when this was released. I remember being in a tire swing in my Aunt’s front yard when I heard this Hollies on a radio that was playing from a car that someone was working on. I still remember smelling the grass and the green surroundings of that day.
This song would be way up in my favorite songs ever. Graham Nash had left by this time and the band turned a corner when he had gone. They went from a pop sixties band to more of a rock/pop band with hits like Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, He Ain’t Heavy (He’s My Brother), and finally this song which was their last top ten hit in the US and Canada. It was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood.
Great song great music great voice. This song was performed by Rufus with Chaka Khan and written by Stevie Wonder. The Talk-Box which Frampton later used sounds great in this song.
Rufus evolved from a group called The American Breed, who had a hit with “Bend Me, Shape Me.” They took their name from a column in Popular Mechanics magazine called “Ask Rufus,” later shortened to Rufus when Chaka Khan joined the band in 1972.
Paul McCartney‘s Band on the Run was one of his best songs since the Beatles. This song fell in a grey area. The album was released in December of 1973 but the single was released in April of 1974 so it could have gone in either year.
The song was recorded in two parts, in different sessions. The first two were taped in Lagos while the third section was recorded in October 1973 at AIR Studios in London. Paul was robbed at knifepoint in Lagos, Nigeria and they took the tapes that he had at the time. They were never recovered and Paul figured they recorded over them.
The song was off the album Band On The Run which was I think Paul’s best solo album. It was written by Paul and Linda McCartney.
Trying to figure out Elton’s lyrics has always been interesting…not what they mean…I won’t even try that. No, it’s… what is he singing? “He’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine, oh” I wasn’t even close. I thought “masseuse” was in there. I don’t think I can even spell what I’ve been singing along with for years. Mick Jagger does this well also.
Regardless of the hard-to-decipher words…I love the song.
Elton wrote the music to this song as an homage to glam rock, a style that was popular in the early ’70s, especially in the UK…and of course, Bernie Taupin co-wrote it with Elton.
I heard this song on the show House MD not long ago and it stuck with me. I knew it was Leon Russell but I didn’t know a thing about it. Very good song all the way around. Movies and TV Shows are a good way to pick up new and old songs that you don’t know.
It’s hard to resist Leon Russell’s music. His song Tight Rope was one of the first songs I remember in my life. His real name was Claude Russell Bridges. He was born in Oklahoma and in high school he worked with future Bread singer-songwriter David Gates.
Leon did a lot before the public ever heard of him. He was part of the Wrecking Crew who played on Beach Boy records and hits like This Diamond Ring for Gary Lewis. Most major players in the seventies wanted Leon Russell on their albums. After George Harrison invited him to play with him a short while later Mick Jagger worked with him. He was a popular man among the British elite rock stars.
The song was on the album Leon Russell and the Shelter People released in 1971. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard Album Charts, #29 in The UK, and #14 in Canada. The song was not released as a single.
Elton John helped bring Leon Russell back into prominence in 2010 through a successful album. He worked up until his death on November 13, 2016. He had already planned a tour starting in January 2017.
Stranger in a Strange Land
How many days has it been
Since I was born
How many days until I die
Do I know any ways
That I can make you laugh
Or do I only know how to make you cry
When the baby looks around him
It’s such a sight to see
He shares a simple secret
With the wise man
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land
Tell me why
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land
How many miles will it take
To see the sun
And how many years until it’s done
Kiss my confusion away in the night
Lay by side when the morning comes
And the baby looks around him
And shares his bed of hay
With the burro in the palace of the king
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Tell me why
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land
Well, I don’t exactly know
What’s going on in the world today
Don’t know what there is to say
About the way the people are treating
Each other, not like brothers
Leaders take us far away from ecology
With mythology and astrology
Has got some words to say
About the way we live today
Why can’t we learn to love each other
It’s time to turn a new face
To the whole world wide human race
Stop the money chase
Lay back, relax
Get back on the human track
Stop racing toward oblivion
Oh, such a sad, sad state we’re in
And that’s a thing
Do you recognize the bells of truth
When you hear them ring
Won’t you stop and listen
To the children sing
Won’t you come on and sing it children
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land
Tight Rope came out in 1972. I remember the song as with many others riding in my sister’s Vega a few years later while carrying a case of oil in the hatchback that looked somewhat like this. We would stop at least 3-4 times a week to feed it oil.
The B-side for “Tight Rope” was “This Masquerade”, also written by Russell, which became a Top 10 hit for George Benson in 1976.
The album Carney would peak at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts and #4 in Canada. Tight Rope peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100 and #5 in Canada in 1972. It was Leon’s most popular song in his career.
His real name was Claude Russell Bridges. He was born in Oklahoma and in high school he worked with future Bread singer-songwriter David Gates. . That is a pair that is hard for me to imagine.
Leon did a lot before the public ever heard of him. He was part of the Wrecking Crew who played on Beach Boy records and hits like This Diamond Ring for Gary Lewis.
The list of artists that he worked with is staggering. Some include The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Elton John, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bruce Hornsby, Merry Clayton, Delaney & Bonnie, Doris Day, Ray Charles, the Byrds, Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson, Badfinger, Steve Winwood, Frank Sinatra, The Band, Bob Dylan, J. J. Cale, B. B. King, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, and the Rolling Stones. He recorded 33 albums and at least 430 songs.
He sang, wrote, arranged, produced, and was one of the most sought keyboard players of his time. He was a musicians musician. He wrote the Gary Lewis hit Everybody Loves a Clown, Help Me Make It Through the Day by Freddie King, Delta Lady by Joe Cocker, and more.
You didn’t hear much about Leon by 2009. Elton John at one time opened up for Russell in his earlier days and decided to reach out to him. They made an album together in 2010 called The Union with 16 songs written by either Russell, John, Taupin, and T Bone Burnette. The album peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, #24 in New Zealand, and #12 in the UK.
It brought Leon Russell back into prominence. He worked up until his death on November 13, 2016. He had already planned a tour starting in January 2017.
At the 7-minute mark… Leon Russell thanked Elton John with some heartfelt words at Leon’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Tight Rope
I’m up on the tight wire One side’s ice and one is fire It’s a circus game with you and me I’m up on the tight rope One side’s hate and one is hope But the top-hat on my head is all you see
And the wire seems to be The only place for me A comedy of errors and I’m falling Like a rubber-neck giraffe You look into my past Well maybe you’re just too blind to see
I’m up in the spotlight Oh does it feel right Oh altitude seems to get to me I’m up on the tight wire Flanked by life and the funeral pyre Putting on a show for you to see
Like a rubber-neck giraffe You look into my past Well maybe you’re just too blind to see
I’m up in the spotlight Oh does it feel right Oh the altitude really gets to get to me I’m up on the tight wire Flanked by life and the funeral pyre Putting on a show for you to see
***Dave from A Sound Day has a new feature Turntable Talk…he will have an article by me today about Why the Beatles are still relevant…hope you get to read it.***
Imagine a concert in 1975 with The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and more. Well, it happened! Sorta. Rod Serling did all of the radio promos. It would be one of his last projects…he would pass away before it aired.
It was a 48-hour-long rock concert (Fantasy Park) that was aired by nearly 200 radio stations over Labor Day weekend in 1975. The program, produced by KNUS in Dallas, featured performances by dozens of rock stars of the day and even reunited The Beatles. It was also completely imaginary, a theatre-of-the-mind for the 70s.
The “concert” was made up of live and studio recordings by the artists with live effects added to make it sound legit.
The show had college students hitchhiking all over America hoping to get to Fantasy Park. In New Orleans when the concert aired, the IRS came knocking on the doors of WNOE trying to attach the gate receipts to make sure the Feds got their cut! Callers were asking where they could get tickets to this amazing show.
The show was so popular in Minnesota that they played it again in its entirety the next year…now that people knew it wasn’t real and weren’t looking for tickets. The greatest concert that never was. Fantasy Park had their own emcee and special reporters covering the weekend event giving you the play-by-play details along with some behind-the-scenes updates.
The concert would always be halted due to rain on a Sunday morning to allow the locals to get in their regular (usually religious) programming and the whole event always ended promptly at 6 pm on Sunday.
Now people look for the full 48-hour tapes of the show. They are a hot collector’s item. Rod Serling passed away on June 28, 1975.
Bands at Fantasy Park
Chicago
Elton John
Led Zeppelin
Joe Walsh
Cream
Shawn Phillips
Pink Floyd
Carly Simon
James Taylor (& Carol King)
Poco
Alvin Lee
Eagles
Linda Rondstadt
Dave Mason
Steve Miller
John Denver
Beach Boys
War
Grand Funk
Yes
Deep Purple
Rolling Stones
Cat Stevens
The Who
Rolling Stones
Moody Blues
Marshall Tucker Band
Allman Brothers Band
Seals & Crofts
America
Joni Mitchell
Doobie Brothers
Loggins and Messina
Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young
Bob Dylan
Beatles
One of the songs that reminds me of childhood. This was Elton in his most fertile period of the seventies. Elton and Bernie had the Midas touch with songs.
Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin went to Jamaica to record the album, but the studio wasn’t up to standard, so the project was abandoned there with only a rough version of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” actually being recorded. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the rest of the album were recorded in France at Strawberry Studios (The Chateau d’Hierouville).
The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #6 in the UK, and #2 in New Zealand in 1973-74. This made the third Elton single to make number 1 in Canada in 1973.
The song’s B side was originally titled “Screw You”, although the US release re-titled the song “Young Man’s Blues” so that it would not offend American record buyers.
Bernie Taupin: “It’s funny, but there are songs that I recall writing as if it was yesterday. And then there are those I have absolutely no recollection of, whatsoever. In fact, I’d have to say that for the most part, if someone was to say that the entire Yellow Brick Road album was actually written by someone else, I might be inclined to believe them. I remember being there, just not physically creating.
There was a period when I was going through that whole ‘got to get back to my roots’ thing, which spawned a lot of like-minded songs in the early days, this being one of them. I don’t believe I was ever turning my back on success or saying I didn’t want it. I just don’t believe I was ever that naïve. I think I was just hoping that maybe there was a happy medium way to exist successfully in a more tranquil setting. My only naiveté, I guess, was believing I could do it so early on. I had to travel a long road and visit the school of hard knocks before I could come even close to achieving that goal. So, thank God I can say quite categorically that I am home.”
From Songfacts
The Yellow Brick Road is an image taken from the movie The Wizard of Oz. In the movie, Dorothy and her friends follow the yellow brick road in search of the magical Wizard of Oz, only to find they had what they were looking for all along. It was rumored that the song was about Judy Garland, who starred in the film.
Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to this and most of Elton’s other songs. He often seems to write about Elton, but this one appears to be about himself. The lyrics are about giving up a life of opulence for one of simplicity in a rural setting. Elton has enjoyed a very extravagant lifestyle, while Taupin prefers to keep it low key.
Bernie’s canine imagery, including the part about sniffing around on the ground, is a sly poke at Linda’s two little dogs. Linda was a girlfriend of Elton John’s.
In 2008, Ben & Jerry’s created a flavor of ice cream in honor of Elton John called “Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road.” Made of chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks, it was made to commemorate Elton’s first concert in Vermont (home of the ice cream makers) on July 21, 2008 at the Essex Junction fairgrounds. Elton had played every other state before his Vermont show. He had some of the ice cream before the show.
Ben Folds told Rolling Stone magazine for their 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time issue: “He was mixing his falsetto and his chest voice to really fantastic effect in the ’70s. There’s that point in ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,’ where he sings, ‘on the grooound’ – his voice is all over the shop. It’s like jumping off a diving board when he did that.”
American rock group Queens Of The Stone Age covered the song for the 2018 Elton John tribute album Revamp. Their version was produced by Mark Ronson and features backing vocals with Jake Shears of The Scissor Sisters.
“It’s nice to pick something that may seem off kilter at first for us to do. But ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ really has the psychedelic carousel nature to it,” said QOTSA’s Josh Homme. “I think at first we thought we will tinker with the arrangement, but there’s so many beautiful chords- the chord progression is so wonderful- once you step on that carousel, it’s just this beautiful musical swirl and it’s really intoxicating to be on that carousel. And it seemed like there’s a psychedelic element that we could bring out, that it’s touching on, and that maybe the key for us to do it would be to accentuate the wispiness that is going on in the song.”
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm I should have listened to my old man
You know you can’t hold me forever I didn’t sign up with you I’m not a present for your friends to open This boy’s too young to be singing, the blues
So goodbye yellow brick road Where the dogs of society howl You can’t plant me in your penthouse I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods Hunting the horny back toad Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies Beyond the yellow brick road
What do you think you’ll do then? I bet that’ll shoot down your plane It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics To set you on your feet again
Maybe you’ll get a replacement There’s plenty like me to be found Mongrels who ain’t got a penny Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground
So goodbye yellow brick road Where the dogs of society howl You can’t plant me in your penthouse I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods Hunting the horny back toad Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies Beyond the yellow brick road
Great song by Elton that I heard early on in my life.
This was the first US single from Madman Across The Water, Levon runs 5:22 minutes and Elton would not let his record company cut it down for radio play. As a result many radio stations ignored it. The song didn’t chart high but proved to be an enduring song, earning airplay on classic rock and adult contemporary radio for decades to come.
The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard 100 and #6 in Canada in 1971.
The next single from the album was Tiny Dancer, which is even longer, at 6:12. Like Levon, that one fared poorly on the chart (#41) but… also became a classic. Neither song was issued as a single in the UK.
I always wondered if the song had anything to do with Levon Helm, but Bernie Taupin says that he simply made the name up because he likes it, and the song has nothing to do with Helm.
From Songfacts
In Susan Black’s book Elton John in His Own Words, Elton says of “Levon”: “It”s about a guy who just gets bored doing the same thing. It’s just somebody who gets bored with blowing up balloons and he just wants to get away from it but he can’t because it’s the family ritual.”
When Rolling Stone asked Taupin about the song in 2013, he insisted that he has no idea what he intended as the meaning. “It was a free-form writing,” he said. “It was just lines that came out that were interesting.
This is a great example of Taupin’s intricate, nuanced writing style that leads to many different interpretations. For instance, the “cartoon balloons” that Levon blows up all day could be balloons with cartoon characters printed on them, or perhaps something more figurative, like thought bubbles that appear in comic strips, indicating the thoughts that are constantly rising out of his consciousness.
Taupin and John made a great team because Elton could interpret his lyrics very well, giving life to the characters in the songs with a curious ambiguity that encouraged further listens. In many cases, Elton didn’t know what Taupin had in mind when he wrote the lyrics – when asked he would often reply, “you’ll have to ask Bernie.”
The actual New York Times page 1 headline that included the phrase “God Is Dead” is dated March 24, 1968; the full headline read, “‘God Is Dead’ Doctrine Losing Ground to ‘Theology of Hope’.”
The phrase also appeared in a major (page 3) article on January 7, 1970. Smaller pieces dated January and April 1966 that feature the phrase in their headings can also be found. None were on Christmas Day, but the January ones are close!
The cover art for the album was hand-embroidered on a Levi’s jacket. On the back, the track listing was hand-stitched. This kind of artwork has become scarce in the age of digital design.
Jon Bon Jovi covered this for the tribute album Two Rooms. Elton played piano on some of Bon Jovi’s recordings.
Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish became parents to a son born on Christmas Day 2010 to a surrogate mother in California. They named him Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, which is how the baby boy ended up in this Songfact. It is assumed the name “Levon” was chosen because of the song’s line, “He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day.”
Levon
Levon wears his war wound like a crown He calls his child Jesus ’cause he likes the name And he sends him to the finest school in town
Levon, Levon likes his money He makes a lot they say Spends his days counting In a garage by the motorway
He was born a pauper To a pawn on a Christmas day When the New York Times Said God is dead and the war’s begun Alvin Tostig has a son today
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
Levon’s sells cartoon balloons in town His family business thrives Jesus blows up balloons all day Sits on the porch swing watching them fly And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus Leave Levon far behind Take a balloon and go sailing, While Levon, Levon slowly dies
He was born a pauper To a pawn on a Christmas day When the New York Times Said God is dead and the war’s begun Alvin Tostig has a son today
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan, woo And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan, woo And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
Great single by Elton John released in 1972. It was off of his album Honky Château. Like Bennie and the Jets there are some words that I had no clue in what he was singing. The most commonly misheard lyric in this song is “Rocket Man, burning out his fuse up here alone.” I would mumble words through that until I caught a word somewhere down the line.
The inspiration for Bernie Taupin’s lyrics was the short story The Rocket Man, written by Ray Bradbury. The sci-fi author’s tale is told from the perspective of a child, whose astronaut father has mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job. It was published as part of the anthology The Illustrated Man in 1951.
This was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who worked with David Bowie on his 1969 song “Space Oddity.” Both songs have similar subject matter. Elton practically owned the early seventies. Elton had 9 No. 1 Hits, 7 Top 10 Hits, and 67 Songs in the Billboard 100 so far.
The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #2 in the UK in 1972.
From Songfacts
Space exploration was big in 1972; the song came out around the time of the Apollo 16 mission, which sent men to the moon for the fifth time.
Bradbury’s story was the basis for another song called “Rocket Man,” which was released by the folk group Pearls Before Swine (fronted by Tom Rapp) in 1970. Taupin says that song gave him the idea for his own “Rocket Man” (“It’s common knowledge that songwriters are great thieves, and this is a perfect example,” he said). In the Pearls Before Swine song, a child can no longer look at the stars after his astronaut father perishes in space.
The opening lyrics came to Bernie Taupin while he was driving near his parents’ house in Lincolnshire, England. Taupin has said that he has to write his ideas down as soon as they show up in his head, or they could disappear, so he drove though some back roads as fast as he could to get to the house where he could write down his thought: “She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, 9 a.m., and I’m gonna be high as a kite by then.”
From there he came up with the song about a man who is sent to live in space as part of a scientific experiment.
The song can be interpreted as a symbol of how rock stars are isolated from their friends, family and from the real world by those with power in the music industry. Some lyric analysis as part of the rock star isolation theory:
“I’m burning out his fuse up here alone” – Rocketing through space on stage.
“Higher than a kite” – Feeling outside the box called normal.
“Mars” – “The place he is when he’s high; don’t need to be raising children when you’re an addict. It’s a “cold” place, being an addict and larger than life when you want to be “Normal” and a “Rocketman” at the same time.
“Rocket Man” became a nickname for Elton John. As song-based nicknames go, it’s a good one, and Elton embraced it (Madonna hates the “Material Girl” moniker). In 1973, he started a record company called Rocket Records, which was the label that released Neil Sedaka’s comeback songs. In 2019, a biopic (billed as a “musical fantasy”) called Rocketman was released starring Taron Egerton as Elton John.
Around the 2:20 mark, some synthesizer comes into the mix, accentuating the space motif. Elton didn’t dabble in synths, so a studio engineer named Dave Hentschel played it. Hentschel operated an ARP 2500 synthesizer at Trident Studios in London, where producer Gus Dudgeon did overdubs and mixing for the album. When Dudgeon found out they had the synth, which was introduced in 1971, he had Hentschel play it and ended up using it in the final mix.
Hentschel got the call again on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album when Dudgeon had him create the opening section to “Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding” on the ARP. In the 1977 movie Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, an ARP 2500 plays the notes that summon the aliens.
When Elton played the Soviet Union in 1979, this was listed on the program as “Cosmonaut.”
This was Elton’s biggest hit to that point, outcharting his first Top 10 entry, “Your Song.” It had a huge impact on his psyche, as it gave him the confidence to know that he could sustain his career in music.
Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens’ nickname was “The Rocket,” which led to lots of highlight videos of him pitching in slow motion with this song playing in the background. He earned the nickname because of his outstanding fastball, but later came under scrutiny when the league learned that his rocket fuel may have been steroids. Clemens denied the allegations and was never convicted of steroid use.
Kate Bush covered this in 1991 for an Elton John tribute album called Two Rooms (a reference to John and Taupin writing separately). Her version hit #12 in the UK.
Bush told NME that this is one of her favourite songs of all time. “I remember buying this when it came out as a single by Elton John,” she said. “I couldn’t stop playing it – I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him.”
When years Elton and Bernie Taupin asked Bush to record one of their songs for Two Rooms, she chose “Rocket Man.” They gave her complete creative control which was both exciting and a bit daunting for the singer. “I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version,” she said. “It meant a great deal to me that they chose it to be the first single release from the album.”
William Shatner performed a spoken-word version of this song at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards, for which he was the host. Bernie Taupin did the introduction.
At a show in Anaheim, California on August 22, 1998, Jim Carrey joined Elton for a duet of this song. Carey gave a real performance before sitting at the piano and bashing his head into the keys.
On an episode of the television show Family Guy, Stewie does a spoken version of this song.
This was used in a 2017 commercial for Samsung’s Gear VR where an ostrich learns to fly after using the flight simulator on the device.
Speaking at the United Nations on September 19, 2017, American president Donald Trump excoriated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, referring to him as “Rocket Man” because of his missile program. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself,” Trump declared. This song immediately began trending.
This wasn’t the first time the phrase was used in this context: The Economist put Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, on the cover of their July 8, 2006 issue with the headline “Rocket Man.”
American country group Little Big Town covered the song for the 2018 Elton John tribute album Restoration. Their version features sounds from NASA’s Mission Juno. The Juno project explored the planet Jupiter unlocking some of the secrets of the planet and the sounds from Juno’s Waves radio instrument were weaved throughout Little Big Town’s harmonies.
“One of the main reasons why we chose ‘Rocket Man’ was because we were so intrigued by not just, of course, Elton John, but by using the sounds from the Juno project so we had all these Jupiter noises,” said Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild.
Rocket Man
She packed my bags last night pre-flight Zero hour nine AM And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then I miss the earth so much I miss my wife It’s lonely out in space On such a timeless flight
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time ‘Till touch down brings me round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I’m a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time ‘Till touch down brings me round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I’m a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids In fact it’s cold as hell And there’s no one there to raise them if you did And all this science I don’t understand It’s just my job five days a week A rocket man, a rocket man
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time ‘Till touch down brings me round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I’m a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time ‘Till touch down brings me round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I’m a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Heard this before I knew who John Lennon was and it is a good song…just not one of his best songs to me. It was his first solo number-one single. Many times the charts are about timing and it was the right time for this one to hit. In the video, you can see John walking around New York interacting with different people
Elton John sang backing vocals and also played piano on this track. He had a bet with Lennon that “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” song would become a #1 hit. If it did Lennon would have to appear in concert with Elton. Lennon never thought it would be a #1 hit.
When it did reach number 1, Lennon made good on the wager by making a guest appearance at an Elton John concert on Thanksgiving night 1974 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It turned out to be Lennon’s last live concert performance.
This very upbeat John Lennon song has a simple message…do whatever works for you. It was his first US #1 hit as a solo artist… he had another with “(Just Like) Starting Over,” which topped the chart in 1980 after his death.
John got the phrase by watching late-night TV. He was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, “Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, it’s whatever gets you through the night.” Lennon loved it, wrote it down, and wrote a song about it.
This song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #36 in the UK. in 1974
From Songfacts
In December 2005, John and Yoko’s personal assistant May Pang told Radio Times: “At night he (John Lennon) loved to channel-surf, and he would pick up phrases from all the shows. One time, he was watching John loved it and said, “I’ve got to write it down or I’ll forget it.” He always kept a pad and pen by the bed. That was the beginning of Whatever Gets You Thru The Night.”
With this song, Lennon became the last of the Beatles to hit #1 US in their respective post-Beatles careers. By this time Paul McCartney had hit #1 three times, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr twice each.
Structurally, this is a rather unusual song: it’s really all chorus, separated by blasts of saxophone. Lennon alters the lines a bit in the various sections though:
Whatever gets you through the night
Whatever gets you through your life
Whatever gets you to the light
Don’t need a sword to cut through flowers
Don’t need a watch to waste your time
Don’t need a gun to blow you mind
These little lyrical alterations keep the song from sounding repetitive, even without verses.
In 1975 Lennon helped out on Elton’s John’s #1 cover of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Lennon played guitar on that track and was credited as “Dr. Winston O’Boogie.”
In 1975 Lennon helped out on Elton’s John’s #1 cover of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Lennon played guitar on that track and was credited as “Dr. Winston O’Boogie.”
What was it like recording the Walls And Bridges album? When we asked David Thoener, who was an engineer at the sessions, he told us: “It was amazing. Despite all of the personal pain John Lennon was in, (it was during his lost weekend) he was a consummate professional in the studio. Almost as if working kept him sane, through those difficult times. Working with him was quite an experience and something I am very glad to have been part of.”
This hit the top of the US charts, but it fell fast. It spent just three weeks in the Top 10 before dropping from 2-16 in November 1974. In 2004 Fantasia broke this record when after two weeks in the Top 10, “I Believe” dropped from #6-18.
Bobby Keys, who appears on many Rolling Stones recordings, played the tenor saxophone on this track. Ken Ascher played the Clavinet.
Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
Whatever gets you through the night It’s all right, it’s all right It’s your money or your life It’s all right, it’s all right Don’t need a sword to cut through’ flowers Oh no, oh no
Whatever gets you through your life It’s all right, it’s all right Do it wrong, or do it right It’s all right, it’s all right
Don’t need a watch to waste your time Oh no, oh no
Hold me, darlin’, come on, listen to me I won’t do you no harm Trust me, darlin’, come on, listen to me Come on, listen to me; come on, listen, listen
Whatever gets you to the light It’s all right, it’s all right Out of the blue, or out of sight It’s all right, it’s all right Don’t need a gun to blow you mind Oh no, oh no
Hold me, darlin’, come on, listen to me I won’t do you no harm Trust me, darlin’, come on, listen to me Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen
Trying to figure out Elton’s lyrics has always been interesting…not what they mean…I won’t even try that. No, it’s,,, what is he singing? “he’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine, oh” I wasn’t even close. I thought “masseuse” was in there. I don’t think I can even spell what I’ve been singing along with for years. Mick Jagger does this well also.
Regardless of the hard to decipher words…I love the song.
Elton wrote the music to this song as an homage to glam rock, a style that was popular in the early ’70s, especially in the UK…and of course Bernie Taupin co-wrote it with Elton.
This wasn’t released as a single in the UK, where it was released as the B-side of “Candle In The Wind.” In the US, “Candle In The Wind” was not released as a single because MCA records thought this was better. Elton protested but came around when black radio stations started playing it and it became a hit.
This was also a hit on the R&B charts as it peaked at #15. Elton was surprised at that and wasn’t considering it for a single. He did not think this would be a hit. He was shocked when it went peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #13 in New Zealand in 1974. It charted at #37 in the UK in 1976.
Elton’s producer Gus Dudgeon wanted a live feel on this recording, so he mixed in crowd noise from a show Elton played in 1972 at Royal Festival Hall. He also included a series of whistles from a live concert in Vancouver B.C., and added handclaps and various shouts.
I do remember seeing Elton perform this song when he appeared on The Muppet Show in 1977, with a group of Muppets singing along with him at the piano.
From Songfacts
“Bennie” is a female character who Elton has described as a “sci-fi rock goddess.” Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics, told Esquire, “‘Bennie And The Jets’ was almost Orwellian – it was supposed to be futuristic. They were supposed to be a prototypical female rock ‘n’ roll band out of science fiction. Automatons.”
It was Elton’s idea to stutter the vocal: “B-B-B-Bennie…” Bernie Taupin thought this worked very well with the futuristic, robotic theme of his lyrics. Said Taupin: “That’s a little quirk of the song which I’m sad to say I had nothing to do with. That and that wonderful big chord at the beginning. I think those two things are what probably made that song so popular. Neither of which I had anything to do with.”
Comic books, movies, and the German photographer Helmut Newton were some of the influences Bernie Taupin threw into the pot when writing the lyrics to this song. Said Taupin: “I’d always had this wacky science fiction idea about a futuristic rock and roll band of androids fronted by some androgynous kind of Helmut Newton style beauty, which was depicted to little great effect on the Yellow Brick Road album cover. I’m not sure if it came to me in a dream or was some way the subconscious of effect of watching Kubrick on drugs. Either way, it was definitely something that was totally formed as a concept, and something that could have morphed into any number of populist items. Could have been comic books or movies. In fact, I can’t help but believe that that Robert Palmer video with all the identical models somehow paid a little lip service to The Jets.”
The falsetto vocal is Elton trying to sound like Frankie Valli. He was a fan of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons growing up, and went to at least one of their concerts when he was young.
Elton tried to record the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in Jamaica, since The Rolling Stones had just recorded their Goats Head Soup album in a studio there and encouraged him to try it. Instead of the relaxing tropical paradise they expected, Elton and his crew encountered hostile locals and faulty equipment. They ended up recording the album at the studio in France (The Chateau) where they recorded their two previous albums.
Bernie Taupin says that when he saw the Robert Palmer video for “Addicted To Love,” it portrayed when he envisioned Bennie And The Jets looking like: a dapper frontman backed by robotic models.
Elton performed this on Soul Train, becoming the first white superstar to appear on the show (he was the third white performer overall, following Dennis Coffey and Gino Vannelli). His episode aired May 17, 1975, beating David Bowie by six months. Elton asked to appear on the show, as he was a big fan. He explained on the program that he and his band would often watch it while they were on tour.
Miguel covered this as part of the 40th edition expanded reissue of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in 2014, with Wale contributing vocals. Elton John had Peter Asher produce the nine cover versions, which also included Ed Sheeran’s take on “Candle In The Wind” and Fall Out Boy’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” Asher, who produced the most successful albums by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, put the track together based on the sound of Miguel’s album Kaleidoscope Dream. Getting Miguel in the studio to record it proved challenging though.
In a Songfacts interview with Asher, he explained: “There was a period when I was hardly in touch with Miguel. I ended up meeting with him backstage at an Alicia Keys concert he was opening, and I said, ‘Did you ever get a chance to listen to the demo I sent you?’ He said, ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to it.’
So, we sat backstage and listened to it for the first time. He plugged in his in-ear monitors into my laptop and I played it to him and he said, ‘I love it. That’s great. Go ahead.’ And he just arranged time to come into the studio and sing it.
And then, he made some suggestions and changed some stuff and added some brilliant background parts and so on. So, it ended up being a combination of the ideas I’d started with, with some ideas he had on top.”
Benny and the Jets
She’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine, oh B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, shake it loose together The spotlight’s hitting something that’s been known to change the weather We’ll kill the fatted calf tonight So stick around You’re gonna hear electric music solid walls of sound
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet Uh but they’re so spaced out, B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Oh but they’re weird and they’re wonderful Oh Bennie she’s really keen She’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine oh B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, plug into the faithless Maybe they’re blinded But Bennie makes them ageless We shall survive, let us take ourselves along Where we fight our parents out in the streets To find who’s right and who’s wrong
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? Oh, but they’re so spaced out B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Oh but they’re weird and they’re wonderful Oh Bennie, she’s really keen
She’s got electric boots A mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine oh yeah B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, and the Jets, yeah, oh
Tiny Dancer is a nice way to start your Sunday morning. Cameron Crowe did a great job of using this song in the movie Almost Famous…which I recommend highly.
The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton’s writing partner, and were inspired by Taupin’s first trip to America. John and Taupin are from England, and Madman Across The Water was the first album they wrote after spending time in the US. Taupin and John spent a lot of time together in the ’70s; Bernie traveled with the band and would usually stand by the soundboard during shows.
The “blue jean baby, LA Lady, seamstress for the band” could have been Maxine Feibelmann, who was Bernie Taupin’s girlfriend when he wrote the song and who became his first wife in 1971. She traveled with the band on their early tours, often sewing together the costumes and fixing their clothes. Plus, on the Madman Across The Water album, it says, “With love to Maxine” under the credits for this song. Elton John even said at one point that Bernie wrote it about his girlfriend.
The song peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100, #19 in Canada, and #70 in the UK in 1972. I’m surprised it didn’t reach higher in the charts.
From Songfact
This song ripened into one of Elton John’s classics, but it didn’t even crack the Top 40 when it was released, peaking at #41 in America in 1972. In the UK and most other territories, it wasn’t released as a single.
Its chart failure has a lot to do with its 6:12 running time, making it too long for many radio stations. Also, Elton was only on the precipice of stardom at the time, his biggest hit being “Your Song” at #8. Part of the song’s enduring popularity owes to how it was never overplayed – when it comes on the radio, it seems special.
The Madman Across The Water album was much more heavily produced than Elton’s first three. It was one of his first songs with a lush string section arranged by Paul Buckmaster, who arranged the stings on many of Elton’s albums as well as songs by The Rolling Stones, Train, and Leonard Cohen. Ron Cornelius, who played guitar on Cohen’s album Songs Of Love And Hate, told us: “Buckmaster is a wonderful string arranger, he’s just one of these guys who can make an orchestra talk. In other words, if the strings aren’t saying something, it ain’t on the record.”
This is featured in the 2000 movie Almost Famous in a scene where a rock band is on tour, at each other’s throats. When “Tiny Dancer” come on in the tour bus, they all start singing along and remember how they’re connected through their love of music.
In 2011, Budweiser used the same “Tiny Dancer changes the mood” theme in a commercial that debuted on the Super Bowl. In the spot, a gruff cowboy starts a sing-a-long to the song when he gets his beer. Peter Stormare, whose film credits include Fargo and The Big Lebowski, played the cowboy.
Elton was pleasantly surprised to learn about this song’s use in Almost Famous, as it didn’t always get a great reaction when he performed it live. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2011, Elton recalled: “Jeffrey Katzenberg called me and said, ‘There’s a scene in this film which is going to make ‘Tiny Dancer’ a hit all over again.’ When I saw it, I said, ‘Oh my God!’ I used to play ‘Tiny Dancer’ in England and it would go down like a lead zeppelin. Cameron resurrected that song.”
After it was used in Almost Famous in 2000, Elton made this a regular part of his setlists. Over the next few years, digital downloading became possible and “Tiny Dancer” was a top seller. In 2005, it earned its first Gold certification for selling 500,000 copies; in 2018, it was certified at 3 million.
Ten different backup vocalists are credited on this track, including bass player Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson, both of whom became played on many of Elton’s later recordings, but not on this one: session man David Glover played bass and Roger Pope was on drums. Other backup vocalists include songwriter Roger Cook (“Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” by The Hollies) and the duo Sue & Sunny (Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie).
Additional personnel are:
Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar Caleb Quaye – electric guitar B. J. Cole – steel guitar
Madman Across The Water contains another late bloomer in Elton’s catalog: “Levon,” which with a 5:08 running time, didn’t get much airplay when it was first released, but went on to become one of his standards. Released as a US single ahead of “Tiny Dancer,” it stalled at #24.
Elton performed this as a duet with Tim McGraw to open the 2002 American Music Awards. McGraw was named Favorite Male Country Artist, but left before he could accept the award.
In 2008, DJ Ironik interpolated this for his album No Point In Wasting Tears, in a version featuring the rapper Chipmunk. This reworking, which was titled “Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer),” hit #3 in the UK. Elton John is featured in the video. >>
On October 28, 2010, Elton played the BBC Radio show Electric Proms, where during his performance of “Tiny Dancer,” a guy in the audience asked his girlfriend to marry him. The following evening, Elton appeared on the BBC magazine program The One Show, and the now-engaged couple were in the audience. When Elton learned of this, he insisted on them coming up to meet him. >>
When Tony Danza hosted the ESPY Awards on ESPN, Chris Berman gave him the nickname Tony “Tiny” Danza. He hated it. On the show, he claimed he wanted the nickname Tony “Extrava” Danza.
Elton John performed this with Miley Cyrus at the Grammy Awards in 2018. Four days earlier, Elton announced his farewell tour.
In February 2019, this featured in a trailer for the movie Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as Elton John. Egerton did his own singing in the film, and the trailer proved that he could pull it off. A few days after the trailer was released, Egerton sang it with the real Elton John at Elton’s annual Oscars party. The film was released on May 31, 2019.
Tiny Dancer
Blue jean baby, L.A. Lady, seamstress for the band Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand And now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
Jesus freaks out in the street Handing tickets out for God Turning back she just laughs The boulevard is not that bad Piano man he makes his stand In the auditorium Looking on she sings the songs The words she knows, the tune she hums
But oh how it feels so real Lying here with no one near Only you and you can hear me When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today
Blue jean baby, L.A. Lady, seamstress for the band Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand And now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
Oh how it feels so real Lying here with no one near Only you and you can hear me When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today Hold me closer, tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today
I was riding with my uncle in the summer of 1975 going to Florida to see relatives. I remember this song was big that summer and I heard it quite a few times all the way down there.
Elton owned the early to mid-seventies. this song peaked at # in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, #12 in the UK in 1975.
Elton had an interesting B-side on this single. The B-side was a live duet of The Beatles hit “I Saw Her Standing There” that Elton recorded with his friend John Lennon. Elton had previously sung on Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Through The Night” and also released a version of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” which was written by Lennon.
Elton John: “In America, I’ve got ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ going up the charts again. I wish the bloody thing would piss off. I can see why people get sick and tired of me. In America, I get sick and tired of hearing myself on AM radio. It’s embarrassing.”
From Songfacts
Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to most of Elton John’s songs, but Elton would occasionally suggest titles. Elton requested a song with the title “Philadelphia Freedom” in honor of his friend, the tennis player Billie Jean King. At the time, there was a professional tennis league in America called World Team Tennis, and in 1974 King coached a team called the Philadelphia Freedoms, becoming one of the first women ever to coach men. Taupin had no obligation to write lyrics about King, and he didn’t – the song was inspired by the Philadelphia Soul sound of groups like The O’Jays and Melvin & The Blue Notes, and also the American bicentennial; in 1976 the US celebrated 200 years of independence.
Elton John and Billie Jean King became good friends after meeting at a party. Elton tried to attend as many of her matches as he could, and he promised King a song after she gave him a customized track suit. Elton and Billie Jean King would become icons of the gay and lesbian community, but at the time, they were both still in the closet, since athletes and entertainers faced a backlash if they revealed their homosexuality. Elton was often answering questions about why he hadn’t settled down with a girl, and King avoided the subject as best she could, but was forced to come out in 1981 when a former lover sued her for palimony. King was married to a man up until her outing, and Elton was married to a woman from 1984-1988.
On the single, it said this song was dedicated to “B.J.K.” (Billie Jean King) and “The Soulful Sounds Of Philadelphia.”
This song was a huge hit in America, following up another #1 single from Elton John, his cover of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Elton dominated the charts at this time, but it didn’t always make him happy, as he felt he was being overexposed.
Running 5:21, this was one of the longest dance hits of the ’70s. A few months earlier, a national radio programer declared that he would no longer play any Elton John song over 4 minutes long because they were screwing up his playlists (Program directors liked short songs because they could play more of them. Elton’s opuses like “Daniel” and “Funeral For A Friend” had a way of screwing up the “14 Hits In A Row” format). Elton knew this would be a hit, and was happy to screw the programmer by making it long, knowing he would have to play it anyway.
Elton said this was “one of the only times I tried to deliberately write a hit single.”
On May 17, 1975, Elton become one of the first white performers to appear on the TV show Soul Train, which was an honor for him. He performed this song and “Bennie And The Jets.”
Depending on where he was performing, Elton would sometimes alter the lyrics of the song, swapping “Philadelphia” for his present location. He would only do it if he could make it fit, so “Cincinnati Freedom” was a go, but Cleveland didn’t get customized.
Philadelphia Freedom
I used to be a rolling stone you know If a cause was right I’d leave to find the answer on the road I used to be a heart beating for someone But the times have changed The less I say the more my work gets done
‘Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom From the day that I was born I’ve waved the flag Philadelphia freedom took me knee high to a man, yeah Gave me a piece of mama, daddy never had
Oh Philadelphia freedom, shine on me, I love you Shine the light, through the eyes of the ones left behind Shine the light, shine the light Shine the light, won’t you shine the light Philadelphia freedom, I love-ve-ve you, yes I do
If you choose to you can live your life alone Some people choose the city (some people the city) Some others choose the good old family home (some others choose a good old) I like living easy without family ties (living easy) Till the whippoorwill of freedom zapped me Right between the eyes
‘Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom From the day that I was born I’ve waved the flag Philadelphia freedom took me knee high to a man Mm mm, gave me a piece of mama, daddy never had
Oh Philadelphia freedom, shine on me, I love you Shine the light, through the eyes of the ones left behind Shine the light, shine the light Shine the light, won’t you shine the light Philadelphia freedom, I love-ve-ve you, yes I do
Oh, Philadelphia freedom, shine on me, I love you Shine the light, through the eyes of the ones left behind Shine the light, shine the light Shine the light, won’t you shine the light Philadelphia freedom, I love-ve-ve, You know I love-ve-ve , you know I love-ve-ve you Yes I do, Philadelphia freedom I love-ve-ve you Yes I do, Philadelphia freedom You know that I love-ve-ve you Yes I do, Philadelphia freedom Don’t you know that I love-ve-ve you Yes I do, Philadelphia freedom Don’t you know that I love-ve-ve you Yes I do, Philadelphia freedom
This is one of the first Elton John songs I remember hearing. It’s a great song that I wore out when I got his first greatest hits. The song was written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John.
The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1973. The song was off of the album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player which peaked at #1.
When Elton wrote the music for this song, he chopped off the last verse because he thought the song was already too long. The deleted verse explained that “Daniel” was a Vietnam vet who returned home to the farm after the war, couldn’t find peace, and decided to leave America and go to Spain. With the last verse chopped off, it became a fairly vague story of two brothers who part ways, although Bernie Taupin says that losing the verse wasn’t a big deal.
Bernie Taupin: “We had that whole thing about the missing verse that everybody seems to believe explained the true meaning of the song. I think that’s just an urban legend. It didn’t really explain anything. Sure, it was cut out. But that used to happen all the time with our songs. I would often overwrite, and Elton felt it necessary to edit somewhat. But believe me, it didn’t say anything that the rest of the song didn’t say.”
From Songfacts
The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton’s writing partner. He explained the inspiration on his web site: “I’d seen this article in Time magazine on the Tet Offensive. And there was a sidebar next to it with a story about how many of the soldiers that were coming back from ‘Nam were these simple sort of down home country guys who were generally embarrassed by both the adulation and, depending on what part of the country you came from, the animosity that they were greeted by. For the most part, they just wanted to get back to a normal life, but found it hard, what with all the looky loos and the monkeys of war that they carried on their backs.
I just took it from there and wrote it from a younger brother’s perspective; made him disabled and wanting to get away. I made it Spain, basically, because it rhymes with plane.”
This was written and recorded the same day at the the Chateau d’Herouville in France (the “Honky Chateau”), where Elton and his team retreated to make the album. Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics one morning at the recording studio and brought them downstairs to Elton, who put music to it and recorded it with the band that day, doing just three takes.
Stowing away to France was Elton’s way of entering a creative environment free from distractions – there was no entourage and no phones. The Chateau could even keep the Black Knight at bay, as it was surrounded by a moat.
The result was part a very productive songwriting period for Taupin and John, who composed 12 songs over a four-day period, including “Daniel.”
Elton called this song “a calypso-type number with Everley Brothers-type harmonies.”
The record company didn’t want to release this as a single because they thought it was too long and somber to be a hit. Elton had other ideas, and insisted they release it as a single before the album came out. The record company did, but with very little promotion. It became a hit anyway.
According to Elton John: The Definitive Biography, here’s how the album got its title: While in Los Angeles, Elton was introduced to the legendary comedian Groucho Marx. They hit it off, but Groucho was always giving Elton a hard time about his name, insisting that he must have it backwards and really be John Elton. After Groucho refused to lay off the name thing at a party, Elton threw up his hands and said jokingly: “Don’t shoot me, I’m just the piano player.”
Bernie Taupin has told a different story, claiming that he found the phrase on a plaque at an American junk shop.
The engineer on the album, Ken Scott, played an ARP synthesizer on this track.
Bernie Taupin called this “the most misinterpreted song we’ve ever written,” saying he’s heard it called a gay anthem and a song about a family dispute.
Daniel
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
They say Spain is pretty, though I’ve never been Well Daniel says it’s the best place that he’s ever seen Oh and he should know, he’s been there enough Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much
Oh oh, Daniel my brother you are older than me Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won’t heal? Your eyes have died, but you see more than I Daniel you’re a star in the face of the sky
Oh oh, Daniel my brother you are older than me Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won’t heal? Your eyes have died, but you see more than I Daniel you’re a star in the face of the sky
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes Oh God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
I always liked this song as it was in the second phase of the Hollies recording career. A young Elton John – who was still called Reg – played piano on it and got paid 12 pounds. The song peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100 in 1970… #3 in the UK in 1969…also #1 in the UK in 1988 after it was in a beer commercial.
The song was written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, their only collaboration as songwriters. Russell was dying of cancer at the time and his lyrics for this song would be the last he ever wrote. The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it did appear as the title of an article in Kiwanismagazine in 1924 and then later became the motto for Father Flanagan’s Boy’s Town in the 1940s.
In 1941, Father Flanagan was looking at a magazine called The Messenger when he came across a drawing of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, with the caption, “He ain’t heavy Mr., he’s my brother.” Father Flanagan thought the image and phrase captured the spirit of Boys Town, so he got permission and commissioned a statue of the drawing with the inscription, “He ain’t heavy Father, he’s my brother.” The statue and phrase became the logo for Boys Town. In 1979, girls were allowed and the name was eventually changed to Girls And Boys Town. The logo was updated with a drawing of a girl carrying a younger girl added.
Tony Hicks (The Hollies Guitarist): “In the 1960s when we were short of songs I used to root around publishers in Denmark Street. One afternoon, I’d been there ages and wanted to get going but this bloke said: ‘Well there’s one more song. It’s probably not for you.’ He played me the demo by the writers [Bobby Scott and Bob Russell]. It sounded like a 45rpm record played at 33rpm, the singer was slurring, like he was drunk. But it had something about it. There were frowns when I took it to the band but we speeded it up and added an orchestra. The only things left recognizable were the lyrics. There’d been this old film called Boys Town about a children’s home in America, and the statue outside showed a child being carried aloft and the motto He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother. Bob Russell had been dying of cancer while writing. We never got, or asked for, royalties.
From Songfacts
The Two Brothers concept precedes the magazine illustration that Father Flanagan saw. In 1921, there was a resident at Boys Town who had difficulty walking. He wore leg braces and the other boys would often take turns giving him a ride on their backs. There is a famous photograph of this boy and one of the other youth giving him a ride. Now there are several statues of the Two Brothers on the Home Campus in Omaha; one is the sandstone of the two brothers from the illustration, another is a bronze version by an Italian artist that was commissioned in 1977. There is also a version done directly from the 1921 photograph in the Hall of History.
In 1938, Spencer Tracey portrayed Father Flanagan in the movie Boys Town, which also starred Mickey Rooney. In 1941, they made a sequel called Men Of Boys Town, where they used the phrase “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother” for the first time in a movie.
This was originally released by Kelly Gordon, a producer who has worked with Glen Campbell, Aretha Franklin, and David Lee Roth.
This was the only songwriting collaboration between veteran songwriters Bobby Scott (“A Taste of Honey”) and Bob Russell (“Ballerina”). Russell, who wrote the lyrics, made his mark writing for films and contributing words to songs by Duke Ellington and Carl Sigman. Scott was a piano player, singer, and producer. He did a lot of work with Mercury Records on sessions for artists like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Bobby Darin. In 1990, he died of cancer.
Joe Cocker was offered this song before The Hollies after it had been played first to his producer Denny Cordell. The General Professional Manager for Cyril Shane Music Ltd & Pedro Music Ltd in England at the time explains: “Tony Hicks was in our office looking for songs for the Hollies (our office was not on Denmark Street, it was in Baker Street). Denny called from New York to say ‘Joe didn’t see the song.’ As Tony said in The Guardian, he liked the song and asked for an exclusive the following day. The version he heard was Kelly Gordon, who apart from being a successful producer, also wrote a little song entitled ‘That’s Life.’ His version was slow and soulful which is why I had thought of Joe Cocker to record it. Bobby Russell wrote this song while dying of cancer in Los Angeles.
We picked up the British rights to ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ from an American publisher Larry Shayne. The song was on a Kelly Gordon album called Defunked. The version was slow and soulful and had Joe Cocker written all over it. Joe turned it down, to his producer’s surprise. We had a hit with The Hollies previously called ‘I’m Alive,’ so we had a relationship with them. Also, we had a great working relationship with the Air London production team, of which their producer Ron Richards was a partner. We never considered playing the song for The Hollies when Tony Hicks was in the office. We were playing songs like ‘Sorry Suzanne.’ It was only at the end of the meeting I suggested playing Tony this wonderful song, not because it was for them, but just to share the song. We were surprised when he said ‘That’s the one.'”
This was the second single The Hollies released after Graham Nash left the group to form Crosby, Stills, and Nash; the first was “Sorry Suzanne.” Nash was replaced by Terry Sylvester. >>
In 1988, this was re-released in the UK after it was used in a Miller Beer commercial. This time, it hit #1.
This has been covered by many artists. It was a hit for Neil Diamond later in 1970, and also for Olivia Newton-John in 1976. Newton-John’s version was the B-side to the Linda Hargrove cover “Let It Shine” and went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
A version by Bill Medley (one of The Righteous Brothers) was used in the 1988 Sylvester Stallone movie Rambo 3.
The Osmonds recorded this and used it as the B-side of their first hit, “One Bad Apple.”
This was used in an anti-drug commercial in Canada during ’90s. The basis was two old friends meeting again in the hospital. There are some old home movie type flash backs, then they hug and the one in hospital garb cries. >>
A various artists charity version recorded under the name of The Justice Collective topped the UK singles charts during Christmas 2012.
Casey Affleck made reference to this song when he accepted the Oscar for Best Actor in 2017 for his role in “Manchester by the Sea.” Thanking his brother, Ben Affleck, he said, “you ain’t heavy.”
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
The road is long With many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where Who knows where But I’m strong Strong enough to carry him He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
So on we go His welfare is of my concern No burden is he to bear We’ll get there
For I know He would not encumber me He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
If I’m laden at all I’m laden with sadness That everyone’s heart Isn’t filled with a gladness Of love for one another
It’s a long, long road From which there is no return While we’re on the way to there Why not share
And the load Doesn’t weigh me down at all He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
Some songs make you think about social issues, some make you feel good, some make you sad, some make you think of certain people…and some take you back to a place in time when you first remember it. This one does the later for me. It’s not Elton’s best single whatsoever but I heard it a lot later on when I was 13 and I’m 13 again when I hear it and it’s 1980. I must have heard it before many times but it took hold for some reason then.
This came along in the fifties revival that happened in the 1970s. This is not a type of song I would normally like but it transports me back and I like it.
Crocodile Rock was a fifties sounding single that was a massive hit. It peaked in 1972 at #1 in the Billboard 100, #5 in the UK, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand.
Elton and Bernie Taupin wrote the song.
Bernie Taupin “a strange dichotomy because I don’t mind having created it, but it’s not something I would listen to.”
From Songfacts
This tells the story of a guy in the ’50s and ’60s who frequented a restaurant where the patrons loved an obscure dance called the Crocodile Rock. Because of all the events that happened in the ’60s, however, this unknown little dance forever vanished into history and no one cared anymore. Even his girlfriend, who also enjoyed “burning up to the Crocodile Rock,” left him. It’s a catchy little song with really sad lyrics.
There is a distinct ’50s musical theme in this song. Elton said that it contains flavors of a lot of his favorite early rock songs, including “Little Darlin’,” “At The Hop” and “Oh Carol,” as well as songs by The Beach Boys and Eddie Cochran. The title is a play on the Bill Haley song “See You Later Alligator” – Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” even gets a mention, as that’s what the other kids were listening to while our hero was doing the Crocodile Rock.
This was the first of many #1 singles by Elton John in the US. His first in the UK came in 1976 with Kiki Dee (“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”). His first solo #1 in the UK was “Sacrifice” in 1990.
The falsetto hook from Pat Boone’s 1962 hit, “Speedy Gonzales” has some similar “La La”s, and that song’s writers spoke out, accusing Elton of plagiarism. There was no legal action taken, and Elton has copped to the influence, saying “Crocodile Rock” was “a really blatant homage to ‘Speedy Gonzales’ and all the great ’50s and ’60s records that we used to love.”
A precursor to this song is Elton’s 1970 single “Rock And Roll Madonna,” which pays tribute to the musical form. “This time I wanted to do something that was a send-up of the early ’60s rather than an out-and-out rocker,” he told Beat Instrumental. I wanted it to be a tribute to all those people I used to go and see as a kid. That’s why I used the Del Shannon-type vocals and that bit from Pat Boone’s ‘Speedy Gonzales.'”
Elton added: “We also tried to get the worst organ sound possible… something like Johnny and The Hurricanes used to manage to produce. This type of song is actually a very hard thing to write because the temptation is to try too hard and go berserk.”
Don McLean has mentioned that this is similar to his hit “American Pie,” which came out the previous year. Both songs are about young people in the ’50s obsessed with rock n’ roll, but disappointed when the music “dies.” Both songs also feature a Chevy. Elton admits the song is highly derivative because it’s about the things he grew up with. In Elton John: The Definitive Biography, Elton is quoted as saying: “I wanted it to be a record about all the things I grew up with. Of course, it’s a rip-off.”
Elton performed this on The Muppet Show when he appeared on a Season Two episode in 1977. A very popular song with kids, it made for a great opening number, with Elton performing in a swamp with a crocodile chorus.
This song helped send the Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player album to #1 on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Elton’s first #1 in the UK, but Honky Chateau went to #1 in the US earlier that year.
A few “firsts” are attributed to both the song and album. It was the first song released as a single on the MCA label (catalog #40000) after MCA dissolved its Uni (Elton John’s previous label), Decca, Kapp and Coral labels. It was also MCA’s first #1 song as well as Elton John’s first #1. >>
There is a Crocodile Rock in The Philippines, which from the right angle, looks like an enormous croc.
Partial inspiration for this song is the Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single “Eagle Rock,” which Elton discovered on his 1972 tour to Australia. In the artwork for the Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player packaging, there is a shot of Bernie Taupin wearing a badge that says “Daddy Who?”
The sheer popularity of this song caused a backlash against it in some circles – notably disc jockeys who had to play it over and over. Stations used to determine what songs they would play by using “auditorium testing,” where listeners were gathered into a big room and played hooks from different songs, which they would then rate. This song always got very high marks, which embedded it onto playlists and drove some DJs to hate it.
The odd thing is that Elton has a very deep catalog filled not just with meaningful hits, but with more obscure songs that many listeners enjoy. “It was just a one-off thing,” Elton said of “Crocodile Rock,” adding, “It became a huge hit record, and in the long run, it became a negative for me.”
Elton has described this song as “disposable pop.” Bernie Taupin gave his thoughts in a 1989 interview with Music Connection. Said Taupin: “I don’t want people to remember me for ‘Crocodile Rock.’ I’d much rather they remember me for songs like ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘Empty Garden,’ songs that convey a message. Well, they don’t really need to convey a message, as long as they can convey a feeling. But there are things like ‘Crocodile Rock,’ which was fun at the time, but it was pop fluff. It was like, ‘Okay, that was fun for now, throw it away, and here’s the next one. So there’s a certain element of our music that is disposable, but I think you’ll find that in anybody’s catalog.”
One of Elton’s more memorable performances of this song took place on September 7, 1973 at the Hollywood Bowl. As Elton played from his piano, a few feet behind him, sound engineer Clive Franks played the electric piano while wearing an enormous crocodile head.
The Baha Men recorded a new version of this for the film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course with new lyrics that described the life of Steve Irwin. Ironically, “Suzie” (the girl described in this song) is the name of Steve Irwin’s dog, who appears frequently on the series.
Elton John – Crocodile Rock
I remember when rock was young Me and Suzie had so much fun Holding hands and skimming stones Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own But the biggest kick I ever got Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock While the other kids were Rocking Round the Clock We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking When your feet just can’t keep still I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will Oh Lawdy mama those Friday nights When Suzie wore her dresses tight And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
But the years went by and the rock just died Suzie went and left us for some foreign guy Long nights crying by the record machine Dreaming of my Chevy and my old blue jeans But they’ll never kill the thrills we’ve got Burning up to the Crocodile Rock Learning fast as the weeks went past We really thought the Crocodile Rock would last
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking When your feet just can’t keep still I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will Oh Lawdy mama those Friday nights When Suzie wore her dresses tight And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
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