The opening “Medley (Yell Help – Wednesday Night – Ugly)” finds him harmonizing with himself over James Newton Howard’s funky clavinet (part of Elton’s new band strategy being that he’d stick to piano). The funk continues on “Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)”, which namechecks a sci-fi hero of British comic books amid other garbled lyrics; amazingly, the closing vocal chorale sounds just like Queen. “Island Girl” is the latest attempt to immortalize a woman from an exotic place, musically very interesting given the unconventional bass line. It was the album’s only hit single, unlike “Grow Some Funk Of Your Own”, something of a take on “Gimme Three Steps” and not entirely convincing, or “I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)”, which takes Bernie Taupin’s cowboy fixation to the extreme, in an arrangement already perfected in the arrangements on the last album.
The howling guitar and riff at the top of “Street Kids” recalls Bad Company until the congas kick in, and the tricky meter manages to keep it interesting. However, “Hard Luck Story” is fairly pedestrian, with a chorus that sounds flown in from a completely different song than the verses. “Feed Me” is all yacht-rock swagger; these days we want to add “Seymour” to every time he croons the title. But nothing prepares the listener for the bombastic arrangement of “Billy Bones And The White Bird”, which in no way suggests the “ancient mariner” tale hidden in the lyrics. “Check it out,” indeed.
Rock Of The Westies isn’t bad, and not strange enough to be a failed departure. It came out a mere five months after its predecessor, and as a whole suggests that maybe a little more time than that was needed. (The eventual expanded CD included two extras from the album sessions: a low-key take of “Planes”, later covered by the lead singer of the Zombies, and the lovely B-side “Sugar On The Floor”, written by new protégée Kiki Dee, of whom more would be heard and soon.)
Elton John Rock Of The Westies (1975)—3
1996 CD reissue: same as 1975, plus 2 extra tracks
Despite the presence of a number one single, this album has pretty much disappeared into obscurity. Part of the reason is that its three main creators – Elton, Bernie and Gus – didn’t think much of it. However, people who discovered it in the 21st century think it’s underrated. Of course, it’s no “Captain Fantastic..”, but it wasn’t meant to be. It does get compared to that album unfairly. One reason is the timing of release. It was recorded a year after “CF”, during which a lot had happened. However, MCA and DJM decided to cash in by releasing “Greatest Hits” and “Empty Sky” (in the USA) first. So, “…Westies” ended up coming out only 5 months after “CF”, making it seem more of a radical change than it was.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, now Elton had two talented lead guitarists. He certainly took advantage of that with several songs, starting with the opener. I would’ve hated the trashy lyrics of the “Medley” on “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”; here, they just seem goofy. I like the counterpoint of the three melodies and the way Newton-Howard’s almost proggy clavinet comes in before the big jam at the end. “Grow Some Funk of Your Own” seems to be a parody of the Rolling Stones. Nobody involved takes it the least bit seriously, but that’s what makes it fun. On the other hand, “Street Kids” rocks enough to be convincingly scary, and “Billy Bones..” comes close.
“Island Girl” has the smooth pop sound of EJ’s earlier work, so it’s no surprise that it was the first single. Again, despite getting to #1, it pretty much has vanished. (It did come back into live rotation, as in being the 2nd number on the 1989 tour). I used to really dislike “Feed Me” because it seemed overdone. Now, I like its jazzy feel, and the lyrics turned out to be prescient for our two main protagonists. “Hard Luck Story” is another strong pop-rocker. Bernie’s lyrics are unusually sympathetic (for him) to the female point of view. Since Kiki Dee recorded it first, that’s not a surprise. Her version is nice, too, but mellower.
Unfortunately, there are two big duds. “Dan Dare” has utterly stupid lyrics and an awful lead vocal. Then there’s “I Feel Like a Bullet”, which makes “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” look subtle and tasteful. The title is a bad simile, the lyrics are obnoxiously self-pitying and overwrought, matched by the terrible overproduction. In retrospect, it was the first of worse to come.
The bonus tracks are a lot better, but they don’t fit in with the album. “Planes” is a very pretty song, lyrically and musically, but very low key. Elton does his pal Kiki another favor by doing a touching, almost solo version of her “Sugar on the Floor”.
The album cover was probably the aspect of the album that was the most intended to be the polar opposite of “CF”. Very stark and unappealing – Elton looks like he was dragged out of bed after a bender for the photo shoot. Of course, that may have been the case. That is too bad, because the sleeve does enclose some decent music from the man.