A terrific review of Elton's 1975 album Rock of the Westies
I know this album isn't liked by many people here, but it remains a standout for me; being Elton's first and only real "rock & roll" album and remains his hardest rocking release to date. But it's not just about the "rock"....
As for Bernie's lyrics on this record, I don't get all the venom as the lyrics are clever, rhythmic and, in some cases, stunningly powerful.
Yet for all intents and purposes, the goal with "Rock Of The Westies" was to showcase Elton and Bernie's new band and to let loose with a rock & roll fervor that was evident on the stage during their debut performance on June 21, 1975 at Wembley (which can be heard on the Deluxe Edition of the "Captain Fantastic" album). The album was recorded in about a week's time following the Wembley show.
As Bernie told me in one of my interviews with him:
"Actually, 'Rock Of The Westies' is one of my favorite albums; I just love that record. I think we really achieved what we wanted to do at the time. We wanted to put a rock & roll band together, and that's what we did. We went to Caribou Studios in the Rockies (Colorado); it was a good place, it was a funky place, and it was basically a +$!%#%-up band [laughs].
"We were all at the high point there of abusing ourselves to the max. It was Jack Daniels and lines on the console, and somehow we got it done. I don't remember anything about the sessions, and I don't think anybody in that band will remember them either, but for some reason with that album, it paid off. Luckily, we're all still alive to tell the tale.
"What was happening at that time, and probably the reason we were flying so high, is that we had done everything. There was no mountain to scale or to conquer anymore. We had filled the biggest stadiums; there weren't any places that were bigger. We had seven consecutive Number One albums, and you can't go to anywhere else, except down. And at that time, Elton John farting would have sold, and that's intense pressure to be under because you suddenly realize that there's no other place to go but down.
"And that pressure and the slow long burnout of all the drink and drugs manifested itself in the next album, "Blue Moves," which was so introspective. But the 'Rock Of The Westies' period was a great time and, like I said, that's still one of my favorite albums."
There also seems to be people who just don't seem to get Bernie's lyrics on "Rock Of The Westies," that they're somehow not of any quality of all. I have to disagree as I think there's some very strong lyrical content; especially when realizing that they went into the album to write a rock & roll record.
Medley [Yell Help, Wednesday Night, Ugly]
Always hated the use of "Medley" in the title of the song, rather than the three separate lyrical concepts that Elton pulled together as an homage to his then-favorite band, Little Feat, who created a similar musical mosaic on "Tripe Face Boogie" from 1974's "Feats Don't Fail Me Now." Lyrically, it's also an interesting word-painting created by the bringing together of different songs; not unlike what the Beatles did with Lennon's medley on "Abbey Road" or what Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings did with the tying together of two separate songs on the Guess Who's major hit, "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" from 1970.
The lyrics effectively serve up a landscape of dispair and isolation--feelings that almost always lead to misguided acceptance of superstitions-and then the tying together of superstitious voodoo and New Orleans makes for an interesting travelogue of a fateful journey in search of the perfect ideal (in this case, the comfort of a mundane Wednesday Night).
Needless to say, the inventive music, band performance, and aggressive vocals from Elton makes for one of the most interesting (and definitely most original) songs in the entire Taupin/John catalog.
Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)
Bernie's tribute to Britain's famous 1950s comic book hero, Dan Dare. Pretty much unheard of in America-Dan Dare is the equivalent to America's Buck Rogers-there was a bit of confusion about this song at the time of its release in the States, but the stuttering bassline and another fine performance from the band (especially the excellent vocal interplay) has stood the test of time.
Lyrically, Bernie's words definitely appeal more to the English audience as he does an excellent job of painting a musical portrait of Dan Dare's cartoon universe. He also pulls a surprising climax by noting at the very end of the song that he in fact "liked The Mekon" (who is the equally famous alien creature who was Dan Dare's lifelong arch enemy). A nice Taupin-like twist.
Island Girl
A very clever lyric of a New York streetwalker from Jamaica wrapped around the poppiest melody Elton brought to the album. Some have mistakenly dubbed this lyric misogynistic or racist, when the lyrics only detail a black john who wants to save the "big girl, she's standing six foot three" from her white pimp ("the racket boss"), but ultimately the "cause is lost."
Bernie's touched on the ladies of the night before, such as with the classic and brilliant "Sweet Painted Lady" from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
Grow Some Funk Of Your Own
A witty rock & roll tale of a guy who gets into a scuffle over a girl in a border town. Elton's vocal is the perfect mix of humor ("oh, it hurt so much") and aggression that the lyrics call for; as the character finds himself alone in the battle as his friends leave him behind to deal with the situation on his own. Fortunately, for the protagonist, it was nothing more than dream.
I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)
Another one of Bernie's ode to America's Old West that he first did so well back on "Tumbleweed Connection." And while mapping the entire song to the little-known character of "Robert Ford" (the coward who shot his friend the outlaw Jesse James in the back) left some people a little mystified, those familiar with Ford's legacy could best feel the emotional impact that Taupin's lyrics bring to bare.
It's always difficult to put one's own shame and blame behind the destruction of a relationship into song, Bernie does it brilliantly on this album centerpiece.
Street Kids
Lyrically, Bernie talks of his teenage years, hanging out and seeing the juvenile delinquent gangs in those same "East End nights" he wrote about an album earlier in "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", and includes some outstanding cinematic lines-"I've been bottled and been brained" and "If you think you've seen gasoline burning in my eyes".
He also notes the insidious nature of street gang involvement, "I'd like to break away from the rut I'm in," only to fall back into the comfort of the only thing you know ("but beggars can't be choosers and I was born to sin").
The only real problem for me on this tank-blazing guitar rocker is that it just goes on too long. I've done a simple edit that brings it down to a much-more-compact four-and-a-half minutes, without losing any of Bernie's lyrics or Elton's muscular swagger.
Hard Luck Story
Written under Bernie and Elton's pseudonym Carte Blanche and Ann Orson (the same credit they used for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart")-and then recorded first by Kiki Dee as a single in 1974 (which Elton co-produced)-this tale of domestic turmoil in a blue-collar household is one of Taupin's most powerful lyrics about ups-and-downs of marriage. When temporary bitterness over one's lot in life comes screaming to the forefront of a troubled relationship. Bernie's lyrics really paint an amazing portrait of what goes on in those little houses down the street. Brilliant.
Feed Me
It's truly amazing that this incredibly powerful lyric was written a year before Bernie would climb out of the "Crazy Water" that was engulfing himself, Elton and the band at the end of the "Blue Moves" recording sessions. It was only then that Bernie split from Elton and took off to Mexico to "dry out, because I think we were all killing ourselves."
Interestingly enough, "Feed Me" gives some hints of where Bernie's head was a full year before. One of rock's most powerful lyrical examples of drug abuse written DURING that timeframe; not through hindsight, but when one finds himself in the midst of the insanity itself.
In the lyrics, Bernie feels the pull of addiction (needing to be fed), but was also well-aware of where their "life in the fast lane" was heading. Still, he wasn't ready or yet capable of walking away. Paranoia, sleeplessness, encroaching madness and hallucinations are all very much a part of a body and mind embroiled in a steady over-indulgence of drink and drugs, and no rock lyric has ever spelled out the pain, fear and isolation as well as Bernie does here.
Billy Bones & The White Bird
Bernie's love of characters comes through again with this song about Billy Bones, the fictional pirate in the literary classic, "Treasure Island." The mysterious seaman who happens upon a seaside village with a mysterious sea chest. While no one truly knows his real story, his drunken exploits and less-than-amicable antics actually turn him into a bit of a local legend. His equally mysterious death within a year only adds to his legend.
Bernie's lyrics push beyond the legend (in admittedly obscure fashion) and Billy Bones rides again on the "sea" (which Bernie beautifully describes as "the field these old jack tars have sown")….incidentally, for those without any knowledge of seamanship or ancient voyages, "jack tars" is an old british slang term for seaman or sailors.
While these are the most oblique lyrics on the album, they are engaging, fun wordplay that Bernie has always engaged in and Elton's melody is uplifted by the "kitchen sink" instrumentation and production. Hardly the album's highpoint, it's once again a thousand miles away from what went before.
Historical Overview
Overall, Bernie's use of literary, fictitious and historical characters throughout "Rock Of The Westies" is something that Bernie has done time and time again throughout his career. Whether through the characters in "Tumbleweed Connection" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," for some reason, it hasn't been recognized on this much under-valued and overlooked album.
If nothing else, "Rock Of The Westies" shows Elton and Bernie pulling out all the stops and not trying to copy any of their work that went before. It was a bold album then, and it remains within their illustrious catalog as their most adventureous and definitely their most straight-ahead rock & roll collection. It's almost their "White Album," where anything went and they followed their creative muse wherever it took them, relying on inspiration instead of stagnation and opening doors that most felt were closed to them. A marvelous mutt of an album that deserves far more praise than it gets around these parts.
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