This Review and 299 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book
US AND THEM - 1973
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"...Keeping The Classroom Sane..."
I'll come clean here - I have a few genuine pet hates in music and the abomination that is "Crocodile Rock" is right up there with Eurovision drivel and tomcat poo.
But that single-song hiccup aside, re-listening to the songsmith class on show in the opening trio alone - "Daniel", "Teacher I Need You" (lyrics above) and "Elderberry Wine" - it doesn't surprise me in the least that Elton's eight studio album went to No. 1 on both sides of the pond in that huge year for him, Bernie Taupin and his band – 1973.
Plus, it had 'artwork' – those great days back in the Seventies when people took these things seriously and the makers of albums knew it. That 12-page booklet sleeve was a fab thing to behold and still is – full-colour plates, sepia tinted photos and all the lyrics in large type. It was lavish and gave the album a feeling of 'event'. The 20-page CD booklet does reasonably well repro-ing all of it – also throwing in new JOHN TOBLER liner notes that do a typically bang-up job of explaining the history and the heartache. To the music...
UK released May 1995 - "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" by ELTON JOHN on Mercury/The Record Co Ltd 528 154-2 (Barcode 731452815422) is an Expanded Edition in 'The Classic Years' CD Reissue and Remaster Series. It has Four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (56:25 minutes):
1. Daniel [Side 1]
2. Teacher I Need You
3. Elderberry Wine
4. Blues For My Baby And Me
5. Midnight Creeper
6. Have Mercy On The Criminal [Side 2]
7. I'm Going To Be A Teenage Idol
8. Texas Love Song
9. Crocodile Rock
10. High Flying Bird
Tracks 1 to 10 are his sixth studio album (eight overall) "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" – released 22 January 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJLPH 427 and 26 January 1973 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-2100. Produced by GUS DUDGEON – it peaked at No. 1 on the LP charts in both countries. It was also his second No. 1 in the USA after 1972's "Honky Chateau".
BONUS TRACKS:
11. Screw You (Young Man's Blues)
Track 11 is the Non-LP 45-single B-side of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" released September 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 285 - credited as "Screw You". The 45-single for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was issued in the USA in October 1973 on MCA Records MCA-40148 but with the B-side credited as "Young Man's Blues" – hence the two titles for the same song.
12. Jack Rabbit
13. Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)
Tracks 12 and 13 were the Non-LP B-sides of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" issued June 1973 as a 3-Track EP in the UK on DJM Records DJX 502.
14. Skyline Pigeon (Piano Version)
Track 14 is the Non-LP Version B-side of "Daniel" - a March 1973 US 45-single on MCA Records MCA-40046. The original version of "Skyline Pigeon" was one of the highlights on Elton’s 1969 debut album "Empty Sky" – this 1973 recorded version features EJ on Piano rather than Harpsichord. The UK 45 (released January 1973) on DJM Records DJS 275 has the same B-side.
Elton had met the legendary American comedian Grouch Marx in Hollywood where the sharpest tongue amongst the Marx Brothers jabbed at the wildly dressed Englishman that our Reg probably had his name round back-to-front. In an off-the-cuff reply, EJ spat out the album’s title and so it came to pass that "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" became the album title. It was all done in jest of course. In fact, if you look to the right of the box office booth on the front sleeve, you will see a small billboard advertising their 1940 Marx Brothers screwball masterpiece "Go West" as a tribute to that moment.
Original Producer GUS DUDGEON handled the Remaster and explains in the booklet that after some 20-plus years those master tapes needed some transfer love - and he has done them proud. There is amazing clarity in the piano and humming opening to deep dive tracks like "High Flying Bird" (raven in the night time) or the Davey Johnstone guitars and Paul Buckmaster Strings doing battle in "Have Mercy On The Criminal" before they fade into the back of the mix in that out-to-kill piano section. There is a warmth too when those acoustic guitars pop out of the left and right speakers in "Blues For My Baby And Me". The bonus tracks feature the buckshot mandolin hootenanny "Jack Rabbit" - but far better is "When You're Ready..." - left poor Elton on the weekend - a dirty and lowdown trick - a B-side hat could easily have been on the main album (Davey Johnstone putting in some fantastic slide guitar). And on it goes...Daniel leaving on a plane...
Although "Piano" is somehow forgotten now and in many ways overshadowed by the double-album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" that would annihilate all comers in October 1973 (another No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic) – real EJ fans hold a candle for the gems inside its elaborate booklet sleeve - and the evidence is here.
In fact, as a sort-of viable alternative, a fan might want to pop their wallets open a bit wider and go for the Japanese SHM-CD Reissue of August 2019 in all its Mini LP repro artwork glory. Mercury UICY-78960 (Barcode 4988031340677) uses a new Remaster made in 2018 based on UK original tapes - but it is sans those great four bonuses, which feels like a bit too much of a loss to me.
"How can I ever get it together...without a wife in line..." - our Reg sang on the brass-cool "Elderberry Wine" all those decades ago. Well he may have taken a few more decades to get it together, but man what a journey he had.
Whatever 'West' way you 'Go' – this is an Elton John album from a long distant past that still warrants a night out at the aural movies. And it's less than a fiver to Blighty types - brand new...
