September 16, 2022     —–     Chart #161

Hello Music Friends,

Happy Friday! Today we have a great old song from Sir Elton John, vintage 1972. “Crocodile Rock” is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d’Hérouville studio in France (it was listed as “Strawberry Studios” in the album’s credits), where John and his team had previously recorded the Honky Château album. It was released on October 1972 in the UK and  November 1972 in the U.S., as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot in February 1973, and staying there for three weeks. In the U.S., it was certified Gold in February 1973 and Platinum in September 1995 by the RIAA.        

Crocodile Rock is dominated by a Farfisa organ, played by John. The lyrics take a nostalgic look at early rock ‘n’ roll, pop culture, dating and youthful independence of that era. John’s band members, including Davey Johnstone on guitars, Dee Murray on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, were also performers on the song. John, however, did all the vocals, including the falsetto backing vocals.

Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; March 25, 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the Rocket Man after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 31 albums since 1969. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967, John is acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s, and his lasting impact on the music industry. John’s music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with Taupin is one of the most successful in history.

Raised in Pinner, John learned to play piano at an early age, and by 1962 had formed Bluesology, a blues band he was a member of until 1967. He met his longtime musical partner Taupin in 1967, after they both answered an advertisement for songwriters. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked as a session musician for artists. In 1969, John released his debut album Empty Sky. In 1970, he formed the Elton John Band and released his first hit single, “Your Song”, which became his first top ten in both the UK and the US. John’s critical success was at its peak in the 1970s, when he released a streak of chart-topping albums in the US and UK, which began with Honky Château (1972) and culminated with Rock of the Westies (1975). John continued his success in the 1980s and 1990s, having several hit singles and albums in both decades, and has continued to record new music since then. He has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King and its stage adaptation, Aida and Billy Elliot the Musical. In 2017, John released the greatest hits album Diamonds, spanning his hits from 1970 to 2016. In 2018, John began his ongoing farewell tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which will conclude in 2023. John’s autobiography, Me, was published in 2019. That same year, his life and music career was dramatized in the biopic Rocketman. While he did not appear in his own biopic, John has made cameos in other films and television shows.

Live performance in 1972:  https://youtu.be/KY_AqsdLMJc

Live performance in 2018, 46 years later: https://youtu.be/JrpI7WbJcO8

Keep rockin my friends,

Stan Bradshaw