Track Listing

1. Medley: Yell Help / Wednesday Night / Ugly
2. Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)
3. Island Girl
4. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own
5. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)
6. Street Kids
7. Hard Luck Story
8. Feed Me
9. Billy Bones And The White Bird
10. Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John, Kiki Dee

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16974 in Music
• Released on: 1995-07-31
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 48 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although it was viewed as one of Elton John's more lightweight efforts upon its 1975 release--possibly because it followed only half a year after the acclaimed Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (and partly because many thought the album was released to fulfil a contractual obligation)--Rock of the Westies appears in retrospect to be his last great rock album. It certainly does rock consistently harder than any other John album, with guitarist Davey Johnstone even getting cowriting credits (with John and Bernie Taupin) on the opening "Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday" and "Grow Some Funk of Your Own". Lyricist Taupin seems to be going off the deep end here at times with titles like "Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)" and "Billy Bone & the White Bird", but "Island Girl" was another huge hit for the pair. And the CD version adds the wonderful pop gem "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart", which turned KiKi Dee into an eternal Trivial Pursuit answer. --Bill Holdship

CD Description
When Elton John went into the studio to record ROCK OF THE WESTIES, he did it with a revamped line-up. Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper stayed on while Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson were replaced by Kenny Passarelli and Roger Pope respectively. Also added to the band were old mate Caleb Quaye and synthesizer player James Newton Howard, whose keyboard talents combined with John's and considerably broadened the unit's sound. WESTIES found EJ sounding revitalised after scoring seven consecutive top five hits in the preceding two years (The tropical-flavoured "Island Girl" kept the streak alive by ending up at number one).
With the Bernie Taupin/Elton Johnjuggernaut creating up-tempo numbers such as "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own" and "Street Kids", the new band played with such magical synergy that even oddly titled numbers "I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)" and "Billy Bones And The White Bird" had their own quirky appeal. Although most of this record is fairly obscure, ROCK OF THE WESTIES is asprightly collection often overshadowed amidst better-knownalbums like TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION and HONKY CHATEAU.

Customer Reviews

This album Rocks
Wow! If only Elton could make music like this today.
'Rock of the Westies' was the last in a string of No1 albums stretching back to 'Don't Shoot me..'.This has been overlooked for being too up-tempo and critics claim it was rushed to allow Elton to start work on his own Rocket label.
Anyone who is searching back catalouges for classic Elton John work needs to take a close look at this one. As hard rock as Elton ever became, this album contains only one true ballad, the excellent 'I feel like a bullet in the gun of Robert Ford'.The rest a raw mix of dirty guitar, piano and drum kicking off with a medly of unfinished products that became 'Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly'.'Island Girl' became a US No1, while 'Grow Some Funk of your own' is outrageous.
Elton fans like me will always be wishing for a return to the 70's. It's hard to imagine that this is the same artist that released such indifferent work in the 80's and 90's.
Turn up the volume, smile, and enjoy.

A brief flirtation with the hard rock aesthetic
The Rolling Stone record guide (1979 edition) described 'Rock of the Westies' as 'one of the great hard rock records of the seventies', and they weren't wrong. I had the good fortune to be alerted to the existence of this forgotten gem by a schoolfriend of mine who said it was a duffer, which is the exact opposite of the truth. For those used to Elton John as a purveyor of saccharine ballads with the odd blues inflection a la 'Tiny Dancer', I've got news for you - with the exception of 'I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)', every track on this album is at least a mid-tempo rocker, and sometimes much faster than that. The opening medly of 'Yell Help - Wednesday Night - Ugly' brings 3 unfinished songs together in a glorious club sandwich. James Newton Howard's ludicrous clavinet riffing after the false ending should have been enough to send Elton into permanent health farm residency. Instead he plunges on into 'Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)', where Davey Johnstone shows Peter Frampton how talkbox *should* be played. 'Island Girl' is up next, a lightweight hit single with some memorable lines and general pina colada feel. 'Grow Some Funk of Your Own' is the standard Taupin American continental tale of bar-room brawling crossed with the then current Spanish holiday horror story transplanted to Mexico. Percussionist Ray Cooper has a field day on the run-out. 'I Feel Like a Bullet' closes Side One, perhaps the best John ballad of all time, with great vocal range and the all time classic line 'I tried not to look as I walked to my wagon'. Then it's into the hard rock of 'Street Kids', where Taupin's been 'bottled and brained.... squealers can't be trusted'. 'Hard Luck Story' is another great blues-vocal performance, a cover of a song written by the curiously named Ann Orson and Carte Blanche (put the names together and you'll see what's going on...) 'Feed Me' is 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight' as it would have been written for Barry Manilow, whilst the spirit of Bo Diddley pops up for the closer 'Billy Bones and the White Bird', where we're instructed to 'check it out'. I did, and it wasn't found wanting. Why on earth Elton doesn't remake this album with the best modern musicians he could find rather than persevering with his present doggerel I have no idea.

I LOVE ELTON!!!!!!!
I bought this album in a bargain bucket part of a music shop. A great classic album lying underneath a pile of pop flops. I got this album for 30p! Sadly though its only on tape. I didn't expect it to be too good, because it was so cheap, but after 3 or 4 listens I have grown to love it. This album has more of a rocky side to elton(although you can tell that by the title). The first two songs soud quite funky. "Yell help" is fantastic, and I can't help turning it up really loud. The first few songs are so catchy, and I love them more and more each time I hear them. "Dan dare" might be my favourite one on it, I can't help shaking my head about to it. The first 3 or 4 songs are rocky and fast, but then "bullet in the gun" slows down the pace. This is one of Elton's beauitiful slow songs. I listened closely to the words of it too. He is such a great songwriter. I haven't got that many EJ albums, but even if I got another 10, i'm sure this one would stay one of my favourites. its brill.