Rock of the Westies
Studio album by
Elton John
Released4 October 1975[1]
RecordedJune–July 1975
StudioCaribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado; remixed at Trident, London
Genre
Length43:39
LabelMCA (US), DJM (UK)
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
(1975)		 Rock of the Westies
(1975)		 Here and There
(1976)
Singles from Rock of the Westies
  1. "Island Girl"
    Released: 29 September 1975
  2. "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" / "I Feel Like a Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford)"
    Released: 12 January 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[4]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[5]

Rock of the Westies is the tenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 20 October 1975 in the US and 24 October 1975 in the UK.[6] The title is a spoonerism on the phrase "West of the Rockies", the album having been recorded at Caribou Ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.[7]

Released less than five months after his previous album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Rock of the Westies repeated that album's then-unprecedented feat of entering the US Billboard 200 chart at number one, and was John's final chart-topping studio album in that country. It was also successful (albeit to a lesser extent) in the artist's home territory of the UK, where it reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. Robert Christgau ranked it as No. 7 on his list of the best albums of 1975.[8]

History

Rock of the Westies contained the US No. 1 (No. 14 UK) single, "Island Girl", which was released prior to the album. John noted at the time in a radio interview that he had wanted to release "Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)" as the album's first single instead of "Island Girl", because he thought it had more commercial appeal. He was over-ruled, and "Dan Dare" was never released as a single, whilst "Island Girl" became a hit.

The make-up of John's band was different on Rock of the Westies, being without his long-time drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray, both of whom John fired during April 1975. Added in their place were Hookfoot drummer Roger Pope, an old friend who had played on Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water, and American bassist Kenny Passarelli, who had previously played with Stephen Stills and was an original member in Joe Walsh's band Barnstorm. Pope had also played in Kiki Dee's touring band. Grammy-, Emmy-, and Academy Award-nominated James Newton Howard, at the time a virtual unknown, was also brought in as keyboardist, giving him his first major publicity. Also included was another Hookfoot member, Caleb Quaye on guitar and vocals, another old friend from his early DJM session days. Like Pope, Quaye had also played on Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection, and John's intervening eponymous release. Retained from the previous line-up were Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper.

A slower, less up-tempo version of "Hard Luck Story" had already been recorded by Kiki Dee (whom the song was originally written for), and released as a single one year prior to its recording for Rock of the Westies. Along with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", it is credited to Ann Orson/Carte Blanche (An 'orse an' cart / 'carte blanche') a punning moniker John devised when composing a song (music and lyrics) on his own. The name Ann Orson is also used as the name of a backing vocalist. Labelle performed backing vocals on the opening track, "Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly".

In the US, it was certified gold in October 1975 and platinum in March 1993[9] by the RIAA.

Outside the US and Canada, this was the last original studio release from John on DJM Records, before forming his own label, The Rocket Record Company.

The song "Street Kids" was featured in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted. "Ann Orson & Carte Blanche" is a pseudonym used by John and Taupin

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Medley (Yell Help – Wednesday Night – Ugly)" (John, Davey Johnstone, Taupin)6:15
2."Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)"3:29
3."Island Girl"3:42
4."Grow Some Funk of Your Own" (John, Johnstone, Taupin)4:47
5."I Feel Like a Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford)"5:27
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Street Kids"6:25
2."Hard Luck Story" (Ann Orson & Carte Blanche)5:16
3."Feed Me"4:00
4."Billy Bones and the White Bird"4:25
Total length:43:39
  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–9 on CD reissues.
Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury Records reissue)
No.TitleLength
10."Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (featuring Kiki Dee)4:30
Total length:49:00
Bonus tracks (1996 Rocket Records reissue)
No.TitleLength
10."Planes"4:31
11."Sugar on the Floor" (Kiki Dee)4:31
Total length:52:41

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

Production

  • Gus Dudgeon – producer
  • Jeff Guercio – engineer
  • Mark Guercio – assistant engineer
  • Arun Chakraverty – mastering
  • John Tobler – liner notes
  • Terry O'Neill – album cover photograph
  • David Larkham – art direction and design

Chart positions

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[26] Platinum 50,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ↑ "Rock of the Westies - Elton John | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Planer, Lindsay. "Rock of the Westies". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 27 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. ↑ Holden, Stephen (18 December 1975). "Rock of the Westies". Rolling Stone.
  6. ↑ "BPI".
  7. ↑ "10 Fun Facts About 'Rock Of The Westies' and 'The Big Picture'". Elton John.
  8. ↑ "Pazz & Jop 1975: Dean's List". Robert Christgau. 29 December 1975. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "GOLD AND PLATINUM ALBUMS". neosoul. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4050a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "danskehitlister.dk". Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  14. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Rock of the Westies" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 23 February 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Elton John".
  16. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  17. ↑ "Charts.nz – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  19. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  21. ↑ "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Elton John Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  23. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6489a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  24. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5175". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  25. ↑ "Top Pop Albums of 1976". Billboard. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  26. ↑ "Elton John Australian Award". 20 February 2023.
  27. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". Music Canada.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". British Phonographic Industry.
  29. ↑ "American album certifications – Elton John – Rock of the Westies". Recording Industry Association of America.

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