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Brisbane's inner-city voice since 2014
Brisbane's inner-city voice since 2014
Fifty years on, Rock of the Westies returns on 20 November with nine unreleased piano-and-vocal versions, and the 'Street Kids' take is streaming now.
By October 1975, Elton John occupied a tier of commercial dominance rarely matched in modern pop history. Just five months after delivering the autobiographical, meticulously crafted Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, he released Rock of the Westies—his tenth studio album, recorded in the high altitude of Colorado’s Caribou Ranch alongside producer Gus Dudgeon.
The album famously entered the US Billboard 200 straight at Number One—a feat previously achieved only by Captain Fantastic—where it held the summit for three weeks while reaching the UK Top 5. Yet despite yielding the chart-topping lead single ‘Island Girl’, Rock of the Westies has historically occupied an ambiguous position in Elton’s mid-seventies catalogue: less revered than the cinematic grandeur of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but louder, funkier, and distinctly less polished.
Marking its half-century milestone, UMR will release a 50th Anniversary Edition on 20 November across 2LP, 2CD, 1LP, and digital formats.
What set Rock of the Westies apart from its immediate predecessors was a drastic overhaul of Elton’s core rhythm unit. Parting ways with long-time rhythm stalwarts Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson, Elton assembled a refreshed, rhythm-heavy lineup: bassist Kenny Passarelli, drummer Roger Pope, synthesiser and keyboard player James Newton Howard, and guitarist Caleb Quaye, who joined long-serving guitarist Davey Johnstone and percussionist Ray Cooper.
The new ensemble had barely consolidated when they entered the studio. Having rehearsed briefly in Amsterdam and played to 72,000 patrons at Wembley Stadium, the band had been operating together for a mere 33 days before tracking commenced at Caribou Ranch.
The resulting recordings reflected that condensed timeline. Rather than the lush orchestral arrangements that defined his early-decade balladry, Westies favoured twin-guitar counterpoints, syncopated basslines, and punchy, aggressive drum patterns. Percussionist Ray Cooper recalls the shift as "heavier, less of the balladeer, but much more of a funk rock"—a tonal transition evident across tracks like the sprawling opening medley ‘Yell Help / Wednesday Night / Ugly’ and the strut of ‘Grow Some Funk Of Your Own’.
The primary draw for collectors and musicologists in this 50th-anniversary reissue is a full companion disc of previously unreleased Piano & Vocal versions captured during the original sessions.
Stripping away Dudgeon’s multi-layered studio production reveals the foundational songwriting underneath. The newly previewed piano-and-vocal take of ‘Street Kids’ underscores Elton’s rhythmic discipline at the keyboard, driven by a single, unbroken riff.
"I listened to the whole album again this year, stripped back to just the piano and vocals. On ‘Street Kids’ there is a single, long piano riff throughout the whole song. And there’s absolutely not a single mistake on there. After all these years, I am still very proud of the quality of the musicianship on this record."
— Elton John
The cover of Elton John's Rock of the Westies, first released in October 1975. Image supplied.
The 2LP and 2CD editions pair the original album with the complete nine-song set of session alternates, and the 2017 remasters of the original album make their debut on CD and digital:
Original Album
Bonus Disc: Piano & Vocal Versions
Terry O'Neill / Iconic Images
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