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Elton John / Rock Of The Westies reissue

50th anniversary edition

By Jamie Atkins

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Elton John / Rock of the Westies 50th anniversary expanded reissue

Well-priced 2CD or 2LP expanded set includes piano and vocal versions

Elton John has announced an expanded 50th anniversary edition of his 10th studio album, Rock Of The Westies, out in November.

Rock of The Westies was released in October 1975 – incredibly, less than five months after Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy. It was recorded after John shook up his tried-and-tested band in search of a fuller sound. Davey Johnstone (guitar) and Ray Cooper (percussion) remained, while drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray were let go. John recruited Kenny Passarelli (bass), Roger Pope (drums) James Newton Howard (keyboards) and Caleb Quaye (guitar). He wasn’t messing around – amazingly, the new band’s first gig was headlining Wembley Stadium, with support including The Beach Boys, and weeks after first playing together, Rock Of The Westies sessions began at Caribou Ranch.

John wanted a heavier sound and he got it on the tough grooves of ‘Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)’, ‘Grow Some Funk Of Your Own’ and ‘Street Kids’, as well as the epic funk-rock opener ‘Medley: Yell Help / Wednesday’ featuring LaBelle on backing vocals. And the ballad ‘I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)’ showed that lyricist Bernie Taupin’s fascination with Americana hadn’t wavered.

The 2CD and 2LP vinyl expanded editions feature the original plus piano and vocal versions of the entire album. While it has been confirmed that the 2CD edition uses the 2017 remaster, it’s not yet been confirmed that the same apples to the vinyl.

From the first taster, ‘Street Kids’, the piano and vocal versions look to be isolated tracks, rather than John demos. “I listened to the whole album again this year, stripped back to just the piano and vocals,” says John. “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.”

The 2CD edition comes in a digipak with a 24-page booklet including new sleevenotes and archive photos. The 2LP gatefold set is pressed on ‘sea blue’ and ‘electric blue’ vinyl and includes a 16-page booklet (presumably reconfigured from the 2CD set). There is also a single LP edition available exclusively on John’s website pressed on “blue jay, baby blue and sunshine yellow tri-colour effect vinyl”.

In case you are wondering about a possible SDE blu-ray edition, no Atmos mix of this album has been created for this campaign. Interestingly, the front cover image has been colour adjusted slightly for this release.

Rock Of The Westies 50th Anniversary Edition is out on 20 November via UMR.

Tracklisting

Rock Of The Westies – 50th Anniversary Edition Elton John /

    • CD1 – Rock Of The Westies 2017 remaster
      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
    • CD2 – Rock Of The Westies, piano and vocal
      1. Medley: Yell Help / Wednesday Night / Ugly – Piano / Vocal Version
      2. Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) – Piano / Vocal Version
      3. Island Girl – Piano / Vocal Version
      4. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own – Piano / Vocal Version
      5. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) – Piano / Vocal Version
      6. Street Kids – Piano / Vocal Version
      7. Hard Luck Story – Piano / Vocal Version
      8. Feed Me – Piano / Vocal Version
      9. Billy Bones And The White Bird – Piano / Vocal Version

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